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“Are fine. I’m doing better than you give me credit for, princess. The rotter herd should be long gone by now so we can clear out any car out there that we want to take. You’re no longer putting your mission on hold because of me. We’re doing this.”
“We’re really doing it? Leaving in the morning?” It almost sounds too good to be true. If we would have wound up here the first day I’d met them, I would have left in a heartbeat. But after getting to know them, and then everything they’ve done for me, there was no way I could leave when one of them was so hurt. Seeing him lying there unconscious and so helpless was harder than I thought it could be. And I hate his stupid face for making me care about his life like that.
“As soon as the sun rises. You need to get back to help your friend. I don’t want to keep you from that. I’ll drive you as far as you’ll let me, and I won’t force myself past that.” His short, dark brown, disheveled hair falls into his eyes when he tilts his head forward, following my movements.
I do a slow walk toward him, grinning from ear to ear. “You really know how to make a hostage happy.”
Something flashes in his eyes. They’re no longer empty. Instead, they’re full of…I can’t tell what, but they’re full of something. And they’re locked on me. “You’re not a hostage, Emily. You haven’t been for quite some time. I want you to stay, more than anything.” His voice cracks and he wets his lips. “But more importantly, I want you to want to stay. Do you want to be here with me? With us?”
My heart elates and pangs at the same time. This is something I’ve thought about so much. It’s all I’ve been able to think about the last few days. They’ve made me feel more safe and cared for than I’ve felt in two hundred and seventy-five days. I don’t want to leave something like that.
My voice drops to a whisper. “Right now, I can’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else.”
I’m close to him. Close enough for him to reach out and grab, and he realizes it, too, because his hands touch behind my elbows and pull me closer to him, his touch gentle but urgent. His warmth surrounds me in the cool evening air and I’m enveloped in a sense of safety. My mind is at war with my heart and I know it won’t end well, but I can’t seem to pull myself away. I’m magnetized to him. And to Max, and to William. I’ve made quite the mess here and I have no clue how to fix it, or if I even want to fix it. I’m tired of always doing what I feel like I have to do. It’s exhausting. I want him, all of them, and I don’t want to hide that.
My hands press along his abdomen, feeling the taut muscles beneath the shirt. I’m careful of the wound on his side, but I want to touch him, to feel him. My hands slide up his torso, to his chest, where his heart beats erratically beneath my palm, almost matching my own.
He leans down, tilting his head. His finger moves beneath my chin, lifting it up. My eyes flutter closed when I lean in, too, my heart beating so hard that it’ll hurt if we don’t. My lips barely brush his when gravel crunches beneath heavy footsteps, shattering the bubble we’ve built around ourselves in the moment. “Well, I’ll be damned, they’re alive.”
I pull back and spin around in Griffin’s arms. He grabs hold of me, his body going rigid when we face the men who snuck up on us. I practically spit out my question. “Who are you?”
The one on the right grins while still chewing gum. I can see it pressed between his teeth at the side of his mouth. “Sorry to frighten you little missy, but we’re looking for our friends.”
On instinct, I look around, expecting more people to be surrounding us. It takes a minute for my brain to catch up and realize who he’s talking about. “Who?”
“They headed this way a couple of days ago and never came back. Three guys who can be assholes on occasion, but are mostly harmless. You didn’t happen to see them now, did you?”
Oh shit.
Griffin’s fingertips dig into my hip above my waistband, holding me close to him as if to tell me it’s going to be alright. I look around and spot Max watching us from where he’s crouched behind a tree with a knife in one hand and his morning star in the other. William is watching from around the corner of another building, a gun in hand and ready to fire.
“You know what, I think we saw them in passing, if they were your friends we saw. They were on their way out, though. I’m sorry we can’t be of more help,” I lie.
The one chewing the gum frowns. “Interesting. I didn’t tell you anything about them and you immediately knew who I was talking about.”
“Three assholes is the only descriptor you need,” I say, my words flat.
He grins. Not a cheery grin, but one that sends a chill down my spine. “Are you alone here in this town? Seems like a nice place.”
Griffin’s grip tightens on me and I can feel him practically vibrating, struggling with the restraint to throw me behind him. I place my hand over his hand that’s on my hip in reassurance.
“There are others. Our friends are also around here somewhere. Where did you travel from?” I try to change the subject.
“A nearby school we came across not too long ago. Decent setup.”
Hope blooms in my chest, and I can’t help how it bleeds into my words. “Do you have food? Supplies? Medication?”
The man laughs. “There’s all sorts of stuff there. We were only passing through, using it to rest up for a few days, so I don’t exactly have a full spiel for you. Was waiting on our friends to get back first before moving on, but we got impatient. There’s already a large group there. It’s not our vibe. They’ve got rules and all.” He rolls his eyes as though following rules is the most tiresome thing imaginable. “But they seem to be loaded with all kinda of shit. You’re welcome to come check it out. We’ll even escort you.”
Griffin’s chest vibrates against my back when he speaks. “We might take you up on that. The high school?”
The man grins, showing off his gum again and looking at the man behind me for the first time. “You know it?”
“That was a place I was going to check out soon,” Griffin admits.
“Imagine that. It’s a small world, after all. So will it be just the two of you, then? Are you an item or something?”
Griffin’s grip on my hip turns painful, but I ignore the sting. “Yes.”
