Page 71 of Last Man Standing

“And they… what?” he bites out. “Have nothing else to offer you? Not even a fucking muesli bar from the pantry?”

Dunno. Maybe.

“You need to go to the kitchen and ask, Scarlett! You need to use your damn voice.”

“But—”

“Stop worrying about how much they don’t like you, or how mean Arabella is. Stop obsessing over the rejection you felt when she told Tank to take you away again, and stop rotting inside your pity party.”

“Linc—”

“If you’re hungry, eat. If you wanna leave your room, leave it. If you wanna sit in there and cry in the corner, then do it, but stop being so fucking sad about it all.”

“Why are you being such a jerk?” I glare out the window and watch as, seventy feet from where I sit, Sebastion walks a lap around his troops and barks out his orders.

He wears cargo pants, just like the rest of them. Weapons on his thigh. Another on his hip. He carries an automatic fucking rifle across his chest, like he thinks we’re going to war today, and a hat pulled low over his eyes. But his eyes… they’re on me. They hold me captive, they steal my breath, and then they make me jump as he barks out another booming “Go” for his men.

They drop to their bellies.

“I’m not trying to be a jerk,” Linc draws me back to our conversation. “I’m trying to knock a little perspective into you. Your life sucks right now, I get it. Bad shit happens to you, and we both know you don’t deserve it. But you have people out here who give a shit about you, Scar, and we’re working as hard as we can. You know I’m not inclined to side with Tank, like… ever,” he grunts. “But the dude risked everything by taking you there. He defied his mother’s orders and brought a stranger to the place no one else gets to go. You might not like it, but his actions were still for you, and they still matter.”

What are you? His best freakin’ friend?

“Eat something. Go for a walk. See the sunlight and enjoy the fact that, even though someone is out here in the real world trying to screw you over, wherever you are right now, whatever state, after however many turns and hills and fucking traffic lights you passed through, you’re so well hidden, not even I know where you are. And trust me, I don’t like having this blindfold on, but he made the right choice. You’re safe. Even if his mom is mean to you, and even if he’s a dick sometimes.”

“I miss my regular life,” I whisper tearfully. “I’m not trying to be a bitch, Linc. I’m not even trying to be mopey and annoying. I just want to go back to my life, to my apartment, my job, my friends. I want to feel normal for once, and not like someone is breathing on the back of my neck.”

“Which is why I’m out here doing what I can. It’s why Nova’s chatting up assholes in a bar, since sending her in to get information from a horny prick is easier and draws less attention than me asking him questions.”

“Wait.” I straighten my spine and think of our sweet Nova working a quasi-undercover op for my brother. “You’re sending her in to speak to these dudes?”

“When it’s safe,” he grits out. “When it’s controlled. And when she presents a good enough case for why her plan is better than mine.”

He hates it.

“Just sit still a little longer,” he groans. “Be patient. Don’t approach Arabella alone. And for the love of God, eat something, you dummy. Food gives us strength, remember? We need strength to outrun the bullshit.”

24

SCARLETT

NO. WAIT. THREE

Serena:

Remember the last time we were at the lake?

Wanna meet over there tonight?

It’s way too cold to take our clothes off, but we’ve always managed to get these things done, haven’t we?

I heard at chow you’ve brought a girl back here. I also heard she’s mega pissed about it.

I heard she’s staying in your room…

Sit with me at dinner? I wanna talk about us.

The bedroom door beeps a single second before it creeps open and startles me into fisting the protein bar I found in Sebastion’s bedside drawer and slipping it under my thigh. By the time he wanders in with a heaped dinner tray balanced on his arm, I have my snack hidden, my ankles crossed, and my back pressed to the headboard, much like his was early this morning.