Chapter 17 Forced Proximity
FORCED PROXIMITY
RAE
Ash insisted on driving the hour’s trip back home.
I didn’t mind. The funeral drained me, and my eyes ached from crying.
Ezra took the passenger seat, and Cyn and Zeke piled into the back on each side of me since they were a few inches taller than my five-eight.
“What if we get pulled over?”
Ash met my eyes in the rear-view mirror. “I doubt we will, but Zeke can handle it.”
Zeke reached over and squeezed my knee. The touch of his warm hand on my leg relaxed me. “Don’t stress it. We’ll be fine.”
“If you say so,” I said around a yawn.
Ash fiddled with the radio until he found a station playing classic rock and left the volume down.
I tried to stay awake, but the car’s gentle rocking and the warmth on both sides lulled me. My eyelids drooped in no time.
I heard whispered arguments, but I didn’t want to come up from the cocoon of warmth surrounding me. The smell of cedarwood and jasmine relaxed me, so I buried my face in the soft material beneath me, inhaling the addictive scent.
“We need to get her inside,” a voice said.
My cocoon tightened around me, and I gripped the soft material on reflex. I didn’t want it to release me either.
Fingers brushed hair from my forehead. “We’re home, Rae,” Zeke whispered.
“No,” I whined, tucking my head down, drawing my knees closer to my body. I didn’t want Zeke to take me away from the first peaceful rest I’d had since finding out Grandma had died.
Someone chuckled.
“She’s kinda cute like this,” Zeke said.
“Yeah, but why me?”
“You don’t look like you’re in a hurry to let her go, either.” Ash. I recognized his voice instantly.
“Shut up.” Cyn. “She’s the one who grabbed me.”
What? I couldn’t make sense of their words, and I hated them interfering with my rest.
“So let her go,” Ash said, a challenge in his voice.
I knew he was smiling. His challenge carried a teasing edge. Strange to understand that when I barely knew him.
The cocoon beneath me vibrated with a low growl too close to my ear, and I drew in a sharp breath, rousing.
“You scared her, Cyn,” Zeke said, and fingers brushed my forehead again.
I opened my eyes, then immediately shut them and buried my face in my soft pillow as bright light assaulted my eyes. “Turn it off,” I groaned. “Sleep.”
“Let’s get you inside and fed, then you can go to bed,” Ash said.
“Don’t wanna,” I mumbled, sleep dragging me down again.
Zeke sounded amused when he asked, “Why not?”
“Comfortable.” I breathed in the pleasant scent and relaxed, starting to doze again. “Smells… good.”
“I’m not sitting out here all night.”
My body stiffened when the sharpness in Cyn’s voice pierced my sleepy haze.
I blinked a few times as my eyes adjusted to the dim interior light of Maya’s car. “What’s going on?”
Zeke leaned in through the open door. “We’re home.”
“Oh,” I muttered. I knew that. As my mind cleared, I realized I wasn’t in a cocoon or on a pillow. I slowly craned my neck, looking up into hooded amber eyes. “Um.” I looked down at my hand twisted in Cyn’s dress shirt, wrinkling the fabric.
“Are you going to move? I want to go inside. I’m hungry.”
His words sounded casual, edged with his usual harshness. But his fingers flexed on both my back and hip, holding me firmly. The proprietary hold contradicted his words.
“I’m sorry I fell asleep on you,” I mumbled, pulling from his embrace and sitting up. I rubbed my bleary eyes, grateful for waterproof mascara. “I didn’t mean to.”
Cyn said nothing, just watched as I slid out of the car. Zeke took my hand and helped me to my feet.
Ash rounded the car and put his arm around my shoulder, guiding me to the front door where Ezra waited with my keys to let us in.
“Rae?”
I tensed, glancing over at Mr. Stevenson peeking through the gap in his door. “Evening, Mr. Stevenson.”
I’d seen my neighbors a few times since the guys arrived, but they’d managed to avoid each other. I wondered how it looked for me to enter my house with four men, one with his arm around my shoulder.
“How’d everything go?”
“Go?”
“Bonnie’s funeral.” He stepped aside when Max whined to get outside. “It was today, right?” He looked down at my black dress and at the guys dressed in slacks and dress shirts.
“Yes, sir.” I crouched, running my hands through Max’s fluff.
“Hey Max buddy.” He licked my face, probably tasting the salt on my cheeks.
I looked back up at Mr. Stevenson, who watched the guys with suspicion, his thick salt-and-pepper mustache hiding his lips as he pressed them together.
“These are my cousins from out of town,” I said, standing.
I’d thought of the excuse after I’d agreed to let them stay two weeks ago. Grandma died, so it made sense that family from out of town might visit. Even though I didn’t want to lie, it sounded better than four strange men.
“Cousins,” he said, tone flat as he eyed Ash.
“Well, not all of us,” Ash said without missing a beat, stepping forward and looping an arm around my waist. “I’m her boyfriend.
I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to introduce myself with everything going on.
I’ve been staying with her since Bonnie passed, so she wasn’t alone.
” He held his hand out. “Ash Cyriac. Pleasure to meet you, sir.”
I looked up at him in surprise.
