What would have happened if they hadn’t? I caught my breath. Maybe it would have been the night my luck ran out. My chest tightened. Shit. I covered my eyes with my hands. Something had to help this moment, something.
Tanner drew my head to his shoulder. “You’re okay. You are.”
“I think I’ve got enough stuff for you to be good for three days.” Griffin knelt in front of me. “Let’s get out of here.”
I hadn’t really agreed to leave, but I was certainly not going to argue. I didn’t even know where they were taking me, but I’d throw myself into this, because it couldn’t be worse than what was going to happen if I stayed.
All three grownups stood by the couch, watching us with wide eyes. My mother’s hands shook, and casually, like he’d done nothing at all, Rowan waited by the door. “Good. Come on. I don’t expect to have any more trouble from any of you. That’s the deal. Anything else happens that I don’t like, and you won’t get the same deal.”
My mother and her horrible friends nodded fast. I could just leave. Get out, go.
But I stopped and stared at her. “How could you do that? How?”
She didn’t have an answer, and neither did I.
The colder air hitting me finally jarred me out of my stunned stupor. “She was going to give me to him.”
We walked toward the car but stopped as Griffin’s arms came around me. “You got away. It’s okay.”
I shuddered in his embrace. Who were these guys who kept offering up so much affection when I’d done nothing to deserve it? “I’m not usually a hugger.”
“Neither are we,” he whispered in my ear. “Maybe you have some sort of theory as to why you bring this out in us?”
I really didn’t, but I was piled back into Rowan’s car before I even thought to ask them the obvious question. “Where are we going?”
“Caesar’s. His father is away for another few weeks, most likely. Tanner, could you—?”
“Already on it, text has been sent,” he interrupted Rowan. “Good idea. You may solve two problems at once.”
“That’s what I thought too. Really, he’ll like having you, Maci. Caesar can never sleep, and he ends up wandering the halls, overthinking things. I’ll feel better having you there. Is that okay? I realize I’m sort of ordering you around. That’s what I do. People listen to me. It’s just how it’s always been. I problem solve…”
I touched his arm to stop his justifications. “I’m grateful, if Caesar doesn’t mind.”
“He doesn’t,” Tanner supplied. “He’s glad you’re coming.”
“Here.” Griffin reached toward me. “Give me your phone. I’m going to put all of us into it so you can reach us at any time.”
Tanner touched my shoulder. “I’m texting Ace. He needs to know what went on too.”
Rowan nodded. “Good call.” We were all quiet for a long minute until Rowan spoke again. “Did you see how they reacted to me? That wouldn’t have happened a year ago. Every month, it changes. And those are people who don’t really know what’s going on. Sorry, Maci. That was rude.”
I closed my eyes. “Well, you all just saw my secret. That is how I live. That is what happens to me. And…” A thought dawned on me, and my eyes flew open. “Fuck. Sorry, I left my money. Sometimes, she finds it and takes it from me. That is my bailout bag. Even though I sometimes can’t afford to eat, I always put some aside so I can leave the evening of graduation next year.”
“We’ll go get it.” Griffin handed me back my phone. “Tomorrow morning, before I take you to work. And yes, I’m doing that. We’ll stop and get your money.”
“Thank you.” I wasn’t sure my thanks were sufficient for what they were doing for me. I stared down at my phone, just as a message came in. The name lit up, Ace.
That will never happen to you again.
I wished I could believe him, but even as we drove farther away from where I’d spent my life, I knew better than that. Things were just getting started.
Six
We pulled up to Caesar’s driveway, and I caught my breath. I knew they were rich, but the sheer size of the mansion made my stomach drop. It was amazing this kind of wealth existed so close to me and I just never saw it. Like I’d lived in a cocoon where I really hadn’t understood the outside world.
Rowan parked, and Tanner leaned forward. “You okay?”
“Sure. You?” I turned to look at him. “Are you all okay? You were supposed to get back fast, but you’re still with me.”
Rowan shrugged. “My father has no sense of time anymore. As long as I show up before dawn, it’ll be fine. Come on.”
Just then, the front door opened, light spilling out onto the already well-lit yard, as Caesar stepped outside. Wearing only long black pajama pants, he held a water bottle in his left hand. Although his feet were bare, he walked toward us like he wasn’t the least bit concerned about tearing them up.
I’d barely gotten my seatbelt off before he had me out of the car and pressed up against him in a hug. “If I had been there, I might have killed him.”
I hugged him back. “I told the others, I’m not a hugger, but I really like it tonight.”
“I’m not hugely affectionate. It’s all you, Maci. I’ve got her. She’s safe here. Pop the trunk, Rowan. I need her bag.”
“Not in the trunk.” Griffin rolled down the window and passed him my backpack. “Here.”
My cheeks heated up, and I stared at Griff through the window he’d opened. “I totally let you go through my drawers.”
He winked at me. “Did you? I can hardly remember.”
“Good answer.” Tanner took the front seat I’d vacated at the same time as Rowan got out of the car. He walked over to me with a fast gait and embraced me. He whispered in my ear, “This will feel like nothing someday. Something that happened to you, but like it all happened in a different existence. When you’re far away from here, living out your dreams. You’ll remember it, but that’s all it will be.” He kissed my cheek. “Sleep well, Maci.”
Caesar took my hand and drew me toward him as I watched Rowan drive away. My rescuers. What would have happened to me if they hadn’t come? I tried to swallow past the lump in my throat. Crying wouldn’t help. It never fucking did.
“Is this okay?” I managed to say the words. “Or did they force you to put me up for the night?”
“No one forces me to do anything.” He squeezed my hand. “I’m glad for the company. Come on.”
I followed him into the house, and he closed the door behind us. With a strong turn, he locked the door as soon as it was closed. I didn’t know much about locking mechanisms, but his seemed old. Like it might be iron, and not installed recently.
“No one is here but us. Still, I think that it would be best if you stayed in my room. I don’t expect my father home any day soon, but just in case, I don’t want you surprising him or vice versa. So stay in my room.”