“No, you are not.”He straightened and wrapped his black leather jacket over her shoulders.“Chrissy is your friend, you can’t kill her.”He leaned in to kiss her lips lightly.
“I didn’t mean—”
“You can’t kill Jarred either.You need a change of clothes, and he just figured out the best and fastest way to get them.”
Wave bit Hellion’s smirking lips, and he pulled back.
“I know you don’t want to kill me, because I’m too charming.”
“Don’t count on that.”
“And to divide that blame evenly, Marc paid for it all.He said something about a trip you two are going to take tomorrow.”
“He paid, huh?”
“Yes, so you can be mad at all of us, but no killing.”
“Spoil sport.”
Hellion chuckled.“Not something I get accused of often.”
“Any other surprises I should be prepared for?”
“If I told you, they wouldn’t be surprises, now, would they?”
“Hellion!”
“Yes, beautiful?”He pulled her to his side and started down the street.“Did you eat your snacks?I have more in the left pocket.”
“I’m not hungry,” Wave snapped.
“If you say so, but you sound just like Jarred when his dinner is late.”
“I can feed myself.I can buy my own clothes too,” Wave grumbled.
“You can, yes,” Hellion agreed easily.
“No buts?”
“No.You can do whatever you want, Wayla.Doesn’t mean we can’t do things for you, too.”
“I don’t need anyone’s charity—”
Hellion spun to face her so quickly that Wave took a step back.His face held fury she had never seen before.Until now, he was the easy-going one, ready to play, but not pushing real talk or feelings at her.Wave blinked when he growled.
“You are not a charity case for any of us.You are the one keeping everyone at arm’s length.You are the one putting restrictions in place that have nothing to do with us.Don’t youdaremake Jarred and Marc feel bad about doing something nice for you.”
Wave opened her mouth to speak, but Hellion rolled right over her.
“We didn’t go through your stuff, not a single item was moved from your room to our place.It’s all new, it’s all something we thought would make you happy and more comfortable.”
Tears threatened to spring up to Wave’s eyes, but she forced them back.How could she explain to him why she was like this when she couldn’t tell him the truth?It wasn’t about the clothes, precisely, but it made her insides twist and turn that they had made decisions about her life without her.The urge to rub her wrists grew, and Wave bit the tip of her tongue until it bled.
She gulped in air, frozen in place, while Hellion kept storming down the street.Fuck!The tenseness in his shoulders made her snap and call after him.“Hellion!Wait, please.”
“Wait for what?”he was still snarling.Wave just hurried over and stepped straight into his chest and buried her face against his shirt.
“I’m sorry.”That’s all she got out.There was no way to explain what was going on in her head.She believed they had tried to do something nice, if for no other reason than Chrissy helping them.She didn’t want to hurt his feelings or make Marc and Jarred feel bad.Hellion stood tense for a second and then wrapped his arms around her.
