15. June #3
“To-go, if you don’t mind.” I reach for it. “Here, I can get it.”
Bram swats my hand gently. “Shh.” He looks over to Magnus. “You want one, too?”
“No, thanks though.” Magnus slides out of the booth, standing dangerously close to me. His body grazes mine and he peers down at me. “You okay?”
“Mmhm.” I force a toothless smile and take a step back to put a little space between us, otherwise, I’m going to get fired for indecent exposure when I rip Magnus’s clothes off.
“Come on, princess.” He hooks his index finger around my hand and drags me with him.
His touch is cool and welcoming, unlike the nickname he’s coined for me. It’s starting to grow on me, although I still dislike it. Maybe because it feels so…dishonest, considering I’m nothing close to a princess. If anything, I’m the exact opposite.
A damsel in distress.
Magnus slides a twenty out of his pocket and across the counter, replacing it with the cup of coffee Bram poured for me. “Thanks, again.” He tugs me away before Bram turns around.
“Oh, that’s not necessary,” Bram tells him while holding up the bill.
I smile, knowing that Magnus isn’t about to go back and take the money. Finally, someone else gets to benefit from Magnus’s seemingly bottomless pockets. “See you tomorrow, Bram.”
“About that…” Magnus says while opening the door for me. “You have the day off. Or well, the morning.”
I step onto the sidewalk and stop. “What? Why?”
“Bram and I, we agreed that we thought you were a bit overworked and could use a tiny break.”
“But I don’t. I’m fine. I?—”
“June.” Magnus stops me from reaching for the handle to reenter the diner. “It’s one shift. Enough for you to sleep in. I can bring you breakfast in bed. Whatever you want.”
“Did Dom put you up to this? To keep me home? Under his thumb?”
“No? I don’t give a shit about Dom. I mean, I do.
And he’s totally right.” He shakes his head.
“But no, I’m not fucking around. Up until a couple days ago you had three jobs.
You were kidnapped, and tortured. And if that isn’t enough, you said your period is coming.
I care about you, whether you believe it or not. ”
I don’t mean for it to happen, but tears well in my eyes.
I don’t know if it’s because I’m mad at him for going behind my back, or the influx of hormones making me emotional, but I do something unexpected.
I reach toward him, tugging his white t-shirt and wrapping my arms around him, resting my head against his chest.
“Are you…um…hugging me? Willingly?” Magnus holds his arms out to his sides, a bit confused at my sudden public display of affection.
“Shh, go with it.” I squeeze him a little tighter and close my eyes, breathing him in.
“Right, yeah, duh.” He embraces me, patting my head and kissing the top of it. “You sure you’re okay?”
I tilt my head up at him. “Aren’t you the people person? Can’t you just read me and figure it out?”
His big, beautiful blue eyes melt into me. “You’re not used to someone doing something nice for you, without expecting something in return.”
A stupid teardrop rolls down my cheek and he catches it with his thumb and wipes it away.
“Let’s get you home.” He presses his lips to my forehead.
A moment later, the car we arrived in pulls up in front of the diner.
Magnus leads me over to it, opening the door for me and following me into it. “This is probably too hot.” He goes to put my coffee into the cup holder, but I don’t heed his warning and reach for it anyway.
I pop the top and take a cautious sip, relieved when it doesn’t burn my tongue off. I’ve been plopping an ice cube in my cup lately, and if I’m not mistaken, Bram went ahead and did it for me. “It’s not bad.”
Magnus tries it for himself and nods. “You were right.” He extends his arm across the seat. “Come here.”
I comply, mainly because his presence has been like a salve to my soul lately. I should stop, scoot to the other side of the seat, and put distance between us, but instead, I rest my head on his shoulder and bring my legs up onto the seat.
He drags them over to lay over his. He sighs and runs his fingers over my bruised knee. “Does this hurt?”
“Not really.” At least not anymore. I’ve gotten used to the healing ache, along with the other injuries I obtained that night.
“I’m sorry, for this, and for everything else.” Magnus leaves his palm on my exposed thigh. “I hate that you’ve been forced into this life.”
“It’s not your fault,” I reassure him. Because at the end of the day, it was my choices that led me to them. I didn’t have to sleep with Dom. Or go home with Magnus. And I sure as shit didn’t have to walk home alone after the bar when I already had numerous bad feelings that day.
“I won’t let it happen again. None of us will.”
“I don’t doubt that, considering none of you will let me out of your sight.”
He rubs my shoulder and pulls me closer. “And it’s going to stay that way.”
But it can’t, and I won’t allow it. That’s not what I do. I don’t stay.
It’s only a matter of time before I do the thing I do best…leave.