“I’ll be driving the whole time. Do you want to take your car or rent something?”
“I can drive,” I tell him. “I’m an excellent driver. You can ask Aiden if you want.”
He shakes his head. “No matter how good you are, you aren’t going to drive for this trip. You look absolutely exhausted, and I want you to rest the whole time.”
I wave my hand in the air, dismissing what he said. “Really, I’m okay. I don’t need to rest much. Just let me know when you are tired and I can drive.”
Tobias grips my chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing me to stop and look at him.
“You’re not going to be driving this trip. You say you don’t need much rest, but we both know that’s a lie.” He gives me a pointed look. “You look absolutely exhausted. When was your last vacation?”
I pull my head out of his grip and look away. “I don’t know you.”
He sighs. “You may not know me, but I already care for you and am protective. I heard from Aiden that you were working sixty-hour weeks. Did you ever have time off?”
I keep my mouth shut and start walking again.
“Mila,” he says my name gently as he matches my pace. “I’m not going to get you in trouble, but I want to know. Do you need me to talk to your boss about giving you fewer hours and time off?”
“I have two weeks. Three if I need more time off. I’m okay,” I snap at him before stopping in my tracks and running my hands over my face. “I’m sorry. Can we not talk about this?”
“Is everything okay?”
Is everything okay? No, it’s not. It hasn’t been in a very long time.
“Mila?” he calls my name hesitantly. “Are you okay?”
Sucking in a breath, I look away from him. I don’t want him to see the tears threatening to spill down my face. He doesn’t need to know that I’m far from okay.
“Everything is fine,” I mumble and start walking again. “Everything is okay.”
We walk in silence the rest of the way to my apartment.
“It’s messy,” I tell him before unlocking it.
With the hours I worked, I never really had time to clean up my space, and the little time that I did have I slept. I look around to see clothes on the floor, dangling from the back of the chair, and some stuffed in the corner of the room.
“I meant to do laundry this weekend, but things happened, and I haven’t been home in a couple of days.” I rub the back of my neck as I turn to Tobias.
I never had to worry about someone walking into my apartment. When Aiden came to visit me five years ago, I had spent half the day cleaning it so he didn’t know.
“And please don’t tell Aiden.” I sigh. “Please.”
Tobias looks at me and tilts his head to the side. “Why don’t you want him to know?”
“Because it looks like I haven’t been taking care of myself,” I point out.
“Have you?” He asks.
I open and close my mouth several times before deciding to shrug.
He narrows his eyes. “Mila. Answer the question.”
“In some ways I have,” I offer.
Tobias doesn’t look convinced, and I start fidgeting with my hands.
“Well, I’m going to grab some clothes quickly, then we can be on our way.” I point in the direction behind me as I take a step back.
