16. Ellie
16
ELLIE
Wade and Tammy had redone the schedule so I was now working more bar shifts rather than waiting tables, since I would always be behind the bar with someone else— whether that was Tammy , Wade , Sam , or whoever— and they would be close. I wasn’t sure it was needed anymore because Randall hadn’t called again since Tammy told him I no longer worked here and we moved my car. The plan was working, but Wade and the guys still wanted me to be protected at all times until they could “check a few more things.” They never divulged what those things were, but I assumed that was what badass security people specialized in, so I didn’t push.
Wade and I still hung out most nights, unless I was working the late shift, but even then, he would come get me and walk me back to the apartment after my shift. We ate meals together, watched movies, and, yes, shared more amazing sex. The lines were definitely blurred, but I wasn’t sure how to bring it up, and Wade didn’t try to bring it up either.
One morning this week, I finally talked myself into bringing the topic up casually over breakfast, but he took a phone call from Vince , who informed him he’d just moved my car back. Wade explained that the tracker on my car had been removed and was now currently on Jack’s car sitting in Archer’s apartment complex parking lot. This way they could keep an eye on it while still giving Randall the impression I had moved in case he was still tracking it. This meant I finally had my car back. I was so excited that I forgot to ask Wade about where we stood in terms of being a couple or just having casual sex. I always felt so guilty having to ask one of the guys to go with me for groceries or to the store, and I really needed to go clothes shopping.
With my newfound freedom of transportation, I took off on some errands, which Wade told me was fine as long as I told them where I was going and agreed to share my location on my phone with all the guys. It also felt good to be able to offer to drive when Ruthie and I hung out instead of always having her drive. Especially since Archer was right— Ruthie was a speed demon behind the wheel.
A few days after I got my car back, I was getting in so I could drive over to one of the nearby college campuses and check it out for next semester. As I slid into the driver’s seat, I noticed the seat was pushed back really far and all of my mirrors were nowhere near where they needed to be. It startled me a little, but I realized one of the guys must have just borrowed the car and forgotten to move everything back.
A few days after that, I turned on my car and the radio was on full blast. Deafeningly loud music shot from the speakers to the point where even after I turned it down, my ears were still ringing for what felt like an entire minute. I hardly ever listened to music in my car, preferring audiobooks or podcasts, so I was very confused but chocked it up to maybe bumping the buttons on accident.
The final straw for me was when I went out to my car to grab my umbrella from the passenger seat floor where I left it and saw one of those green tree car air fresheners hanging from my rearview mirror. I sat frozen in the seat for a moment, realizing that I would not have put that in there. I preferred the ones you clipped to your car’s vents, not the kind that hung from the mirror, distracting you as they swung. A chill ran through me as I remembered that Randall loved those air freshener trees in his car. My stomach churned with dread as I pulled out my phone and called Wade , who answered immediately.
“Hey, babe,” he answered, and I went right into it.
“Did you put an air freshener in my car?” I asked him.
“What?” he asked.
“An air freshener,” I explained. “ Like the ones that look like a Christmas tree hanging from your rearview mirror. Did you or one of the guys put one in my car?”
“No, I didn’t, and I can’t see why Vince or Archer would have done that. What’s going on,” he started to say with more of an alertness in his voice. “ Where are you?”
“I’m in the parking lot on the side over next to the hair salon,” I explained to him.
“Get out of the car and go into the salon and stay in there until I come for you,” he told me sternly. “ I’m walking out of the building now.”
I agreed and stayed on the phone with him as I walked up to the salon. There were several complexes near the pub and Ranger Shield Security that were mixed use, businesses on the main floor and apartments on the upper floors. I liked to park over by the salon, which was across the street diagonally to the pub, because they had more spots that were under the shade of trees, so my car wasn’t a thousand degrees when I got inside. I walked into the salon, pretending to just browse the hair products on the far wall while I waited for Wade . I saw him and Vince walk up to my car, and I made my way outside.
They started to inspect the car, inside and out, before Vince spoke.
“Has this ever happened before?” He sounded concerned and angry.
“No, but there have been some other weird occurrences lately,” I said and then told them both about my seat and mirrors being moved, as well as the radio incident.
Wade’s eyes twitched, and I could see his jaw start to strain as I explained the other happenings.
They looked at each other and said a few words that sounded like code and didn’t mean anything to me, before looking back at me. I realized I was about to lose some of my car freedom all over again.
Technically, the guys didn’t say I couldn’t drive it anymore, but they did make me park my car right in front of the entrance to Ranger Shield , where it would be covered by their security cameras. Wade informed me I must park it there from now on, and I had to tell them if anything else out of the ordinary happened. No exceptions.
“Better safe than sorry,” Wade remarked, his expression serious. “ We can’t take any chances after what happened.”
I agreed, especially since this latest incident had me a little spooked myself. Ruthie even called me later to tell me that Archer was making her park her car next to mine.
“Hey, just got the memo from Archer . We get to be car neighbors now,” Ruthie joked, likely trying to cheer me up.
I felt guilty that my problems were spreading to other people.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to drag you into this mess.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she countered. “ Just let me know if you need anything. We’re all in this together. The guys too.”
“I’ll bake you all some cookies,” I offered.
“You think Archer eats cookies?” Ruthie shot back. “ He’s basically a robot. But go ahead and make them anyway— I’ll just eat his. Actually , make some for all the guys. None of them will eat them because they’re obsessed with keeping their bodies in tip-top shape, but it’ll be a nice gesture. Plus , then we can eat them all ourselves.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle, but guilt still gnawed at me. My problems with Randall were creating inconveniences for everyone around me, and I hated it.