Chapter 5
Moe
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Moe sat on the couch, elbows on his knees, eyes fixed on the bathroom door. The sound of the shower ran steady behind it, steam curling out from the crack at the bottom. He stared across the room, making sure not to let his guard down. With Jillian, he could travel back through the veil.
He'd eaten dinner at the restaurant with Jillian sitting across from him, picking at her food like she wasn't hungry.
Copper had watched them both too closely.
Moe didn't like the way the other men in Everstill looked at her either.
He understood that having a woman around would bring a lot of attention.
The same thing happened when Kallie showed up.
Finn had broken away from his scheduled walks and spent less time riding motorcycles with Moe. His friend became possessive of Kallie, never letting her out of his sight.
Now he understood why. The same thing happened to him with Jillian. She belonged to him, not the others in Everstill.
He needed to get back and find Finn and talk to him.
The shower shut off. Silence filled the house again, thick and heavy. A moment later, the bathroom door opened, and Jillian stepped out with her hair wet and clinging to her shoulders. She held her pile of dirty clothes in her arms and waited.
He dipped his chin once, giving her permission to wash them.
She always waited for permission. Always looked at him like she wasn't sure what she was allowed to do.
It had become their ritual every night since he'd bought her sweats from the store so she could change out of the only outfit she had with her.
None of the jeans or shirts at the store fit her, and since no women's clothes ever showed up in Everstill, she lived in sweatpants and sweatshirts that hung off her small frame.
She cinched the waist tight and rolled the sleeves and legs, but she still looked swallowed by the material.
The washer kicked on, water filling the drum in a steady rush. Moe leaned back on the couch, stretching his legs out. He could hear her moving down the hallway, soft steps, hesitant. She appeared a moment later, hovering in the doorway before crossing the room.
She sat in the cushioned chair across from him, pulling her legs up and hugging her middle. She kept her gaze fixed on the floor, her wet hair dripping onto the oversized sweatshirt.
He watched her. She knew he was watching her, too. He wasn't going to deny him the pleasure of looking at a beautiful woman.
After a long stretch of silence, she asked, "Was this your life when I wasn't here?"
Her small frame curled into the chair. The fear she tried to hide. The exhaustion she couldn't mask. The way she held herself like she was bracing for something.
His life before her was empty. He didn't feel anything then. Didn't want anything. Didn't need anything.
But he needed to know how Finn was able to leave. He wanted to know why the road endlessly looped. More than anything, he wanted to know who had control over his life since ending up in Everstill and how they stole all his emotions and memories.
Since going through the veil, he learned there had to be something more exciting than working at the store every day and living life stuck away from women.
He remembered a time when there were women in his life. He enjoyed touching them. That he knew, but he couldn't remember why.
Now he had ideas that kept his mind constantly busy. Jillian was always at the front of his thoughts, making him think of his life before Everstill and wanting different things now.
He leaned back, eyes never leaving her. "Yeah," he said finally, voice low. "This was it."
Her arms tightened around her legs. She didn't look up. She didn't ask anything else.
The silence was welcome. It gave him time to study her. She kept her gaze fixed on the floor, but he could practically see the questions bouncing around in her head.
For a long time, he didn't move. Didn't speak.
He just watched her and tried to figure out what she meant by that question.
Was this your life when I wasn't here? What did she think he was missing?
What did she imagine happened in this house after he spent a day working at the store?
He didn't understand why she judged him. Or why it mattered.
He leaned back slowly, the couch creaking under his weight. "It's time for bed."
Her head snapped up, eyes wide. "Already?"
"It's late."
She shifted in the chair, pulling her knees tighter to her chest. "Can't we... talk more?" Her voice was thin, strained. "You didn't tell me much. About this place. Or... or anything."
Moe narrowed his eyes. She wasn't suddenly interested in Everstill. She was stalling. He could see it in the way her fingers dug into the fabric of her sleeves, in the way her gaze kept darting toward the hallway where the bedroom waited.
She didn't want to go to bed.
More specifically, she didn't want to go to bed with him.
He exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand over his jaw. She tensed every night when he told her it was time to sleep. She didn't understand why he stayed close, why he kept a hand on her wrist or her sleeve or her fingers while they slept.
He didn't do it to scare her.
He did it because he couldn't risk her running again. Not in the dark. Not in a place she didn't understand. Not when she was the only thing that could get him back through the veil.
But she didn't know that. All she knew was fear.
He stood slowly, the movement making her flinch. "There's nothing else to talk about."
Her breath caught. "Can't we stay up a little longer?"
"There's no reason to delay sleep." His gaze dropped to her chest. The sweatshirt hid nothing. He knew exactly what was underneath the material. "Unless you want me to entertain you."
Color drained from her face. She pressed back into the chair, her fingers tightening around her knees.
Moe stayed on the couch. He let the truth settle over her.
She was afraid of him. And she should be.
Fear was normal. Fear made sense. Fear kept people alive.
If he wanted to, he could pin her to the bed and have sex with her.
His cock pulsed to life. He should want sex.
He knew that much. Some moments, like now, the urge was there, pushing him toward her.
Other times, he wondered where his desires had gone.
Had it left like so many of the other emotions that escaped him in Everstill?
He jerked his chin toward the hallway. "Come on. You need sleep."
She hesitated, her throat working as she swallowed. "Do you... do you have to stay in the room?"
He let the question hang between them, thick and trembling.
Then he nodded once. "Yeah."
Her eyes filled with something that wasn't quite tears but wasn't far from it. She looked away, shoulders curling inward.
She needed to learn how to cope in Everstill. Soon, her worries would fade away. Her thoughts would stay on task. Emotional pain would stop hurting.
That's what happened to him and the others.
"Let's go." He stood, motioning her to get up.
She jumped, hurrying toward the room. The sweats threatened to slide off her hips. Hips that swayed side to side when she walked.
He refused to hide the way his body reacted to her. If they were going to live together, she would have to get used to him.
And the moment she wasn't in fight-or-flight mode and accepted her place in Everstill, he was going to have sex with her.