He shakes his head. “It’s a great job. Great pay. Dream job material.”
I scrunch my nose. “So what’s the problem?”
He takes my hand. “Youare dream girl material. We like Rios, and we all really like you.”
I’d gotten that from what Wyatt said on the front porch when we admitted to having feelings for each other. Yet even after we’ve kissed and Hunter and I have done… other stuff, I’ve been getting the sense they’re keeping something from me. “But?”
“You’re out of a relationship from hell. We don’t want to rush you.” He waves his hand. “Staying with us isn’t just about keeping you safe. You’ll have time to rest and recover.”
I frown. “But Iamrecovered.” All my bruises from Derek’s Nevada motel room beating have healed. I haven’t needed to reach for concealer for weeks now.
“Emotionally.” He lets out a frustrated sigh. “You need time to healemotionally, not be dragged into a relationship with four men, Maisie. Wyatt thinks moving too fast will scare you away.”
I don’t have a response, and the longer I think about it, the harder it is to know what to say. It has been years since someone considered my emotional needs, let alone my physical ones. I’m used to taking care of myself as best as I can, but when I’m around Hunter, Wyatt, Elias, and Knox, I have to use brute force not to let myself lean on them the way I instinctively want to.
AmI ready to start a new relationship?
Is that why I was so hurt when I thought Hunter had come upstairs to tell me he liked me, but he didn’tlike-likeme?
I never expected to stay in Rios for as long as I have. A couple of weeks, tops, was what I told myself after Nico gave me a job at his diner and an apartment to stay in while his niece is away at college.
Now that Derek has found me and destroyed my apartment, the smart thing would be to bum a ride to the nearest bus or train station and move on.
“Wyatt was right to worry about scaring you away, wasn’t he?” Hunter says quietly.
I yank my gaze from my knees, where I lowered it, to find him studying me with a tiny frown between his dark-blonde brows.
He looks worried. He’s right to be. When I think of my future, I see a big fat question mark and no clue how to fix an unfixable situation.
I threatened to expose Derek in front of the prison guard, who was feet away, but who had to have heard what I said. For a man who had his fist primed and ready when I didn’t make his roast the way he liked it, a humiliation like that is practically a killing offence. He’d have spent all seven months he was in jail stewing over my threat to reveal my bruised body in front of everyone at church. He’d have had nothing to focus on except the need to get back at me for blackmailing him into divorcing me.
Is a restraining order really going to compel him to keep his distance?
And his parents are loaded. Even if he went to trial for arson and attempted murder, he could afford the best lawyers in the country, barely spend any time in jail, and leave with even more of a festering hate toward me.
Last night, when I had four alphas and a sheriff surrounding me, promising me I would be safe, making mefeelsafe, it was easy to believe everything would work out. That I’d live happily ever after with four alphas who have slipped past all my defenses, and a judge would lock Derek up for the rest of his life.
Am I being naïve? I really think I might be.
Wherever I am, I will always put the people closest to me in danger. It’s why I haven’t called, written, or seen my sister andher family since I left Oregon. I’ve lost count of how many tears I’ve shed over missing seeing my niece and nephew grow up, but I can’t be anywhere near them. It just isn’t safe.
“Maisie?” Hunter says softly. “I feel you quietly panicking. Everything will be okay.”
I look at him, and all I see are the ways Derek could hurt him trying to get to me. A six-foot-tall motel worker wound up in intensive care for three days. Derek was a star quarterback before the car crash that busted up his knee. If he wanted to kill someone with his bare hands, he absolutely could.
Hunter drapes his arm around my shoulder, tucking me against his side and dropping a kiss on top of my hair. “Distraction. That’s what you need.”
“What?”
I have feelings for him, but how selfish would it be for me to stay, knowing Hunter could pay for helping me with his life? They all could.
“We’ll hang out in the kitchen. I’ll tell you about why surfing never worked out, and we’ll watch a movie later.”
I’m briefly distracted by his past as a surfer, but I shake my head. “Maybe I should leave. I like you,” I admit, my cheeks burning. “I like you a lot.”
He looks relieved. “But?”
“Derek nearly killed a motel worker because of me. I’d never forgive myself if he hurt one of you protecting me.”
