Page 12 of Protecting Vera

Remi snorted. “I feel like a dork all the time. Want to walk down and put your feet in?”

Vera glanced back at Hop, wondering if she should. “Um, I think it’s okay. Let me tell Hop.”

She moved to the guys, and Hop flashed a smile as she came over. “I’m going to put my feet in the water.”

Hop glanced around, his gaze taking in the people. “You don’t see anyone you know, do you?”

She shook her head. “Nope.”

“Put on the ball cap and sunglasses.”

“Sure.”

Since she didn’t have long hair anymore, it was easy to stuff her hair under the hat. When she got back to the women, they both smiled.

“Ready?” Remi asked.

“Sure.”

Ellis flashed a smile. “I’m going to stay here. I went for a jog with Trip this morning, and I’m exhausted.”

Remi chuckled. “There is no way I’m going running with Kevlar. And if you see me running, you know it’s bad, and you should run, too.”

Vera laughed as she followed behind Remi, catching up with her quickly. Remi glanced over at her and smiled. Remi’s hair blew in the wind and went straight into your mouth. She rolled her eyes as she pulled the hair out of her mouth.

“It’s nice that you can put all your hair up in that cap.”

Vera lifted her hand to brush her hair back, but it wasn’t there. “Um, yeah.”

Remi reached out and put her hand on Vera’s arm. “I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?”

Vera shook her head. She didn’t want to offend this woman who was being nice. “No. You didn’t say anything wrong. My ex did some horrible things. That’s one reason I’m here. One of the horrible things he did was chop off all my hair. It used to be almost to my butt.”

Remi stopped walking, horror written all over her face. “He what?”

Vera blew out a breath and held out her wrists. Vera ran her thumb over the rough scars, shaking her head.

“He took me out to the middle of nowhere and tied me to a tree. While tied up, he chopped off my hair. It was awful.”

“Oh, Vera, I’m so sorry. That really sucks.”

“I’m here now because Ben’s sister, or do you know him by Hop?”

“Hop is how I know him.”

“I was roommates with Frizz, his sister, in college. She set this up.”

“Well, I’m glad you made it here. And this is the Pacific.”

Vera yelled as the cold water ran up over her feet. They both laughed, and she screeched again as the water rolled up higher, hitting her mid-calf.

“Wow, that’s cold.”

Remi was laughing with her, and Vera realized she felt free. She could do this. Having Ben and his friends in her life would get her through the most difficult parts of it all.

“Hey, Remi!” a man with a scruffy beard and big muscles called out behind them.

“Oh, that’s Kevlar, my man.”

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