Chapter 6
MILA
Groaning, I blink several times before turning and looking at Tobias driving.
“Why is it so bright?” I ask. “Didn’t we just leave a couple of hours ago? Shouldn’t it be dark by now?”
Tobias briefly looks at me before focusing on the road. “Good afternoon, sleepyhead. Do you feel better?”
“Afternoon?” I sit up. “Where are we? Shouldn’t it be nighttime?”
“We stopped at a hotel last night. You slept through the whole night and briefly woke up when we got back in the car. Do you not remember anything?” he asks.
“No,” I mumble. “How long have we been on the road?”
“We have seven more hours in our drive. We’ve done a total of eight hours,” he replies. “Do you want to stop for lunch? You haven’t eaten anything since I picked you up.”
I open my mouth to tell him no when my stomach grumbles. Cheeks flushing, I look away from him.
“Perfect timing. We’re almost in a big city where it’ll be easier to find anything you want to eat. Are you craving anything?” he asks.
“Fries,” I blurt out before I can stop myself.
“Okay, we can get fries for you, but you also need something else. Something that is going to fill you up. Do you want a burger or a steak?”
I shake my head. “Just fries.”
“No.”
My mouth hangs open as I look at him. “No?”
“You heard me. I said no. You are going to have something else with your fries. So you can pick a burger or a steak. If you don’t want to, then I can pick one for you.”
I push my bottom lip out as I turn to face him. “I just want fries.”
“Is this how your diet has always been?” he asks.
“There is nothing wrong with it. I get the calories I need to keep me going,” I grumble.
“A lot of the wrong calories. You need meat to be able to sustain the energy your body needs. So you decide. Burgers or steak?”
“Neither.” I cross my arms over my chest and look away.
“Steak it is,” he decides. “If you change your mind, just let me know.”
As he continues to drive, I stay silent. I don’t want either of them. I just want delicious fries with some ketchup. Why does he have to decide that I can’t just have those?
“You aren’t my daddy,” I say before I can stop myself.
“I may not be but I’m responsible for you during this trip and hopefully if you allow me to for the rest of your life.
” He gives me a pointed look as he pulls into a parking lot.
“So I will be taking care of you and making sure that you get the food you need in your body. I’ll even feed you each bite if you want. ”
My cheeks turn bright red, and I quickly look away. I wouldn’t mind him feeding me food.
I smack my forehead. “Bad Mila,” I scold myself.
“Hey! No hitting yourself,” Tobias scolds me. “We don’t hit ourselves. No matter what.”
“But—”
“No buts. You should not hurt yourself.” He grabs my hands and gives them a small squeeze. “It’s not good for you, and I don’t want you to get into the habit of it. Understand?”
“Yes,” I whisper.
“Good. Now, let’s go and get some food.”
We get out of the car, and Tobias grabs my hand, walking with me to the entrance of the steak place.
“I don’t really want anything,” I mumble. “I’m not that hungry.”
“Then you can have some of my steak, but you are eating some meat before you eat any fries.”
Pouting, I allow him to take me to our table and order the food.
“Why do you even care?” I grumble. “I’m no one to you.”
“Did you not hear what I said earlier?” he asks. “I am taking care of you during this trip and if you allow me to, I want to take care of you for the rest of our lives as well. I want to be someone that you can rely on and can tell me anything and everything.”
I open and close my mouth several times, my brain short circuiting. Did he really just say that to me?
“Wh-what?” I ask.
“I can repeat it as many times as you want but it’s going to stay the same. I won’t change what I meant,” he replies. “And I can even write it down on a piece of paper so you can keep it close to you, looking at it any chance you want.”
I just stare at him, not knowing what to say.
“I’ve seen that I’ve shocked you some. We can always revisit this conversation later.
I do have a question for you though. Do you normally sleep that much?
” he asks. “You had me worried with how easily you fell asleep in the car and wouldn’t wake up until this afternoon.
You almost slept a whole day. I even called Aiden and was about to take you to the emergency room. ”
“You called Aiden?” My voice comes out high.
My face falls into my hands as I take several deep breaths. This is not good. I can feel the headache from all the questions Aiden is going to ask me when we finally get there.
“Is it too late to turn back?” I ask as I look up at him.
“Why, what’s wrong?”
“You called Aiden about this. Now he’s going to ask me a bajillion questions and I don’t want to answer any of them,” I grumble.
How does he not see how bad this situation is going to be? Once Aiden starts asking all of those questions, then he’s going to probe into other parts of my life and figure everything out.
