Chapter 5 Adam
ADAM
I pulled into my driveway with Ellis's truck right behind me. There was no sign of Derek’s car, so I felt confident that he wouldn’t follow me to Ellis’s place. My body was running on fumes, and the adrenaline from the encounter with Derek had long since worn off.
Ellis parked on the street and got out, leaning against his truck while I unlocked the front door. He was giving me space but staying close enough that I felt protected.
It was…nice.
I stepped inside and quickly scanned the room to make sure everything was how I'd left it. Nothing seemed disturbed, so I knew Derek hadn't been inside. At least, not that I could tell. "I'll just be a few minutes," I called out to Ellis.
He was still waiting by his truck as he nodded. "Take your time."
I grabbed an old duffle bag from the closet and started throwing in clothes.
A few changes of work polos, some jeans, and a couple t-shirts.
I also grabbed my gray pajamas for sleeping.
They were kinda boring but the only thing I had that was appropriate for someone to see me wearing.
My hands moved on auto-pilot as I added some socks and boxers to the bag before heading out.
Then I stopped at my bed and stared at my pillow.
My blankie was tucked underneath where I always kept it. The soft blue fabric was worn and frayed at the edges from years of cuddles and washes, but I couldn’t sleep without it. Derek hated it and had tried to throw it away several times. But I never let that happen.
It was mine, and I needed it.
I pulled it out and ran my fingers over the familiar texture. Then I quickly folded it up and stuffed it into the bottom of the duffle where nobody would see it.
After a quick trip to the bathroom, I grabbed my toothbrush, my scrubby gloves from the shower, and my favorite strawberry shampoo. It was cheap stuff that probably didn't do anything special for my hair, but it smelled good and made me feel happy.
I did one more sweep of the house, to grab my phone charger and the book I'd been reading, then I locked up and headed outside to where Ellis was waiting.
"All set?" He pushed off the truck and nodded toward the bag. “Got everything you need for a few days?”
"Yep." I tossed the duffle into my back seat and looked at him over the hood of my car. "Lead the way."
Driving behind Ellis to the other side of the city felt surreal.
It was like I was in a dream and watching someone else's life.
Twenty-four hours ago, I'd been working my normal shift and avoiding thinking about Derek.
Now, I was moving in with a guy I barely knew because my ex had turned into a stalker.
The strangest thing is that it felt completely right.
Ellis's house was in a quiet neighborhood about fifteen minutes past the gas station. It was an older home with a huge yard that was absolutely gorgeous. Native plants were carefully arranged in beds that looked wild but intentional, and a stone pathway led to the front door.
On the inside, the floors were beautiful new hardwood, and the walls had paint swatches all over them like he was trying to decide on a color palette.
"Sorry about the mess." Ellis closed the door behind us and engaged the locks.
Then he tapped a code into the key panel on the wall that must have been part of his alarm system.
"I've been slowly updating the place, but there’s still a ton to do.
I finished the floors last month, but I can't decide on wall colors. "
"It's nice." I looked around and took in the mismatched furniture and the boxes stacked in corners. "Really nice."
He chuckled. "Come on, I'll show you to your room."
He led me down a hallway to the first guest room. It was small with a double bed, a dresser, and a window that looked out over the backyard. The walls were painted a soft sage green, and it felt calm in here. Peaceful.
"Bathroom's across the hall." Ellis put my duffle on the bed and stepped back. "Feel free to use whatever you need. Towels are in the closet, and the bathroom is stocked with toiletries."
"Thank you." I felt like I'd said that a hundred times since getting to work, but he kept deserving it. "For everything."
"You're welcome. For everything." He smiled, and I could see how tired he was. "I'm gonna crash for a few hours, then I need to head out to a job site. I should be back around four or five so I can make us dinner, and then I’ll take you to work."
"You don't have to do that." I took a step toward him but stopped myself before I got too close. “I have my car, so I can drive myself.”
"I want to stay with you again tonight." He closed the distance between us and reached out to squeeze my shoulder. "Get some sleep, Adam. You're safe here."
I nodded, my throat tight with emotions I hadn’t felt before.
He closed the door softly behind him as he left me there.
I looked around the room for a moment then unpacked my duffle.
I put my clothes in the dresser and arranged my toiletries on top.
My blankie was at the bottom of the bag, so I shoved it under the pillow before I brushed my teeth and changed into my jammies.
After just a few minutes inside Ellis’s house, I was climbing between the softest sheets I’d ever felt, with my fingers quickly curling around my blankie as I sank into the soft mattress.
I was asleep before I could even think about being anxious.
When I woke up, the house was quiet, so I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and checked the time. Almost four in the afternoon. I'd slept for more than eight hours, which was more than I'd gotten in the past three days combined.
My body felt cozy and warm, and I didn’t want to wake up, but it was late, and Ellis was due home soon. I stretched and then got out of bed.
I got dressed then and padded down the hallway in my socked feet. Ellis wasn’t around, so he was probably still at work.
