Page 29 of Rescued
“You know we’re here if you need us, right? You helped me so much after I first got here. Austin is Austin, but you… You were the first friend I met after I got free. You’re special to me. I want to be here for you if you need me.”
“I know,” I croak out. And I do. I think, anyway.
“I’m serious, Arlo. You can talk to me about anything.”
But how? How can I talk to him about anything when he’s so close to Jasper? When his boyfriend is Jasper’s best friend? How am I supposed to just… trust that I can talk about things?
Hell, I hurt Jasper. If anything, he’d probably take his side.
“I know,” I say again, raising my head and looking at him.
The door opens, and Theo walks out. “He left.”
I dart my gaze to Theo. “He did?” Fuck. That’s what I wanted, right? So why does it hurt so much?
“He did,” Theo says, nodding. “He said to let you know his door is always open if you want him.”
I do want him. So fucking much.
“You can take the rest of the day off if you need to,” Luca says gently.
I shake my head. I can’t afford to do that. I really just can’t. “No. I’m scheduled to close. I want to close.”
“It’s no big deal. I don’t mind staying later to close for you,” Theo offers.
I shake my head again. Harder this time. “No. I want to stay.”
And even if I didn’t want to, Ineedto.
“Okay,” Luca says, patting his thighs and then pushing to his feet. “I should head back in. There’s no one in there.”
When Luca disappears back inside, Theo holds a hand out to me, helping me to my feet.
“Hey,” he says when I walk past him. I stop, turning to face him. “I understand not wanting to talk to Luca. Especially since he and Jasper are so close.” I nod my agreement. “I’m not close to Jasper, though.”
What does that have to do with anything?Oh.Despite everything, my heart warms. “Thanks, Theo. If I need to talk, I’ll let you know.”
Without another word, I step back into the diner. There’s not a lot I can do about Jasper right now. I’m not sure there’s anything I can do about him at all.
All I know for sure is that I need money. Which means I need to put my game face on and finish my shift.
I’veneverbeentoHunter’s house before. First time for everything, I guess.
With a deep breath, I raise my hand and knock on the door, then step back. I count the seconds. If it hits a minute, I’m leaving. It’ll be my sign from the universe that this was a stupid idea.
…forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty—
The door swings open, and Hunter’s eyes widen. “Arlo?”
“Is Theo here?” I’m not usually one for rambling, but I must be some kind of fucked up today because I can’t seem to stop the words that come flying out of my mouth. “Uh, Theo told me if I needed someone to talk to that I could talk to him, and maybe he didn’t mean that, but if he did, I’d really like to talk to him. Is he here? I could really—”
Theo pushes his way into the doorway and cuts off my rambling. “Arlo, hi. Do you wanna go for a walk with me?”
I nod, almost helplessly. “Please.”
After pressing a kiss to Hunter’s temple, Theo ushers him back into the house and steps onto the porch.
“Let’s walk to the goat barn.”
