by Vi Lily
The last bit is said so quietly that I’m not sure I heard correctly.
I notice that his southern accent has gotten more obvious over the past few minutes. Since the topic is uncomfortable for both of us, obviously, I change the subject.
“Where are you from?”
Alex’s head turns to me and I can tell he’s shocked. “Uh, Texas, why?”
I laugh. “Your southern is showing,” I joke, then reel back in shock. I never joke. Ever. Devon beat all the humor out of me a few years ago. And in all honesty, my parents did before that. Maybe not with fists and feet like my brother, but in their lack of concern.
There’s nothing funny about parents who don’t give a crap about you.
“You’re changing the subject,” Alex says, but I see his mouth twitching, like he’s trying to hold back a smile. I realize then that I’d give my right ovary to see the guy grin. He’s even more serious than me.
I don’t comment, and he continues. “I want you to come home with me,” he says quietly. He glances at me then.
“And no strings attached. I mean that. No strings.”
I don’t think Alex knows how much those words mean to me. I know what he’s saying — no expectations, no demands, no need for a reward of any kind. I’m not going to be his plaything, not prostituting myself in exchange for room and board. He’s doing this out of… what? Kindness? Compassion? Some sense of chivalry?
Honestly, I don’t care why. His offer is the solution to my problems. To all my problems. If it’s what he says — that he’s not expecting me on my back, showing my appreciation, then it’s an amazing offer. Unbelievable, even.
And one I can’t turn down.
“Thank you,” I say, with all the sincerity I can muster as I swallow at the emotion. “Seriously. You have no idea how… wonderful that would be.”
Alex cringes then. “There’s just one thing—”
Annnddd here it comes, I think with sarcasm, and a whole lot of disappointment. I freaking know better than to assume that something too good to be true is going to be as wonderful as it looks.
Because it always is too good to be true.
“My brother, Steve, lives with me. Just temporarily,” he adds quickly. “I’ve been wanting an excuse to throw him out, so if he even looks at you funny, you tell me and he’s out of here, okay?” he glances at me again and I nod.
I breathe out a sigh of relief. I thought he was going to say something like, “There’s just one thing… you’ll be expected to give lap dances to all my friends every Friday night,” or “You’ll need to scrub my dirty boxers with your toothbrush.”
You never know. I’ve learned that with the male populace, you can never assume anything.
“I, uh, need to get my car from my house,” I say. It’s a joke, calling my parents’ mansion “my house.” Devon has declared imminent domain over the place and makes it all too clear that I’m lucky he allows me to live there. If I were eighteen, I’d challenge him on his “ownership,” but with the need for me to keep under the radar, Devon holds crap over me.
And while I hate, seriously hate, asking for any kind of help, since Alex seems so bent on rescuing me, I figure it can’t hurt to ask.
“You have a car?” he asks with surprise as he turns to me. “Then why didn’t you drive it last night?”
“It wouldn’t start,” I tell him. And then I shrug. “I never drive it into Bearing anyway, when I have a job. I, um, try to conserve gas.” I’m embarrassed to admit to my poverty. I mean, I live in freaking Oak Place, the community for the super rich, yet I’m worried about buying gas for my vehicle.
He glances at me again. I can tell he’s trying to figure me out with the tiny tidbits I’m tossing his way. I sigh then, somewhat in defeat. I might as well throw all my cards on the table. He’ll probably change his mind about helping me then and I’ll go back to my earlier worries of where I can live.
Maybe Ogre will share his doghouse with me.
“My parents disappeared a couple of years ago. Ever since then, Devon — uh, my brother — and I have, um, struggled. We might live in a mansion, but we’re broke,” I laugh, somewhat bitterly.
Okay, a whole lot bitterly.
“Luxuries like gasoline are hard to come by,” I admit. “I try to only drive to school.”
Alex is so quiet then that I wonder if he even heard me. But then he finally speaks, and I know he was digesting what I said.
He laughs, even more bitterly than I had before. “Here I am, griping about school, about trying to find an easy way to graduate, and you’re there, walking freaking miles in the freezing cold to avoid using gas, so you’ll have enough to get to school.” He shakes his head.
“Man, I never realized how screwed up my priorities were until just now,” he admits as he blows out a breath.
We’re quiet then, each lost in their own thoughts. I think it’s a sad testament to the rich lifestyle — or maybe it’s the times we live in — that he didn’t even mention my parents’ disappearance. Like it’s an everyday occurrence for a mother and father to just disappear and leave their kids behind. Maybe it is.
He chose to focus on the fact that I save my gas to get to school. I don’t want Alex to think I’m some sort of educational martyr or anything. There really isn’t anything sacrificial about what I do — in fact, it’s more selfish than anything. I just want to stay under the authorities’ radar, graduate, get the hell out of Bearing, away from Devon, and maybe find a small slice of happiness somewhere.
And never look back on this time of my life ever again.
It seems like just a short time later when I see Bearing start to appear. While the view out of the windshield is still a winter wonderland — and believe me, I use that term very loosely, because I’m really tired of snow — I start recognizing landmarks. The water tower. The hardware store. Franchetti’s used cars.
