Page 6 of Simply You & Me

Chapter Four

Adelyn

The barks of laughter around the table drive away some of my embarrassment at my kid claiming a stranger. Honestly, I'm not surprised with this development; Rory has always been super outgoing and extroverted. What does halt the breath in my lungs is the fact that she chose the sexiest man I think I have ever seen in my life.

"Aurora May..." I start, unable to hold back my laughter. The twinkle in her eyes dims when she narrows them at me, annoyed with my use of her middle name. "You can't keep him. If he wants to be your friend, that's fine. But he's not a pet." More snorts sound around me.

She peeks up at him with a hopeful look. Settling himself in the chair next to me, he gives her a nod. "I'll be your friend. Don't worry, Aurora May."

"Not you, too," she groans, her head rolling on her shoulders like her middle name is so horrible. I narrow my gaze, my silent way of telling her to be polite. Stepping into me, she bats her thick lashes. "Can I have some soda, please?"

I almost release a sigh of relief at having something to do. My head immediately nods, fine with letting her have some Sprite. "Sure, I'll get you a cup." I'm halfway out of my chair when a large hand clamps down on my shoulder.

"I'll get it, Doll. You just relax." The big one, Zach, I think, pushes me back into my seat. My sight clouds as Rory follows him to the kitchen. Once the heat of his palm cools and I can no longer feel the vibrations of his voice, my need to do something surfaces again.

"Pretty sure he told you to relax." This time, a heavy palm landing on my bare thigh keeps me seated. Wyatt, if I remember correctly, doesn't remove his touch, and if I'm being honest, I don't want him to take it away.

Nibbling on my lip, I shift, mildly uncomfortable with how close his fingers are to my cuts. "I'm sorry about Rory. She gets very excited about meeting new people."

He's silent for so long, I feel like I didn't say anything at all. "It was nice. No need to apologize." Wyatt's fingers flex, making me shiver.

"Eat." A plate is placed in front of me, distracting me from the midnight gaze of this beautiful man next to me. Seeing two slices of pizza and a stack of cheesy bread, my eyes widen into saucers. Zach stares me down and leans against the wall by Tate, and I find myself confused by what he's asking. Obviously, this isn't all for me.

"Um," I hesitate, but ultimately decide to slide it over to Wyatt. "Here, I think this is for you." He pushes it back to me with a blank expression.

"Ah-ah. That's for you, Doll. Eat."

I frown and eye Julian across from me. His shit-eating grin throws me off even more. Tate just watches on with curiosity. Wyatt proved to be no help.

Eyeing Zach, I say, "No, thank you."

His gaze hardens, making my heart skip a beat. "Uh oh," Wyatt mumbles under his breath and removes his hand, leaving me cold. The sense of loneliness that overcomes me is unwelcome.

"I'm not hungry." I push the plate away and grab my beer instead.

Zach stalks forward, his expression like fucking stone. One hand grips the back of my chair and the other plants across the tender flesh underneath the fabric of the romper. I can't help the pained gasp that slips free, nor can I control the jolt at feeling one of my scabs rip. The burn of tears makes my lip quiver. Biting the inside of my cheek, I hope like hell he didn't notice. I don't think I'm so lucky, though. He backs away immediately just as Tate steps forward, and Julian leans in. I feel the air shift where Wyatt is, and I just fucking know they saw every single sign of hurt.

Hovering a foot away, Zach stares into my damn soul like he's trying to pry my secrets from my bones. "Just this once. You will eat next time." I take his words as permission to leave, so I excuse myself and duck into the back hall.

Cursing under my breath when I see the bathroom door is closed, I look around frantically, trying to find a way to clean up discreetly. The universe laughs in my face by offering me a witness.

Rylee pauses at the front of the hallway. "Addie? You okay?"

"Um.” My voice wobbles at my friend's concern. "I?—"

She looks behind me, seeing what has me flustered. "You can use my bathroom. Come on.” Her whispered words make my first tear grace my cheek.

I take her outstretched palm, keeping my head ducked as she guides me up the stairs behind her. The sound of her nudging open a door draws me out of my fog. Stepping into her bedroom feels weird, but I'm grateful for the reprieve.

Before I can close the bathroom door on her, Rylee puts her hand against the door. "Addie. What's wrong?" Just as I shake my head, readying to deny the obvious, she continues, "I know that look. I'm not going to force you to tell me what demons are yanking on you right now, but I need you to tell me if I need to kick someone's ass."

"No. This is just me, I swear. I'll be down in a minute. Thank you, Rylee." This time, she allows me to close the bathroom door. Not before I see the soft look of concern on her face, though.

The tears fall faster at the reality of not being able to share my darkest issues with one of my best friends. She and Gabby have their own monsters. I just don't want them to see me differently. My way of coping isn't one that is easy to understand, and I don't think I have it in me to explain.

Tugging the purple fabric away, a sob gets lodged in my throat when I see the progress that's been ruined. This one was new, and here it is damaged. All signs of healing ripped away. I cry as I wipe the tears off my flesh.

"It's okay," I whisper, hoping to calm myself as well as the bleeding. "I'm okay." The weak attempt at consoling myself doesn't work.

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