Page 14 of Hansen

“It matters to me, too.”

Chapter Three

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EVAN THOUGHT HE WASputting up a good front.At the very least, no one had called him out on the fact that he was freaking out on the inside since he’d arrived at the village.Not even Davey had noticed, which felt like a victory.

It shouldn’t.Davey would want Evan to talk to him about how he felt, especially since he was so overwhelmed.Evan couldn’t do that.They’d talked a bit, so Evan knew that his best friend had blamed himself for not being able to rescue him.Now that he was free, he wanted Davey to focus on his own life.

Davey had a home here.He had friends and a mate, and now, he had Evan.He deserved to be happy, and Evan wanted him to be.

What Davey didn’t deserve was to shoulder all of Evan’s problems.Evan wasn’t sure he was up to dealing with them on his own, but he’d been trying.

He looked up and plastered a smile on his face when the bakery door opened.It was a miracle that his smile didn’t fall when Davey stepped in.

“Let me guess,” Evan said before Davey could ask how he was.“You’re here to see Orion?”

Davey’s cheeks flushed.It looked good on him, and Evan wanted to keep the smile on his friend’s face.“If he’s not busy.”

Evan gestured toward the back door.“You know where to find him.”

Davey rushed toward the door, but he paused before stepping through.“How are you doing?”

Dammit.Evan thought he’d gotten away with it.“What do you think?I couldn’t be happier.”

Evan was certainly happier than he’d been when he was stuck in a cage.He was still living with Orion and Davey, but he knew that he just had to ask if he wanted his own place.He had Davey back.He even had a job, and he loved helping Orion at the bakery.He’d had dreams before he was kidnapped, but now, the only thing he wanted to focus on was peace.Working at the bakery was peaceful, and he needed more of that in his life.

Davey didn’t look convinced, and Evan was already dreading the conversation that was coming.Thankfully for him, Orion had heard his mate, and he was as impatient as Davey.

“Are you coming in or what?”he called out.

Davey looked torn, so Evan strode toward him and pushed him through the door.“Spend time with your mate.”

“You were always bossy,” Davey grumbled.

“That’s because I know what’s best for you.”

“Do you also know what’s best for you?”

That was a heavy question that Evan didn’t know how to answer.“I’ll figure it out.Go.”

Davey obeyed, leaving Evan alone.Evan glanced around the shop, but it was empty of customers for now.The lunch rush hour was long gone, and while some people would come around to grab something for dinner, the busiest part of the day was over.

He grabbed cleaning products and walked around the counter to clean up the small tables.His thoughts were running, though, and he couldn’t stop them.

Evan was settling in at the village.He spent most of his time either here at the bakery or in the house that Davey and Orion shared, but he’d met people, and he could see himself having a future here.There was also Hansen to consider.All in all, Evan didn’t have much to go back to.His old life was just that—old.It didn’t belong to him anymore.He wasn’t even sure what was left of it.

That would be easy to find out.He could pick up his phone right now and call his family.He could tell them that he was alive and well, that he was safe, and that he was coming to see them.He could tell them that Davey was okay, too, which, apparently, Davey hadn’t done.

Evan still had a hard time wrapping his mind around it.Davey had confessed that after he’d escaped, he’d never gone home.He’d never reached out to their families and had never told them that he was safe.They all probably thought that Davey and Evan were dead, considering how long it had been, and Evan still couldn’t quite believe it.He understood why Davey hadn’t contacted them.He didn’t have to ask because he knew Davey.

Davey felt guilty.He’d been too late to save Evan, and knowing him, he thought that Evan’s family would blame him.He was blaming himself, after all.

But Evan was back.His parents didn’t have to continue believing that he was dead.He wanted to give them that peace of mind, but part of him was also terrified.

He was scared of what had been done to him in the lab.He still wasn’t sure whether or not he was a mutant, but he wasn’t the man he’d been when he’d been kidnapped.As far as he knew, he might be dangerous to his family, which was one of the reasons he’d felt it was better to keep his distance for now.

It was hell.He wanted to hug his mother.He wanted to hear his father tease him.He wanted his life to go back to normal, but it never would.He had a new normal now, and he wasn’t used to it yet, but he would be eventually.He just didn’t think he’d feel complete until he had his family back.

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