“I don’t think I’m prepared for this. Let’s turn around,” I say quickly. “There is still enough time. Or you can leave me here and I’ll figure out how to get back home.”
Tobias shakes his head. “No. You are not staying here, and we are not turning around. What is done is done.”
“Why did you call Aiden?” I whisper.
Tobias reaches over and grabs my hands, rubbing his thumbs on the back of them. “Because I was worried about you. I was worried that something was wrong with you because you were still sleeping. Who sleeps for almost a day and doesn’t wake up once?”
“Me?” I ask innocently.
“It’s not something to be proud of, Little One.” He pins me with a look. “It’s not good at all. You sleeping that long and not even waking up to eat food means you have been working yourself too hard and were utterly exhausted. It means that you haven’t been taking care of yourself.”
“I’ve been taking care of myself,” I mumble.
Not well, but I have been. I eat at least one meal a day and drink three cans of soda. I get at least five hours of sleep.
“Little One.” He sighs. “Everything is going to change now. You are under my care, and I’m going to make sure that you are getting everything that you need.”
“I don’t need that. I’ve been taking care of myself just fine.” Lie.
I struggle to take care of myself. It takes so much energy… energy that I don’t have.
“Mila, let’s be honest with each other. You haven’t been taking care of yourself well, and it’s starting to show. I know you don’t want other people to worry, and you don’t want to bother people, but your health is at risk. You could get seriously sick and harm yourself. Do you know that?”
“Here’s your food. Do you need anything else?” the waitress asks.
“Could we get a small plate so we can split the food please?” Tobias asks, keeping his attention on me the whole time.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Do you know that?” he asks once again.
“I do,” I mumble. “I really do.”
So does Aiden after that phone call. I was trying to keep the fact that I wasn’t doing the best, but the doctor just had to go and call my emergency contact.
I really need to change that, but I know I won’t.
If anything serious were to happen, I would want him to know so he wouldn’t wonder if I was ignoring him when I wasn’t.
“So, are you going to let me take care of you after we get to the lodge?” he asks.
“Yes,” I reply before I can stop myself. “Wait!”
“You already agreed. You want this as much as I do. When we get to the lodge you’ll be staying with me, so I can keep a close eye on you. Understand?”
“Wait, I didn’t mean to agree to it!” I blurt out. “I promise I didn’t mean to say it.”
He raises an eyebrow as the waitress sets the plate down and leaves.
“Tobias, I really didn’t—”
“I think you really meant it, but you are worried that you are going to bother me. So you’re trying to back out,” he says. “Am I wrong?”
My mouth immediately shuts, and I look away from him. Sure, I want someone to take care of me, but just like he said… I don’t want anyone to be bothered by me. I don’t want them to get annoyed that they have to take care of me.
“Little One, look at me,” he says gently.
“Tobias.” My voice breaks as I shake my head.
“Look at me. It’s okay,” he whispers.
I lift my head slightly, and tears pool in my eyes as I see the caring look he’s giving me.
“You aren’t a bother,” he says. “Repeat after me. I’m not a bother.”
My lips stay sealed though.
“Mila, I want you to repeat those words with me. I’m not a bother. Come on, you can do it.”
“I’m not a bother,” I whisper, tears rolling down my face.
Tobias gets out of his booth and slides in right next to me, wrapping his arms around me.
“Just a good girl,” he praises me. “You are such a good girl and you aren’t a bother. To anyone.”
I continue to cry into his chest, letting everything out all while he holds me close to him, running his hands through my hair or down my back.
“Such a good girl,” he mumbles against the top of my head.
I pull away from him and wipe my eyes, keeping my head down. I can’t believe I just cried in a restaurant and in front of him. What was I thinking?
But I couldn’t help it. Tobias knew what I needed and what to say.
“I’m going to feed you now. All you need to do is relax against me,” he says, leaving no room for arguments.
Tobias cuts up the steak and feeds me a piece. My eyes roll to the back of my head as the flavors burst in my mouth.
“Delicious,” I mumble and open my mouth for another piece.
Tobias continues to feed me, giving me a fry every once in a while, but I can’t complain. I didn’t realize just how hungry I was until he gave me the first bite.
“Do you want any more?” he asks as he gives me the last bite of steak.
My eyes grow wide as I stare at the now empty plate. “I ate all of that?”
He nods, a small smile on his face. “You did. Do you need any more?”
I shake my head, but my stomach grumbles. Heat crawls up my neck, and I look away from him. How could I still be hungry after all of that?
“I’ll order some more and some for myself. There isn’t anything to be embarrassed about.”