BLAIR
My aunt fusses over me until I wave her off, staring out the window and wondering what lurks in the darkness.
Will Billy come back for me?
Will he know where to find me?
Strangely, I miss the comfort of the wolf that sat with me earlier. I’d never seen a wolf, but it had been like a super friendly dog. Maybe I could adopt it.
Ha!
I laugh at the thought and wonder for the millionth time if Leon is okay. He’s drinking too much, and he’s unpredictable when he’s angry. I play with the hem of the super long Smurf-themed t-shirt my aunt gave me and shiver when headlights light up the road, reflecting off my glasses.
“He’s back,” I say with relief, crossing my arms and staring at my brother’s truck until it stops.
But Leon is in the passenger seat, and that’s not all.
The man who drove him home when he was drunk gets out of the car, and my throat dries. He is so fucking masculine it’s ridiculous, and despite everything, heat floods my core atthe sight of him striding to the door, my beaten old backpack dangling from his fingers.
“I’ll get it,” I tell my aunt as she appears in the doorway, drying her hands on a towel.
I dart into the hallway and yank open the door, my heart stuttering when honey eyes meet mine—the same eyes I swore I saw the night I was pleasuring myself to my book.
Surely not.
“Are you alright?” he asks gruffly, dropping my backpack at my feet. His eyes drift over me, and a smile plays on his lips as he takes in the Smurf t-shirt, but it soon disappears when he looks up again. “How is your face now?”
I blink, thrown by the way he asks. Like he’s already seen it before.
Impossible. He wasn’t there.
He reaches to tilt my chin to the side, examining the cheek that still aches from the slap.
I jerk my chin back and glare at him before reaching for my backpack.
“Don’t touch me.”
He steps back and opens his mouth to say something but decides against it, crossing his arms over his chest. His lips purse as he stares at me, and I feel like he’s studying a naked version of me, one only he can see.
“What are you doing here? Who are you?” I challenge him, craning my neck to see my brother asleep in the passenger seat. I frown. “Why is Leon asleep?”
The man twists his upper body to look at the truck, then sighs—a seriously sexy sound, if I may say so.
Jeez, what’s wrong with me?
I’ve just been attacked, and I’m checking out this man like I’m in heat. A man I don’t even know.
“Calix. My name is Calix, and your brother is stupidly drunk. Again.”
Calix. What a name.
I arch a brow. “And you happened to be there to save him again? You’re like his personal hero.”
Calix grunts and glances around us, examining the house like he’s looking to buy it.
“Look, I appreciate you bringing me my stuff and driving my brother around, but we’re fine. I’ll take it from here.” I smile politely and go to move past him when he stops me, one arm in front of my body, not pushing me back, merely holding me in place.
“Blair,” he says, his voice painfully hoarse.