Page 23 of Every Sunset
“That kid,” I sighed. “He’s fifteen years old. I hate that he feels the need to take care of me.”
“He loves you, and he needs you. He’s taking care of you because he never wants to lose you. He’s an amazing kid,” Logan told me.
“I know. He really is,” I agreed. He really was an amazing kid, and I could never regret one single part of my childhood that resulted in me having him. I’d do every day of it again, survive every miserable second just to ensure I held Max in my arms in the end.
Eventually, Logan and I left the beach, Logan rolling up my yoga mat and carrying it under one arm, as he wrapped the other around me and insisted on walking me back to my cottage.
When I told him I needed to get ready for work he insisted on me allowing him to drive me into town. He was determined that I shouldn’t drive when I was upset, even though I had managed to calm myself down already, but I gave in when he pointed out the way my hands were trembling slightly, because I didn’t want to have to explain that the trembling was a near constant state for me nowadays, especially since I was sleeping so little.
We didn’t talk much as he drove me into town just after lunch, and it felt awkward when I thanked him and slipped from his high up SUV, which he’d pulled up outside the hardware store, but Logan didn’t seem to feel the same as he smiled brightly at me and told me we were eating dinner together at his place that night. Before I could utter a sound either way, he was driving away and I stood there on the sidewalk feeling at a loss for what I really felt right then. Logan had been so kind and gentle with me. He knew way too much, and was getting so close to the truth, which was terrifying, but at the same time I felt he had been honest when he promised not to push for information from Max and I on the topic.
God knew I wanted to be able to trust him and his brother. Max had been right when he told me we needed people around us. I had always wanted that for my son, but there had never been anyone I could get close enough to for that to happen in the city. Now these two strong, capable, and honest seeming guys were in our lives and a huge part of me felt like it not only wanted to know them, but needed to too, for the sake of my sanity.
The issue was, I wanted more than friendship and that complicated things exponentially, especially since I was pretty sure neither of them would feel the same. Hiding my feelings for them would be a true trial for me, but I would have to, I realized. Max needed someone in his life who could be there for him more than I could right then, and Logan and Maddox were there and willing. Max liked them too, which helped. I couldn’t fuck it all up for him.
“Anna?” Neil’s voice calling from behind me had me turning to face the hardware store with a start. “Are you coming inside?” he asked.
“Sorry!” I cried as I shook myself and hurried inside. I don’t know how long I had stood there, but it had to have been a while for Neil to come out after me. Just another moment to prove I really was losing it. It wasn’t the first time I had zoned out completely, lost in my head. Add to that my meltdowns, and nightmares, and I really was scared something was truly wrong with me. The trembling in my hands couldn’t mean anything good, either. I was a mess. Such a huge fucking mess!
CHAPTER 10
ANNA
By the time I finished up my shift at the hardware store that evening, I was truly feeling the lack of sleep I had been subjecting myself to. I was feeling even more shaky than I had been earlier, and my head was pounding relentlessly. Thankfully, it had been quiet, as always, in the store all afternoon, and Neil seemed to have taken pity on me, giving me the easy role of simply dusting around the already immaculate shelves.
Perhaps the exhaustion was the reason I hadn’t even considered a way to get home when Logan had insisted on driving me to work earlier on, but as Neil started to lock up, and I grabbed my purse to search out my car keys, it suddenly hit me. I had no way to get home. Walking wasn’t an option, and as Logan had told us the first day, there were no cabs that far out. I could ask Neil to drive me, but I didn’t even know if the man had a car. He lived above the store, so I guessed he likely didn’t really need one, and even if he did have a car, how could I put him out like that? He barely even knew me. I was too scared to risk pissing him off and losing the only job I had managed to find so far.
I was actually considering calling my fifteen year old son to come and pick me up, when a small knock on the door had me looking up through the glass. Maddox stood on the other side,dressed way more relaxed than I had seen him before, wearing sweats and a t-shirt that clung in all the right ways to show his impeccable body beneath. He wore a pair ofRay Bansand there was a gentle smile on his face that instantly had me feeling heated. There was no denying he was a spectacular looking guy, and wasn’t that just the ultimate torture for a desperately horny woman who had sworn self-imposed celibacy for the rest of her life?
“Tell them we’re closed would ya, Anna? They’ll have to come back tomorrow!” Neil called from the back.
“It’s okay. It’s just Maddox.” I finally shook myself and moved over to the door, sliding free the lock and opening it just enough to peer out. Was I hoping the door would act as some kind of defense mechanism against the man’s hotness? Yes! Absolutely one hundred per cent! I needed all of the help I could get.
“Hey,” I greeted lamely.
“Hey. You about finished up in there? Logan sent me to pick you up,” he explained as he leant into the doorway, getting so close to me I could smell his enticing aftershave. It was something distinctly masculine, maybe sandalwood? Whatever it was, it only made me even more needy for a man I barely even knew.
“Oh…uh, yeah…okay,” I floundered as I looked around me awkwardly.
“Come on then, beautiful. Logan fired up the grill for dinner. Max was helping him marinade the steaks when I left.”
I barely heard anything he said after ‘beautiful’ because he’d called me that! Had I heard him right? Why would he call me ‘beautiful?’ I wasn’t ugly, but I was also pretty far from that compliment he gave.
“Anna? Everything good?” Neil asked as he walked out from the back and looked to me and Maddox. Thankfully that snapped me from the insane thoughts that I had been allowing to invade my mind. Why was I freaking over being paid a compliment? I was a grown woman, not the idiotic teenage girl I was behaving as. For Christ’s sake – even when I was a teenage girl I acted more mature than I was right there in that moment, or any other the Easton brothers were close. I had to get a fucking grip!
“We’re all good, Neil. I just came to drive Anna home,” Maddox spoke up when I failed to do so. I really was losing my damned mind.Had I zoned out again?
“Good. Head out then. I’ll finish closing up,” Neil told me as he approached and went to press a hand to my shoulder in a fond way, I was sure. But my brain started to freak the second I realized his intention, and I jumped out of reach and practically into Maddox. He grabbed me, wrapping a steadying hand around my waist, which only made things worse. I could feel the muscles in that arm wrapped around me loosely, and the rigidness of his tight body behind me.How much did this man work out?
“Sorry!” I cried as I leapt forward again, and almost into Neil this time. Neil was studying me, and my obviously crazy reaction to the threat of his touch. I dare not even turn to see Maddox’s reaction to the whole debacle. “I…I’m tired…makes me a little jumpy. I sh-should go,” I babbled as I pointed a thumb behind me and tried for a smile that had to look forced and as awkward as my behavior.
I clutched my purse against my chest and pushed past Madd, out of the door and onto the street without even looking up at him. As soon as I was outside I took deep breaths to try and calm the panic and heat raging inside of me simultaneously, andjust started blindly walking. I had to get away before I made any more of a fool of myself.
“Anna! Wait up!” Maddox called, and I heard the heavy fall of his feet on the sidewalk. “Where’re you going?” he asked with some mirth. I was clearly amusing him.
“I…I called Max. He…he’ll come to pick me up. Sorry to have put you out,” I called over my shoulder as I continued power walking down the street.
“Anna,” I felt a hand gently touch my right arm, then Maddox was beside me, easily keeping pace. “Max is back at the house, and he’s fifteen. He doesn’t even have a driver’s license,” he pointed out. When I glanced up at him there was laughter on his face.