“What’s wrong with your car?” Alex asks as we drive by the car lot. I shrug.
“I have no idea. It’s never given me trouble before. I think Devon might have done something to it.”
He glances at me. “What kind of car is it?”
I look out the window as we come up on the diner. They’re closed, probably due to the storm and I remember the last time I ate there — back when my parents were still around. Absent emotionally, but present physically anyway.
“It’s a Lincoln Navigator.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see his head whip toward me in surprise. He probably expected me to drive something a lot… cheaper.
For some reason, his reaction bothers me. “It’s older,” I say as I glance at him. “It was my mom’s.”
He nods and then looks back out into the whiteness. We’re going so slow and there isn’t another soul out that he could practically put his feet up on the dash and recline in his seat with no worries.
“Not sure I can help with it,” he admits, then looks back at me. “My car knowledge is limited to these old beauties.” He pats the dashboard then. “I restored this one all by myself,” he admits, pride coloring his words.
“Wow,” I say lamely, but with enough awe that the corners of his lips lift slightly. Not exactly a smile. What I’d give to see a full grin on his handsome face. Until today, I’ve only seen him scowl, so I guess this is progress. I like this new and improved Alex. And I’m not afraid of him any longer.
I wonder if I finally have a friend.
HE AGAIN
Chapter 1
A RI ACTUALLY acted like she was going to fight him over the car issue when he told her to forget about it, that he’d be taking her to school. Alex knew she didn’t want to accept his help, but she’d just have to get over it.
She needed him and he was going to do everything he could to take care of her.
After what Doc told him — that the girl was covered with bruises of varying colors, meaning not all were new, and that she was scarred all over her torso — there was no way Alex was letting her brother get near her again
.
In fact, he was fighting the urge to go remove her brother from her life… permanently.
Doc at first had told him that he was going to have Vato take the girl in. His grandson was transferring to Athole Academy anyway, for the same reason Alex had — getting expelled from previous schools for fighting. Apparently, Athole didn’t care what you’d done, as long as you paid their exorbitant tuition.
The old man was filthy rich, although you’d never know it. He had a buddy in Vietnam whose cousin had some “crazy idea” for a device that would play video cartridges and Doc had invested every penny he’d saved during the war.
Vato’s parents had died in a murder-suicide when his mother had come home early from work to find his dad banging some underage chick. After that, Doc had taken his grandson in and raised him as his own.
The kid was a helluva fighter and was looking promising for a great MMA career. But Doc wanted him to get an education — demanded it, really — and had banned Vato from organized fights until he graduated.
When Doc sent Ari on her errand to retrieve Vato, he’d told Alex that he bought a cabin in the woods between Bearing and Clemens for Vato to live in while he went to Athole. The kid would be starting school next week and Doc figured Ari could move in with him and he’d watch out for her.
Alex had gotten pissed at the idea of that timid, frightened and abused girl living with a hothead like Vato and told Doc no way in hell was that happening, that she’d be moving in with him.
When Doc had grinned at his response, Alex realized he’d fallen into a trap.
It didn’t matter; on the way to Clemens when Ari had fallen asleep in his truck, Alex had already decided he was going to figure out a way to get her away from her brother. Maybe he could give her some money to move away, start a new life somewhere.
But when Doc told him just how abused she’d been, Alex decided he wanted her right where he could watch over her.
He didn’t have any romantic feelings for her at all, so it wasn’t like he was itching to get into her pants. Yeah, once she was cleaned up a bit, he was shocked to see how beautiful she really was. But he had no interest in getting involved with anyone, other than for an occasional bone-jumping with a chick who was just a faceless body.
Ari would just be another roommate.
He winced then, thinking about his other roommate. He’d have to talk to Steve, probably threaten the crap out of him, to get him to stay the hell away from her. His brother was a douche and a player. And the problem was, if he told Steve to stay away, it would be like dangling a carrot in front of a starving donkey.
Alex would just have to try to reason with his brother, explain the situation. If that didn’t work, then he’d have to toss his sorry self out in the snow.
Ari interrupted his thoughts then when she straightened as they turned the corner onto Saddleback Drive.
“Can you stop here for a sec?” she asks, her hand already on the door handle.
Alex looked around at the area with a frown. There wasn’t any reason he could think of that she’d want to get out in what looked like nearly a foot of snow already, in the worst part of town. He mentally shrugged; maybe she wasn’t feeling good.
He pulled to the curb and put the Ram in park while she grabbed her leftover hamburger from the floorboard where she’d put it to “keep it warm.” Without even a glance back, she jumped out into the snow and froze in place. Alex realized she probably forgot about her ribs when she jumped down from his lifted truck and was suffering for that mistake.
“Hold on,” he called to her, then yanked his door open and ran around the truck as fast as he could in the deep snow. When he rounded the passenger door, he winced at the tears streaming down Ari’s face.
Gawd, I hate tears. He always felt helpless when chicks cried, so his usual MO was to just avoid them. But he obviously couldn’t leave Ari crying out in the snow, especially since her tears were from pain and not some stupid chick drama.
