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Now, would she like to have a home and a family to care for her? Ideally, sure. She could understand the draw something like that had. She’d seen the happily wedded couple last night. There was a reason people seemed to collide and start living their lives together.
Realistically?
Athena knew better. There wasn’t a guy on this planet who would want to put up with her baggage. Getting close to someone only ensured one thing.
Heartache.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Will you stop asking me that?” Already she could feel this connection between them strengthening as if against her will. She liked some of the things he’d said, and she wanted to hear more.
Then she had to remind herself it was nothing but an ego boost. Henry didn’t care about her. He might be infatuated with the idea of helping her. He might even be a legitimately good guy. But he would never stick around or fight to be in the life of someone like her. She was a lone wolf who didn’t know how to be with people.
Something soft touched her arm and she jumped, all but pressing her body against the window and away from Henry. “Don’t touch me,” she seethed.
Pain flitted in his brown eyes so plainly that she couldn’t deny the guilt that immediately flooded her stomach. “I didn’t mean any offense. I just thought it would be nice to get to know you better.”
“See? This is what I was talking about,” she shot back. “Talking. It ruins everything. We were having a nice drive and now you’re apologizing and I’m on edge.”
“You’re blaming conversation on what’s happening right now?”
“There’s nothing else I can blame,” she said plainly. “The second we started talking, we got into an argument. What do you think is the cause?”
His eyes darted to her a couple times before returning to the road. “I think that you’ve been on the road for so long, you’ve forgotten what it’s like to spend time with someone who might genuinely have your best interest at heart.”
She scoffed. “I’ve never met anyone who’s had my best interest at heart.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Henry said. “There has to be at least one. What about your folks?”
Athena scowled. “You definitely don’t want to look under that stone.”
“Why? Were you abused?”
“By my parents? No. And before you ask, I’ll tell you. I have no idea where they are. I have no idea why they had me. And best of all, I have no clue who they are.”
Henry’s head snapped around to stare at her, but then he was forced to return his gaze to the road. “You don’t know your parents?”
“Weren’t you listening? No. I was found on the side of the road when I was three years old. No one knew what to do with me, so I bounced around from foster home to foster home. As a kid, I was pushed around. When I got older, I was used as a free babysitter. You can bet one hundred percent that the second I turned eighteen, I was out of there.” Athena stared out the window. Back then, her name had been Kira. She hated that name with every fiber of her being. No matter how many names she told people, she never used that one.
As far as she was concerned, that name had been given to her by the first foster family and wasn’t even who she really was. Picking her own name had been the first act of defiance she could make. Only a few select people knew her by this name, and she intended on keeping it that way.
“I’m so sorry, Sam,” Henry whispered. “That sounds awful.”
“Don’t be. You weren’t the one who caused that pain. Just be grateful you were able to grow up in a big loving family like the one you got.”
He chuckled and she stared hard at him.
“I fail to see why that statement was funny.”
Henry shook his head. “It’s not. Not really. It’s just that…” He glanced at her sideways. “My parents abandoned all of us when my baby sister was still in diapers. They just… took off.”
Her eyes widened. For the first time in a long time, she was speechless, and it wasn’t by choice. He had to be lying to make her feel better about her own situation. That was the only thing that made sense. But the longer she looked at him, the more she had to admit that he didn’t appear to be lying. She was normally very good at picking up on a person’s tall tale.
Henry wasn’t bluffing.
And if he was, then he was the best liar she’d ever met.
He peeked at her and chuckled again. “I suppose we have a couple things in common. I mean, I guess I know who my folks are. I just don’t consider them my parents—not anymore.” His eyes got this far-off look as his thoughts shifted—probably to the memory of his folks.
