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He falls to the floor, crying out in pain. “What the fuck, Aus?”

What the fuck, indeed, Aus.

Because this was the wrong move.

He called Thea a bitch.

She has every fucking right not to want to sleep with him. I wish more women shared her sense. Wick’s a fucking creep.

But this wasn’t the right thing to do.

I back out of the house, slam the front door behind me, and get back to the car.

“How did it go?” Thea asks.

“Not well.” I throw the key into the ignition and careen out of Wick’s neighborhood, not looking back to see if he’s following.

And I can’t shake the feeling.

The feeling that I just made everything so much worse.

25

THEA

“What happened?” I ask.

“Wick…fell,” he says, his eyes fixed forward. “He was high off his ass. I had a hard time getting through to him.”

“Getting through to him about what?”

He looks at me, his eyes wild. “About corroborating your story, Thea. About making sure the silver sneakers the detective thinks are the be-all and end-all of this investigation are a big red herring. But I can’t deal with him right now. Right now I just want to make sure you’re safe and sound.”

I don’t buy the story Aus is telling about Wick falling down, but I couldn’t give a flying fuck right now. He’s the least of my worries. What started as a tiny pinprick of annoyance has blossomed in the last few hours to existential dread.

And Aus, who barely knows me from Eve, has taken it upon himself to help me out.

I don’t have to stay at his house. I could call someone from work. I have some old friends who live nearby who would be willing to put a roof over my head for a few nights. And God knows I can afford a few nights in a hotel.

But I choose Aus.

Because there’s something truly wonderful about him.

I can’t quite put my finger on it.

But if I can’t be in my own bed tonight, I want to be in his.

Every feeling I had last night when I went home with Wick, every feeling telling me to run the other way as far as I could…

I don’t have those with Aus.

I have the opposite.

My gut is telling me to be with this man. To do everything in my power to stay under his protection.

That with his help, I’ll end up back home.

Back where I belong.