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His gaze flicks my way, then after a hesitation, he grabs a second apple and tosses it my way.
“Eat that. Then leave.”
Instead, I pull out a chair at the small table and plant my ass in it. Considering Lynx’s cabin isn’t that much bigger than the one I have, and he doesn’t have a whole lot of possessions, it has an unexpectedly cozy vibe. From the line of knives hung meticulously on the wall, to the two bowls on the counter, one overflowing with potatoes and the other overflowing with beans, to Bob curled up in his basket, and the knitted blanket thrown over the carefully made bed … I really, really like it.
“I have a counteroffer for you,” I say. Lynx doesn’t answer, but sets his back against the fridge and waits for me to keep talking. “I eat this and then stay. For good.”
“Excuse me?”
“You already have one reluctant roommate, so why not two? There’s enough room for me to share with Bob.” Hell, curled up in that basket, I’d probably sleep better than I have the whole time I’ve been here.
“Share with Bob? In my house?”
“Exactly.” I set the apple on the table and clasp my hands together. “I’ll keep working in the fields to earn my spot here or whatever. I don’t even need to share with Bob; I’m happy to curl up on the floor. You won’t even notice I’m here.”
I mean every word. There’s a level of calm and safety I feel just by sitting here, and I know that going back home to a door that doesn’t work in a place where Antonio has been once is going to do nothing for my nerves. And sure, if being here means winning Lynx over more, I’ll take that too, but everything in my gut tells me I can’t go back tonight.
“You broke the door last night, remember?” I tell him. “It doesn’t lock. I can’t sleep there, and what if Antonio finds me again?”
“That’s not my problem.”
I pluck at the apple stalk. “If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t have put all those protection thingies around my cabin.”
It’s the right thing to say because, again, Lynx doesn’t answer me.
“Please?” I look up at him through my lashes. “You’re always telling me to look after myself, and I feel safe here.”
“You shouldn’t,” is all he snaps before turning and stalking from the cabin.
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
LYNX
Tell him no, I say to myself as I stomp through the forest. Tell the annoying little cretin no and to get out of your house and leave you alone.
Bob didn’t follow me, and it’s weird not to have my permanent shadow, but it’s not as though I need him. It’s not like I ask him to be there every time I turn around. The animal imprinted on me, and I’m still convinced he’s waiting for the perfect moment to make me into a meal.
Even if I am technically too big for a bobcat to eat, logistics don’t matter.
I should have kicked him out already.
Just like I should have done with Sasha.
But here I am, walking in the opposite direction to where I should be heading, cursing myself the entire time.
I finally get to Rooney’s place, pausing right on the tree line and refusing to go any further. If I wasn’t sure about Rooney initially, seeing his house would have confirmed it.
The cabin is sitting in the middle of a grove. The bottom half of it has been painted with colorful children’s finger paintings, and the upper slats have been painted in the shades of a rainbow. He’s got wind chimes and dream catchers hanging from every awning, the glass and beads and gems throwing a million little light fractures through the air as the chimes knock menacingly in the wind.
Between me and the front door is a rocky path that leads me through a garden teeming with toadstools. Flat, brown ones. Bell-shaped, white ones. Fat, red ones with little spots. There are yellow ones and gray ones and orange ones, and everywhere I look, I’m reminded more and more of how unnatural it is.
“Rooney!”
His truck is parked beside the cabin, so I know he’s here.
“Rooney. I need something. Now!”
