His words calm me, and the possessive look in his eyes proves he isn’t lying. That’s all I need to hear to know Hero wants me and only me.
I kiss him again, knowing he’ll always protect me—always love me.
Chapter Nineteen
Hero
The weeks pass, all seeming to blend into one. Nothing has changed. Elyse is still staying with me and remains by my side day and night.
I’ve even been taking her with me on drops, unable to bring myself to a level where I feel comfortable leaving her alone at the house. And to make matters worse, she has been asking to go back to classes. I don’t want to be a bastard, the asshole who is over protective or possessive as hell, but this is how it needs to be right now.
Until I know she’s absolutely safe, secure, and no one is after her, she won’t be attending classes. I don’t care how much she fights me on it.
“Get dressed, babe. We’ve got to meet someone.” I don’t ever tell her what exactly we are doing, or who we’re meeting. Not because I don’t trust her, but because if I were to ever get caught, she technically wouldn’t be lying to the cops when she said she didn’t know what was going on.
“Okay.” She gets off the couch, without questioning me even a little bit.
I watch her walk into our bedroom and over to the dresser holding most of her clothes. I can’t pull my gaze from her. The way the fabric covers her perfectly sculpted body, those hips I love to dig my fingers into while I’m fucking her, and her curves that give me enough cushion…enough to hold onto.
Fuck, I can feel myself getting hard, and all she’s doing is putting clothes on. Damn, everything she does is sexy to me.
I’m so enamored by her getting dressed, I almost forget to get dressed myself. After quickly pulling on my own clothing, we head out the door. Like the gentleman I am, I hold Elyse’s door open for her and let her get in the car before I get into the driver’s side.
“Where are we going?”
“Meeting a friend at the football field. I just need to give him something. Then maybe we can go out for dinner or something?” We’ve been cooped up in the house the last couple days, maybe a night out is what we need.
“I’d like that.” She gives me the most gorgeous smile, making my heart skip two beats.
It doesn’t take us long to get to the football field. When I pull up to the field, I spot Gunner’s car parked at the far end of the lot.
As I get closer, I see he is not inside. Instead, there’s a girl leaning up against the hood. Strange. It isn’t normal for Gunner to have a girl with him.
I take the spot next to him and cut the engine.
“Just sit tight for a minute. I’ve got to see where he is.”
Getting out of the car, I feel myself getting pissed off. I told him what time to meet me, and I expect him to be here. Everyone knows you don’t make your dealer wait.
The girl sitting on his car straightens. She eyes me nervously, a lot like Elyse did when I first met her.
“Where is Gunner?” I growl, a little harsher than necessary. She flinches at my tone, and I feel a little bad for acting like an ass.
It’s not her fault he’s not here.
“He—He went to the locker room, I-I think. He said he’d be right back,” she tells me with a shaky voice.
The passenger door of my car opens, and Elyse climbs out.
Fucking Christ.
“What are you doing?” she yells at me, like she’s accusing me of a crime, her eyes narrowing. “Don’t you see you are scaring her?”
I inhale a calming breath, but it doesn’t really help, not with Gunner not being here. All I want is to finish up business and take my girl out for dinner, how fucking hard is that?
Elyse stomps across the parking lot and goes to stand next to the girl. She holds her hand out as if she’s offering a hand shake. “Hi, I’m Elyse. Don’t mind him. He can be a little grumpy sometimes, but once you get to know him, he becomes a sweetie.”
“Elyse!” The last thing I need is her making customers think I’m weak. When you’re weak, you get taken advantage of.
The girl visibly relaxes with Elyse’s friendly gesture. In fact, she takes her extended hand and shakes it. “Hi, I’m Lily.” She gives Elyse a soft smile, and I can easily see them becoming friends.
Out the corner of my eye, I see Gunner walking out of the locker rooms. As soon as he sees me, he picks up speed, almost running straight toward us. Jocks…they’re always buying some shit. Today’s pick is molly. I hope like hell he’s not using it on the girl with him tonight. Then again, it’s none of my fucking business. I’m the dealer. Not a guidance counselor.