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I did, but only because all I made was garlic bread. “Um.” The oven beeped again.
“It smells good.”
Oh hell. I turned on my heel and motioned for him to follow me. He could see for himself how pathetic I was. The garlic bread was a good enough meal for me, but I didn’t think it would be enough for him.
I grabbed a hot pad from the drawer and opened the oven. I grabbed the pan and set it on the top of the stove.
Zag took a deep breath. “I love the smell of garlic.” He moved over to the pan and smiled. “Garlic bread.”
Yup, that’s what it was.
“What are you having with it?” he asked.
Oh, hell. Here I was hoping he would be transfixed by the smell of garlic and be satisfied with garlic bread for dinner.
No such luck.
I couldn’t even grab a beer from the fridge and give that to him with the bread.
Zag looked at me expectantly.
“This is it.” Nice! Not one letter was stuttered.
“Babe,” Zag laughed. “All you’re eating for dinner is garlic bread?”
Sure, it wasn’t the most nutritious meal, but it would fill me up. “It’s a-a-all I h-h-have.” So much for not stuttering. It was a good four word run.
“Seriously?”
I nodded.
He moved to the fridge and opened the door. “Hell,” he laughed. He opened the freezer and let out a loud laugh. “You were not at all joking.” He closed the freezer and pulled out his phone.
“What are you d-d-doing?” I asked.
He held up his finger and put his phone to his ear. He listened and then rattled off an order for a large sausage pizza and a liter of soda. He even knew my address.
I could barely remember my new address.
He ended the call and shoved his phone into his pocket. “We can eat the garlic bread until the pizza gets here.”
“What?” I asked.
“You need to eat more than garlic bread for dinner, babe.” He grabbed a piece and ripped some off with his teeth.
“If you e-e-eat a few p-p-ieces, it will f-f-fill you up.”
Zag shook his head and popped the last of it in his mouth. “I’m sure it will, but you’ll be walking around like you got bricks in your stomach.” He leaned against the counter and folded his arms over his chest. He watched me closely but didn’t say anything.
Did he like what he saw?
I wasn’t anywhere near being a beauty queen, but I certainly wasn’t hideous. Well, at least I didn’t think I was.
“Stop looking at me.”
“Why? I’ve got a couple of days to make up for.” He reached out and hooked a strand of hair with his fingers. “I didn’t think your hair was black.”
“What did y-y-y-y-y–.” I closed my eyes and clamped my lips together. Dammit.
“Brown. I thought you had brown hair.” He tugged my hair, and I opened my eyes. “Don’t hide from me, Tess,” he whispered. “You don’t have to be embarrassed or scared.”
“Easy for you, t-t-t-t–.” I pursed my lips and prayed again for the floor to open up and swallow me whole. That was a running theme in my life.
“How about yes or no questions?” he asked. “I can see you now, so you can just nod or shake your head,” he suggested.
I looked around and shrugged. I just needed a second to get my head together and stop being nervous.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I nodded my head. For the most part, I was okay. I was a bit sore, but each day was better than the last. If only I could say that to Zag.
“Are you sure?” he motioned to cuts and bruises on my arms.
I nodded again and waved my hand at him. They were all just superficial. I pointed to my face and then at his. I could have used sign language, but I wasn’t sure he would understand that.
“Same as you. I’ll be fine. They thought I might have some internal shit going on, so they kept me in the hospital for a while, but I’m all checked out. Just need some time to be back to normal.”
I nodded and smiled.
“My brother and his ol’ lady came looking for you while I was still in the hospital. They said the nurse refused to let them see you.”
Good ol’ Bronwyn. I had texted her as soon as I had made it home, but I hadn’t told her anything about my moving and where I had ended up. “No visitors.”
“Is that because you were worried about Malcom?”
I nodded. That, and I also just didn’t want anyone to come into my room. I had been through enough and didn’t want to deal with anyone besides the nurses and doctors.
“Smart, babe.” He grabbed another piece of garlic bread. “Were you really going to eat just this for dinner?”
I nodded. “I haven’t been ab-b-ble to get to the store.”
“How long have you been here?”
I held up three fingers.
He nodded.
“How did you f-f-find me?”
His eyes darted to the side, and he dropped his half-eaten garlic bread back on the tray. “You want the truth or what I’m supposed to tell you?”
I tipped my head to the side and pursed my lips. “Both?” I, of course, wanted the truth, but I also wanted to know what the lie was that he was supposed to tell me.
“I can’t even remember what the lie is supposed to be,” he chuckled. “Something like I had been driving by and happened to see you or some shit like that.”
And he thought that I was just going to believe that? Oh boy.
“The truth is you’re here because of my uncle and the club.” He winced. “Well, and my cousin.” He watched me closely. “Marco.”
My jaw dropped at the mention of my new landlord. “You know Marco?” I knew I was closer to Rockton, but I hadn’t thought that Zag would know Marco.
“Basically grew up with him, babe. He’s my cousin.”
I furrowed my brow. Okay. So Marco was his cousin. Did that mean it was a small world after all, and I had wound up here by coincidence? “How?” I didn’t believe at all in coincidence. At least not when it came to me living here.
“I just know the bare bones of everything since they did it all when I was knocked out, but you’re here by the orchestration of my cousin Marco, the club, and Uncle Leo. I couldn’t help you since I was knocked out, so the club stepped in along with other family to ensure you were safe.”
