Page 120 of With Us

“Good morning,” I greeted with a fake smile, turning to fix myself a cup of coffee. When no one responded, I turned to see Luc eyeing me skeptically.

He wasn’t the only one.

Everyone watched me carefully, suspicion clear.

“Ohhhkay then,” I whispered to myself.

“Sorry. Traffic,” a man said gruffly, entering the room through the back entrance no one used. Once he could see me, he looked like he wanted to step right back out.

“Hey, you’re the guy from the T.”

The older man pushed his hand through his graying red hair, but kept his face blank.

“You threw that guy off me.” I turned to look at Ben, Luc, and Lou at the table. “It was amazing. These creeps were bothering me, and heliterally… threw… him.” As my brain finally caught up with my mouth, I surmised, “And it wasn’t a coincidence that he happened to be there, huh?”

All of that had happened after my first date with Theo. Which meant he’d had someone watching me before we were even a ‘we’.

Was it overprotective since the manhadended up needing to help me?

It was a lucky guess any of my follow-up questions would be met with evasive answers. Instead, I mentally added to the growing list of things to discuss with Theo and continued with my original plan

“Coffee?” I asked him, holding up the pot.

The man shook his head, taking a seat at the kitchen island.

“Anyone need refills?”

When no one said anything, I scanned the room and saw they looked even more uneasy than they had before. I just shrugged and picked up my cup and book.

“I’ll be outside,” I said, humming as I went.

Collapsing into the hammock, I sipped my coffee and read. A shadow fell over me a couple minutes later before my big hat was dropped on my head.

“You’ll burn,” Luc said.

With the hat blocking the sun, I was able to look up at him. “Thanks. Now can I have my phone?” When he hesitated, I continued. “You can trust me.”

His snort of disbelief made it clear how he felt, but he handed it over all the same.

“Yeah, ‘cause, between the lax security around here and,” I shook my phone, “my tech savviness, I’ll easily sneak out undetected.”

He chuckled before crouching down. “We’re here because Theo wants us to be. But Ben, Lou, Rachelle, and I would be here anyway becausewewant to be.” That searing in my heart resumed when he emphasized, “Familysupport.”

Unsure what to say, I remained silent.

“But you aren’t a prisoner here, Dahlia. I’m not saying no one will follow you, but you can leave. For an hour. The day.”

“But you—”

“Because I don’t want to see Theo hurt. Or you.” There was something different in his tone, a low sincerity when he continued. “Decisions made based on emotions aren’t always the right ones.” With that, he stood and headed for the house before calling over his shoulder, “Lou’s grabbing sandwiches soon. Tell him your order if you want one, or I’ll pick for you. Anchovies and radishes!”

I grimaced as I powered my phone on. Loading my texts, I shot one off to Rosa.

Me:Hey, if you’re the one doing the shopping for Theo, great taste but cut it out. Also, let’s reschedule the girl time for next weekend.

It buzzed a minute later.

Rosa:I’m not. Well, not all of it. I’ll see what I can do, but there are some awesome things…

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