Mr. Stevenson took his hand, pleased with his manners. “No need for apologies, young man. I’m sure you’ve both been preoccupied with Bonnie and family.” He looked at the other three guys. At least Cyn and Ezra resembled each other—they were actual cousins.
“Yes, sir.” Ash squeezed my waist. “It’s been a lot, but we’re getting through it.” He motioned to Ezra. “Ezra and I used to be roommates before I moved to Raleigh. It’s how I met Rae last year.” He nodded at Cyn and Zeke. “This is Cyn and Zeke. They moved in after I left.”
“It made sense for us all to come together when Ash called,” Ezra said, voice calm and convincing.
The news seemed to placate Mr. Stevenson’s suspicions, his expression relaxing.
“Well, you boys take care of Rae. She’s a sweetheart and doesn’t need any trouble.” He eyed Ash. “You’re a big guy. She needs that. Someone to keep the weirdos away.”
Ash chuckled. “Of course. I’ll keep a good eye on her.” Surprise hit me again as he kissed the top of my head, thumb stroking my waist.
“C’mon, Max. Your mama’s ready for bed.” He smiled at me after Max rushed inside. “S’pose you boys will be hanging around for a while to look out for our girl?”
Ash’s hand tightened on my waist as the guy’s shared a look. “Yes, sir.”
Mr. Stevenson nodded, once again satisfied with Ash’s response. “Alright then. Goodnight, Rae. If you need anything, just holler.” He looked at the guys one last time before going inside, muttering, “Ain’t heard names like that before.”
Zeke rolled his lips in to keep from laughing. His eyes twinkled beneath the porch light.
“Let’s go inside,” I whispered, stepping forward to take the keys from Ezra.
Once the door closed and I put my purse on the table, I turned to Ash. “Boyfriend?”
He ran a hand over the braids on the side of his head. “Well, I figured it’d be more awkward to explain why your cousin had his arm around you?”
I pressed my fingers into my eyes. “Consoling me,” I muttered.
“What?”
I looked up at him. “Maybe you were consoling me after a funeral?”
Zeke snorted when Ash’s face went blank. “Didn’t think that one through.”
“Shit. I’m sorry, Raelynn.”
“And what’s with that?”
He raised a brow. “What?”
“Raelynn. You called me Rae outside.”
“You said your friends call you Rae. I assumed your boyfriend would too. Wouldn’t he?”
I slid off my shoes and crossed to the kitchen, pulling leftover Chinese from the refrigerator. “I guess?”
Zeke took a stool at the counter. “You guess?”
“It’s been a while. I don’t make a habit of recalling past relationships.”
Cyn took the stool beside Zeke. He hadn’t said a word to me since we got out of the car. I could only imagine what Mr. Stevenson would’ve thought if he’d seen that first.
I scraped lo mein, chicken, and broccoli into a bowl, slid it into the microwave, and pushed the containers in Ezra’s direction.
Ash hesitated at the edge of the kitchen. “Are you mad?”
I looked up from my phone. “Huh? Me?”
“Yeah.”
“No. Why would I be mad?”
“The boyfriend thing.”
Seeing such a big man look so uncertain and uncomfortable tugged at my heart. He genuinely cared about not upsetting me. I’d noticed from the beginning he considered my feelings and well-being. Another contradiction of everything I’d been taught about demons.
“It’s fine. I doubt we’ll see them much before you leave.” I set my phone down and grabbed my bowl when the microwave beeped. “You can call me Rae,” I said before taking a bite, leaning over the counter.
He seemed to relax at that, coming around the counter and preparing his own meal once Ezra finished. Cyn and Zeke got to work putting leftovers on plates after him.
When I finished my meal, I looked at the guys. “Thanks for coming today,” I said, thumb tracing the bowl’s edge. “Even if it was to keep me from running away, it was nice not to be alone.”
Zeke looked up from his plate before he jumped up and rushed around the counter, wrapping me in a tight hug. “We wouldn’t leave you alone,” he said. He let me go when I wiggled, his grip squeezing too tight.
I’d reached a point where I didn’t even try to stop him anymore. It wasn’t like having him touch me bothered me, anyway.
I looked from Ash to Ezra. “And thanks for saving me earlier.” I swallowed when I met Ezra’s eyes.
Instead of the usual intensity when Ezra watched me, he dipped his head in acknowledgment and moved around Zeke and me to the dishwasher, putting his dirty dishes away.
I wondered if he stayed this quiet with the guys when I wasn’t around.
My gaze drifted to Ash as he ate his dinner.
Mr. Stevenson thought Ash was my boyfriend and that both he and the guys were here to take care of me.
I hadn’t corrected him.
If the guys left now, people would ask why. The lies would stack up, and I wasn’t prepared to deal with the aftermath. Letting that story stand meant I couldn’t just turn them away without consequences.
After what they’d done for me at the funeral, I wasn’t sure that was such a bad thing. They’d saved me when they didn’t have to. I might be the reason they were stuck here, but their presence meant I didn’t have to drown in my grief alone.
I wasn’t alone anymore.
And I wasn’t sure if that made me feel better… or trapped right along with them.