Who had nevernothad breakfast? “No?”
Ever shook his head. “Jennika said food was earned.”
Jesus. Arsen really had killed her too quickly. “Well, she’s not here anymore. Food is a necessity and you can have whatever you want whenever you want.”
Ever’s gaze floated to a spot over Arsen’s shoulder, the wariness returning. “She said I needed to look small, helpless. They liked me better like that.”
Something cold and slimy felt like it slithered in Arsen’s belly at that statement.They. He didn’t ask who they were. Ever hadn’t explicitly stated what Jennika had done to him—let others do—but it didn’t take a genius to know she’d been selling Ever’s body, likely to pedophiles.
“You don’t have to worry about that anymore. You can eat as much as you want whenever you want. I promise. Whatever makes you happy.”
Ever watched him from beneath sooty lashes for a long moment before asking, “Whatever makes me happy?”
Arsen nodded, earnest. He needed Ever to believe him, to trust him. “Whatever you want.”
“Okay,” Ever said.
Before Arsen could even guess his intention, Ever was coming up on tiptoe and smacking his lips against Arsen’s cheek. He didn’t even have time to react before Ever was scurrying out of the room to the bathroom, leaving Arsen holding his face like he’d slapped him.
What the hell was going on in Ever’s head?
Ever was overwhelmed. He didn’t want to be. He sat in the corner booth, his eyes scanning the restaurant for any potential threats. But there weren’t any. It was just a bunch of regular looking people who didn’t pay him or Arsen any mind, at least not until Ever slipped his headphones on. Then he drew some looks, but more curious than unkind.
He didn’t want to wear them. Or he didn’t want to need them. He knew how it made him look. But the noise was too much. Dishes clattering in the open kitchen, the cooks laughing and shouting at each other, the sound of utensils on china, even the low hum of dozens of voices making small talk had his skin crawling.
He didn’t ask Arsen to turn the music on. That had to count for something, right? He just needed a way to block out the ambient noise but not Arsen.
A young girl with bright red hair in a ponytail, dozens of freckles, and a smattering of hearts tattooed next to her right eye approached the table in a powder blue uniform.
She gave Arsen a huge smile that made Ever want to bite her harder than he ever had Levi. “Hey, sexy. Who’s your little friend?”
Sexy? Was she Arsen’s girlfriend? Ever glowered at her without saying a word. She arched a brow at him like she was waiting for a response. When she didn’t get one, she turned her attention back to Arsen.
“This is Ever,” Arsen said. “Ever, this is Magnolia.” Arsen gave Magnolia a smile that made Ever contemplate stabbing her with his butter knife. Why did he have to smile at her like that? “He’s shy.”
“Oh,” she said as if that made perfect sense. “Whatcha having?”
They hadn’t even touched the menu, but that didn’t seem to matter. Arsen just started listing off food. “Eggs, scrambled and over easy. French toast. Pancakes. Waffle with butter and powdered sugar. Bacon. Sausage. Hash browns. I think that’s it. To start.”
Magnolia blinked at him. “Are you expecting others? ‘Cause this booth only holds four max and I’m not having Henry yell at me again.”
Arsen shook his head, giving Ever that look he seemed to save just for him. The one that made him feel like a rescue dog. “It’s just for us. Ever here has never had breakfast food before.”
Magnolia stared at him blankly. “What?”
“He’s never had breakfast,” Arsen repeated, but louder as if that was the problem, not his statement. His voice carried to the people sitting at the counter.
“Who’s never had breakfast?” an old man at the counter asked.
“Ever here,” Magnolia called, pointing to him. Ever shrank back against the corner of the booth.
The middle-aged woman reading a paper at the counter gave him a shrewd look. “Never ever?”
Ever shook his head.
“Well, damn,” another old man said. “He needs to try the biscuits and gravy.”
“Or the eggs Benedict,” another server called.
