Chapter Ten
Casey was sitting on the floor of Aleena’s daddy’s office with a few of the littles, playing a card game. She tried to keep her attention to what she was doing, but the thought that Simon didn’t really want her filled her head.
“Hey, what’s up with you? You’ve hardly talked,” Riley asked.
Casey set her cards down. “Can I ask you guys a question?”
“Always. There’s nothing you can’t ask us,” Kinley said.
“Well, I’ve been living with Simon for about a week, and he hasn’t made any move to touch me. Did your daddies do that? Wait for a while after meeting you to … you know?” Casey asked.
They all shook their heads.
“Mine was pretty horny from the beginning,” Brylee said.
The other girls said the same thing.
Casey wiped a tear from her cheek. “He sleeps beside me at night, but he barely even kisses me like he did before. I don’t know what to do.”
The girls crowded in and all of them patted her and talked. It was so much that Casey couldn’t understand any of them.
“Guys, wait,” Sienna snapped. “One at a time.”
“I’ll go first,” Riley said.
“No, you won’t,” Sienna snapped. “You’ll just confuse her.”
“You bitch,” Riley retorted. Then, the two were arguing.
They had done this a few times over the last week and she would have smiled if she wasn’t so heartbroken.
Brylee squeezed her hand. “Ask him.”
“Oh God, no, I couldn’t. I know what he’ll say, and if it was face-to-face, I’d break down in front of him. I don’t want to do that. It will make him feel guilty.”
“What if there’s a good reason?” Aleena asked.
“He gets this look in his eyes when he thinks I’m not looking.”
“Can you describe it?” Riley asked.
Casey thought about it for a second. “The closest word I can use is disappointment.”
All five girls had tears in their eyes.
“What are you going to do?” Brylee asked.
“I was going to my aunt’s house before I got in an accident,” Casey said.
“What were you going to do there?”
“My mom said the aunt would help me find a job, and I could stay with her until I’m able to get an apartment.”
“Is that where you think you’re going?” Sienna asked.
“It’s the only place I can go. I don’t think my parents want me to go back there.”
“They suck,” Riley said.
Casey shook her head. “No. They’re actually really great. They knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere if I stayed in the little town we lived in. If I had to go back, I feel like I’d be living with them for the rest of my life and working at a grocery store. I want more than that.”
The other girls nodded.
“Do you know her address?” Kinley asked.
“Yes, I have it. I guess it’s only an hour from here,” Casey said.
“Good, then we can still see each other,” Sienna said.
“If you don’t have your car, how are you going to get there?” Riley asked.
“We could ask one of the daddies to help,” Brylee said.
Aleena shook her head. “No, they’d go right to Simon.”
“Do you know if there are buses here?”
“There’s got to be. But remember what Kyla told us,” Brylee said. “It was terrifying. She was even attacked on it.”
Casey’s heart dropped. There was no other way. “I don’t think I have a choice.”
“We can ask Nia. She’s the only one of us that drives. We’d have to take her so she could drive us back,” Aleena said.
“She would do it. But now, we have to find a car,” Riley said.
“But wait. You guys could get in trouble, couldn’t you?”
Casey was shocked when they all smiled.
“It’s been a while since we poked at the daddies,” Sienna said.
She didn’t understand. “You guys aren’t afraid of your daddies being mad at you?”
Aleena snorted. “No. They would never hurt us, and we littles feel it’s our job to keep them on their toes, or life could get boring.”
Casey rolled her eyes. “When can you talk to Nia?”
“I’ll call her now,” Kinley said.
Casey listened to her talk to Nia. Kinley looked happy when she hung up.
“She said she’d absolutely go with us, and she can get a car,” Kinley said.
“How?” Brylee asked.
“She’s going to take one from the basement of the building because she knows where the key is.”
“God, you guys. That’s grand theft auto, isn’t it?” Casey was starting to dread the answers. It didn’t seem like these women were afraid of anything.
Kinley grinned. “She said she’ll get permission.”
Casey didn’t understand why all the girls started laughing. She didn’t feel good about this.
“When?”
Kinley. “Nia said she could get it in the morning. Why don’t we tell our daddies we are with another littleone? They wouldn’t think we’d drive an hour away.”
“Let’s meet in the basement of the security building where Travis works,” Riley said.
“What if we’re caught?” Brylee asked.
Aleena thought about it for a moment. “If one of us gets caught before they can get there, text one of us. That way, we won’t wait for you.”
The girls nodded.
“Let’s finish this game. My daddy will be here in an hour,” Riley said.
Casey tried to keep her mind off the fact thatshe wouldn’t ever see Simon again, and the physical pain almost took her breath away.
Kaleb came to get Aleena. “Casey, I told your daddy I’d take you home.”
Casey nodded and hugged everyone, then followed Aleena and Kaleb out of the building. They rode up the elevator and made sure she got to her apartment.
Aleena hugged her. “Tomorrow.”
Casey tried to smile but waved. “Thank you, Kaleb.”
“You’re welcome. Simon will be home shortly. If you get scared, just call up to our place, and I’ll come and get you.”
Casey nodded as the door closed. She had no idea how much time she had, so she raced into the bedroom and packed her things except for an outfit and her toiletries. She hid the suitcase under the bed.
“Casey, I’m home,” Simon called.
She took some deep breaths and then pasted a smile on her face before running out to him. She stopped about three feet from him. “I’m sorry. I just got home, so I haven’t started dinner.”
He held up a bag and grinned. “That’s perfect because I brought home Chinese.”
“Yum.” She loved Chinese. “I’ll get the plates. What do you want to drink?”
“I’ll take a beer.”
“Can I have a soda?” she asked.
“Yes. But just one.”
She was going to miss being taken care of.