“What’s so important that you had to leap out of the truck like that?” he asked, his voice far rougher sounding than he meant it to be. He knew he sounded pissed, and he was, but not really at her. He was just mad she was suffering and he couldn’t do anything about it.
“Ogre,” she whispered, her eyes still closed as she sucked in small breaths. Alex frowned; he didn’t think he was that bad that she had to call him a name.
“Seriously?” he started to complain, but she opened her beautiful sea colored eyes and pointed past him.
“The dog… his name is Ogre. He’s starving.” She held up her hamburger then and Alex turned to see where she was pointing. It was that crazy old man’s place, a sort of junkyard, although Alex knew he didn’t sell anything. He knew this because he’d stopped by once to ask about buying some rims the old guy had just rusting in his yard that Alex could use for the Ram. The old guy had threatened to shoot him.
He didn’t even remember seeing a dog.
His eyes scanned the yard and sure enough, there was a doghouse that looked like it was about ready to fall down. A furry brown head could be seen over the snow, just inside the doghouse door.
He looked back at Ari and shook his head slightly. This girl was too much. She’d only managed to take a few bites of her burger when he knew she’d been starving. Then she’d wrapped it up like it was the most precious thing she’d ever held. He remembered looking at Doc then, who also watched as she wrapped the burger. The old guy’d had tears in his eyes.
And now she wanted to give her burger to a mangy dog that wasn’t even hers.
She wasn’t going to be able to walk through the snow to get to the fence, though, so he took the burger from her.
“No!” she protested as she took the burger back. He wondered if she changed her mind and decided to eat it herself.
“He won’t take it from you. I just barely got him to trust me. I’ll do it.” She took a few steps, but Alex could see the effort of lifting her legs was too much for her. He sighed, then bent and scooped her gently up in his arms and carried her to the fence.
Again, he was shocked at how little she weighed. He bet that he bench-pressed twice her weight on a regular basis. First order of business is to get some meat on her bones.
“Ogre,” she called quietly as they approached the fence. Alex looked down at Ari, about to question why she was being so quiet, but she was staring at the shack where the old man lived, a fearful look on her face.
So, she must have met the man before and knew what a jerk he was. Yet she still insisted on helping his dog, the dog the old man should have been taking care of himself. Alex thought it looked like the big man never missed a meal himself, so it wasn’t like he was too poor to be able to afford to feed the animal.
The dog stood and started out of his house. Alex could see a chain wrapped around the dog’s neck and he scowled. The poor thing wasn’t even wearing a collar. The links from the chain must bite into his flesh.
Even more reason to despise the old man.
He struggled in the snow, trying to drag what looked like a tire behind him through the deep snow. Alex frowned; the dog looked almost as thin as Ari.
When he stumbled and fell, most likely from weakness, Ari cried out and the sound tore at Alex’s heart that he thought was too hard to feel anything at all, But he knew why she commiserated with the mutt — his life wasn’t much better than hers.
He carefully set her down on her feet and took the hamburger from her, then unwrapped it and handed her the wrapper. He turned and whistled at the dog, who looked up at him. Alex then tossed the burger over the fence, watching as it landed in several pieces, but all within a few feet of the dog.
It was all he could do for now.
Ari was still crying when he picked her up and carried her back to the warm truck. After setting her carefully inside, he closed the door and looked back at the dog, who’d already eaten the burger and buns. Hell, Alex thought he even ate the onions. He shook his head.
He glanced back at Ari, who was staring out the passenger window at the dog as tears streamed down her face. Such a soft heart in someone who’d had it so hard. He wondered why that was… why did he and Steve end up so hate-filled, so hard, angry, bitter after growing up the way they did, when Ari hadn’t had it any easier but was such a sweet and caring person?
She was a puzzle, for sure.
Chapter 2
A LEX INSISTED ON carrying Ari into the house. He was thankful to see that Steve had taken him seriously about cleaning the living room. At least all the beer bottles and pizza boxes were picked up.
She was shaking when he bent to set her on the sofa. He covered her with a blanket, then went into the kitchen to put a cup of water in the microwave. He figured some hot chocolate might warm her up.
When he got back to the living room, he was glad to see that she’d stopped crying. She hadn’t moved, though, and seemed a little shocked. It wouldn’t surprise him; the poor girl had gone through quite a bit in less than twenty-four hours.
“Here,” he said as he handed her the cup. She took it with shaking hands and Alex was glad he hadn’t filled it too full.
She murmured her thanks and then he frowned when he realized she still had on her wet boots, so he squatted down to remove them. She jerked her feet back, away from him.
A gasp escaped her then and Alex knew that she’d hurt her ribs… again. He was going to have to wrap her in bubble wrap at the rate she was going.
“What are you doing?” she wheezed out through her pain.
He frowned at her. “Taking your boots off. Hold still.” He reached for her foot again, but she scooted back once more. Again, causing pain.
“Stop it!” he ordered. “I’m taking your damned boots off, so quit fighting me on it. You’re just hurting yourself.”
