CHAPTER
NINETEEN
The honk came in the middle of the night.
I’d taken a nap in the bedroom on a queen-sized bed—on top of the sheets—and had only been a little surprised when I’d come out to find Alexander sprawled on the couch, those long legs propped on the coffee table, a notepad on his lap. He hadn’t made a peep while I’d slept, or maybe he had and I’d been too tired to notice or care.
I almost choked on my yawn when I noticed he’d showered and changed again. His hair was damp and down, tucked behind his ears. Instead of the sweatpants and a Hello Kitty shirt with a dirty hoodie that I’d gotten used to seeing him in, he’d put on a nice navy pullover sweater and sweatpants that hugged his muscular legs even more than the previous pants had. He even had sneakers on.
He looked brand-new.
And extra, extra handsome.
Stupid handsome.
“It’s time to leave,” Alex said, his attention still down on the notepad that looked like it had a lot of writing on it.
I nodded. It didn’t take me long to go back in the room and straighten the bedding. Squinting around the cabin, I picked up the backpack, went back into the kitchen, and managed to put one can of beans inside before he called out, “You don’t need to do that.”
I already had my hand on another can, a tomato soup one, and I hesitated, staring at the label, remembering just how hungry we’d been. Maybe his stomach hadn’t growled like mine had, but I’d seen the way he’d pretty much licked every can clean. I hadn’t been the only one.
“Gracie.” His voice went remarkably soft, almost a sigh. “You won’t go hungry again. I promise.”
Lifting my head, I found him on the couch, a notch between his eyebrows. “I was going to pay them back.”
Something else in his features changed. “We’re fine now. You don’t need to worry about food anymore.” His throat bobbed. “Or paying anyone back.”
He’d promised? It took me a second to let go of the can and set it back in the pantry, but I couldn’t get myself to take the other one out. I’d send them money. I closed the bag, and when I peeked up, Alexander was still looking at me.
He knew.
And that hitched something tight in my chest for a moment before I shook it off and turned around to make sure we hadn’t left a mess. I tied up the garbage bag and then put it into another. We hadn’t left anything that would go bad, other than the cans I’d rinsed out.
I was going to find a way to pay the family that owned the cabin back too. Some way. Some time.
Alex was at the door by the time I came up behind him, headlight beams shining through the windows. I slipped my hand into my pocket and touched the small knife just as my eyes focused on the faint shape of the idling car outside.
“You really don’t need that either,” he claimed, his purple eyes glowing before he opened the door and gestured me to go through first.
I took a single step forward onto the deck and stopped as I eyed the car. He locked the door and tucked the key in a little gray box hidden in a corner beside some shrubs… not the same fake rock where he’d originally gotten it. I could tell he was side-eyeing me as he turned and stopped beside me, those dark eyebrows slowly rising upward.
My heart started beating extra fast.
And before I thought twice about it, before I could remind myself that I wasn’t his responsibility, that he was only here because someone had dumped him into my life, I reached out and grabbed the first thing I could: his pinkie.
His eyes met mine.
Just for a split second, every one of his muscles tensed. His fingers were cool and stiff as I clutched the one. But as I started to let go, with his other hand, he folded my fingers back around his, pinning me quietly with his bossy gaze.
Then he started moving, going down the steps of the deck. My fingers still wrapped around his pinkie. Just his rock-hard finger strong enough to crush metal.
I followed him. “You don’t have to,” I whispered because I didn’t want to make him do something he didn’t want to. “Just so you know, Alex… ander… thank you. For everything.” I clutched his finger tighter, and then I blurted out, “You’re my first friend in a really long time, and I know you said you don’t want to like me, which means you don’t want to be my friend either, and I get it, but it still means so much to me.”
He didn’t nod, didn’t even blink, but I didn’t take it personally that he didn’t respond. After a moment, he faced forward again and led me across the lawn, toward the car parked on the overgrown driveway that I was surprised they’d even found in the first place. It was pulled up right against the downed trees.
Gravel crunched under my still soggy sneakers; I’d been trying to ignore the fact they hadn’t gotten a chance to dry. I was almost used to the squishing by that point. I had to close my eyes against the bright lights, sticking as close to his side as I could without seeming too clingy. Or at least clingier than I already was.
Someone was reclining against the hood of the car.
The sound of a door opening and closing had me tensing just as I spotted another figure coming out from the passenger door. Both bodies seemed long as they moved toward us, one slightly taller than the other.
I let go of his finger at the same time a voice—a masculine one—said, “Told you. You owe me fifty bucks, Selene.”
A feminine voice replied, “At least one of us isn’t going to die sad and alone.”
But then the strangers surged forward, and a split second later, most of Alex’s body disappeared in a cocoon of bodies.
I slipped my hand into my pocket and clutched the knife handle, watching the three of them. I couldn’t see much because the lights made my eyes water—but hey, at least I wasn’t totally dehydrated anymore—and I was groggy and still felt like crap, but I paid as much attention as I could. Their hands. Their arms. They were high around his shoulders, around his ribs, and I made sure they weren’t holding anything.
I peeked through the windshield to make sure no one was in there. I didn’t see any movement.
For what seemed like minutes, the three hugged.
Alexander was hugging people. I knew he wasn’t some heartless monster, but it was still fucking shocking. Just as quickly as I thought that, I realized a hug sounded nice.
It had been a long time since I’d had one of those. Sitting on his lap while I was sick didn’t count. Did it?
I crossed my arms over my chest and let that sink in for a minute, feeling so alone it almost hurt. You would have figured I was used to it by now.
No sooner had I thought that than those purple eyes I could have found in a dark room with a thousand other glowing eyeballs in them moved to me. I couldn’t see his mouth at all, but his words were clear. “Gracie, put the knife back in your pocket and come here. They can’t hurt me, and they aren’t going to hurt you.” His eyes glowed even brighter. “I promise.”
I held it a little tighter just to spite him telling me what to do, but I didn’t move.
“Tell her you’re not going to hurt her,” he demanded.
I could see both heads move from him to me and back again.
“Tell her,” he repeated. “She’s been itching to stab someone for a couple weeks now.”