I filled a glass of water from the tap in the kitchen and found a note on the counter.
Adam - Help yourself to anything in the fridge. Code is 4177 to disable the front door alarm. My number is below if you need anything. Wifi password is DeepRoots4U. Make yourself at home. - Ellis
Below that was his phone number.
I saved his number in my phone, then looked around the kitchen. There were more paint swatches on the walls, and the window over the sink looked out at a huge backyard.
The coffee maker called out to me, so I made myself a pot and wandered into the living room. The couch looked comfortable, so I plopped down on it and inspected the stack of books on the shelves before reaching for the remote. Some mindless TV was exactly what I needed.
After flipping through the channels, I settled on a documentary about ocean life. The narrator's soothing voice filled the room and mesmerized me with talk about coral reefs and sea turtles. With my knees pulled up to my chest, I wrapped my arms around them and felt smaller than usual.
Safe.
For the first time in months, I didn't feel like I had to be on guard. The doors were locked and the alarm was set. Derek didn't know where I was, and most important of all, Ellis was coming back.
I let myself relax into the couch while sipping my coffee and watching fish swim across the screen.
My mind felt quiet and wasn’t racing with anxious thoughts for once.
After a while, I dozed off again, and the next thing I knew, I heard the front door opening.
The security system beeped and then went quiet as someone punched in the code.
"Adam?" Ellis's voice called out.
"In here." I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
He appeared in the doorway to the living room in his work clothes and seemed happy to see me. "Hey. You sleep okay?"
"Really good." I got on my knees and looked at him over the back of the couch. "Like, the best sleep I've had in forever."
"Good." He smiled a warm smile that made my tummy tingle. "I'm gonna grab a quick shower, then I'll start dinner. You hungry?"
"Starving."
"Perfect.” He walked to me and squeezed my shoulder. “Gimme twenty minutes."
Ellis disappeared down the hall, and then the bathroom door closed. I stayed on the couch, feeling warm and content and a little bit fuzzy. That was the feeling I got sometimes when I didn't have to think too hard about being a grown-up.
I turned the TV back on and found a cartoon channel that didn't require any brain power to follow. The characters were having an adventure and solving problems with friendship and teamwork. It was nice.
Ellis eventually came back out in clean jeans and a t-shirt. His hair was still damp from the shower. He paused when he saw what I was watching, but he didn't say anything mean about it. He just smiled. "Good choice. I love this show."
That was unexpected. "You do?"
"Yeah. It's fun." He headed into the kitchen. "You wanna keep me company while I cook?"
Hell yeah, I did. "Okay." I followed him in and took a seat at the small dining table. “Need help?”
“Nah, I’ve got this.” Ellis started pulling things out of the fridge. He moved around the kitchen casually like he enjoyed cooking. I was more of a fan of the eating part than the preparing part of dinner, but it was fun to watch him work. "You like stir fry?"
"Uh-huh." I was almost in a daze from watching his hands go from the faucet to the drawers to the counter. "With lotsa sauce."
He glanced at me, and something in his eyes softened. "Lots of sauce. Got it."
“What should I do?” I folded my hands in front of me to keep from fidgeting, but I was still a little bouncy and didn’t want to make him mad because I couldn’t sit still.
"You can sit right there and keep me company." His voice was gentle, and he winked at me. "It’s nice to have someone to cook for."
That made me feel warm inside because I didn’t usually have someone to cook for me.
I pulled my knees up so my heels were right on the edge of the chair and rested my chin on them while I watched Ellis chop vegetables.
He was good at it, slamming the knife quickly and confidently without fear of chopping off a finger.
I swayed a little to the rhythmic sound of chopping. It was soothing.
After a minute, he stopped chopping. "You feeling okay?”
"Mm-hmm." I smiled at him and sighed. "Just enjoying this."
"I’m happy to hear that." He scraped the vegetables into a bowl and added some seasoning to the chicken. "You been taking care of yourself lately?"
I shrugged, not sure what he meant by that. "I guess..."
He looked at me again, and his eyes were so kind it made my chest ache. "Maybe I can help with that while you're here. Make sure you're eating and sleeping and not worrying so much."
God, that sounded amazing. But too much responsibility for a near-stranger to take on. "You don't have to do that."
"I know I don't have to." He added oil to his wok and then turned to face me fully. "I want to, Adam. I like taking care of people. Especially people I care about."
My heart did that silly racing thing again where it felt like it might explode. "You care about me?"
"Of course." He said it like it was obvious, and based on everything he’d done for me in the past twenty-four hours, maybe it was. "I really do."
I didn't know what to say to that, so I just smiled and tucked my face against my knees to hide how happy it made me.
Ellis started to hum as he cooked, and I stayed curled up in the chair, watching him and feeling safe and warm and maybe a little bit small. But in a good way. In a way that didn't feel broken or wrong…
Mostly, I just felt cared for.