Page 23 of Hide From Me

I reached up and scratched at the hair on his chin. But the goatee wasn’t the only thing different. He’d grown up. Just like Cas, he was huge. The t-shirt looked like it was clinging onto Xander for dear life. But when he smiled.

“Yeah, guess time’s been pretty good to me and you. So I guess I get why Cas is all protective and shit.”

I noticed Cali look up.

“Cas? As intheCas?”

Well, for fuck’s sake. I was holding onto my camera like it was a lifeline to sanity. Seeing Xander here had more nostalgia flooding through me, making this harder than ever. It was hard being back in this neighborhood and seeing what had and hadn’t changed. The boys that could have destroyed me chose to save me, and here they were. Different. Darker. But something in Xander’s eyes told me that guy all those years ago was still inside there somewhere.

“Yes, the Cas. And what do you mean, protective? He sort of escorted me here, but I get why.”

I left it at that.

Xander was rubbing at the back of his neck, and I focused on every tattoo that marked his skin. Like Cas, they had the same hourglass tattoo on their necks just low enough a collar could hide it, but now? In t-shirts, nothing hid it. He and Cas both had sleeves of tattoos and it was more and more apparent how long I’d been gone. Too long. Too many things in this city were different, and they were an obvious reminder of just how long I’d been trying to hide from my past. Funny thing was, I’d never wanted to hide from them, I’d just never had the chance to come back. Or maybe I’d been too afraid.

Xander cleared his throat. “Right. Maybe introduce me to your friend before Zeid gets in here.”

I looked around at Xander and smiled.

“He’s here too?”

All my happy memories of my brief stay here had been around these three. Thankfully, they’d seen me as something to protect, or maybe it was all Cas, but at the end of the day, they became the only friends I’d ever had. Until Cali, but even that was new to me. All the energy inside me seemed to slip away as I thought about that. Xander, Cas, and Zeiden had been the only things I’d had close to family, and my father had ruined that too.He’d been the reason I’d had to leave. I hated him and was happy that he was dead.

Maybe that’s how I should look at this judge. Men sort of sucked. It really wasn’t a wonder I’d dated rarely. It didn’t help that the ones I did had done the disappearing act, just stoking my deep-seated trust problems. But these three?

“I missed you. I’m glad to see you aren’t dead or anything crazy.”

I noticed how he watched Cali and this time, I did roll my eyes.

“Calliope, this is Xander. Xander this is Calliope, or Cali for short. I photograph the dead people and she does all the hard stuff, like determining what actually killed the stiffs.”

She snorted.

“Right. You say that like I could do my job without your help at these little fun parties. But right, hi, Xander. I take it you two have a past?”

I met his eyes, and we shared an unspoken pact.

“Yeah. We were neighbors for a few weeks in this shithole. Hard not to bond with a little squirt like her.”

I laughed. “I always hated all your stupid little nicknames. Besides, I grew a bit more.” Of course, I looked at him and remembered Cas. “Well, I guess when you’re over six feet tall, anyone’s short. What do you guys eat anyway? I don’t remember you all being this big.”

He flexed. “You like? All you have to do is eat right and hop in a ring a few times a week, and you, too, can look like me.”

The door slammed.

“Stop giving her terrible advice,” Zeiden said.

An involuntary smile took over, and I squealed like the little girl I’d tried to let die in the past.

“Aw, you are still around.”

I jumped up to hug him, my camera hitting him in the gut, making him suck in a breath.

“Damn, remind me that you’re dangerous with a camera.”

“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

He leaned down and grabbed my shoulders, bringing me closer.

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