Page 7 of Under Their Protection

“Why would you walk in there with him if you are staying there?” she asks, still staring me down. She can smell my lie clearly now. I can feel Rowan’s eyes on me now also.Fuck.

“You said you were staying with a friend from high school,” Rowan says, narrowing his eyes at me.

“What? Where are you staying for real?” Mia asks.

“Mia,” I sigh and sit down at the table.

“Where did you stay last night?” Rowan asks.

“I drove around all night and went to my gym to get ready,” I admit. I opt to pull my phone out to fight off the nerves. I can’t handle how they are staring at me. Mia stomps over and yanks the phone from my hand and tosses it on the table. She squats down in front of me and takes my hands.

“Were you just planning on staying in your truck because you didn’t want to ask for help?” she asks softly. I nod as tears well up in my eyes. I’ve done well with not crying. I don’t want the first time I break down to be at work.

“I can get Caleb out tonight and you can stay with me,” she says.

“You can’t make your brother homeless,” I say as I wipe away a tear rolling down my cheek.

“You are already homeless, Anika,” she says with firmness in her voice.

“I have a guest room you can take over,” Rowan says as he sits in the chair beside me and points for Mia to sit also.

“No, Rowan,” I snap.

“Why?” he asks.

“You think walking into my parent's house with you will make him blow up? He will lose his goddamn mind if he finds out that I moved in with you, even if it's only until I find a place.”

“Why do you give a shit what he thinks, Ani?” Mia asks.

“I don’t,” I say.

“Then you are scared of him,” Rowan says.

“Has he hurt you before?” Mia asks.

“Depends on how you look at it,” I mumble and look at my hands.

“What does that mean?” she asks.

“He’s left bruises like that before from grabbing me. He’s never actually hit me, but he’s thrown shit at me before and threatened to hurt me when we get into a bad enough fight,” I admit. “All of our fights were over him thinking I was fucking someone. Mostly Rowan. Any one male who so much as looked at me for too long was also assumed to be someone I was involved with or someone Iwantedto be involved with,” I explain. “And before you two see me as some battered victim, I very much played a role in these fights.”

“Anika, he is nearly a foot taller than you. He threw things at you and constantly blamed you for doing things you weren’t. You may have played a role in the fighting but I’ll betanythingit was only reactive.” Rowan says.

“It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t need a label,” I say as I continue to look at my hands in my lap.

“My point is, I’m helping you whether you want it or not,” Rowan says simply. I sigh and lean back in my chair to look at Rowan.

Rowan Garcia is six-feet-two-inches of muscle. He’s not so ripped that he looks like he lives at the gym, but he definitely enjoys working out. He has stunning blue eyes, neatly styled dark brown hair with an equally as neat beard. Rowan is without a doubt a gorgeous man. I don’t know if I can handle being in his home when I’ve been without sex. He’s too delicious. He’s too sweet and caring.

I am happy with how I look, outside of my belly being too big. Mia scolds me all of the time for hating on my belly. I feel like I make up for it by having a nice ass and breasts that could stop a man in his tracks. My long blonde hair is frizzy but manageable if I’m nice enough to it.

The fact that I am comparing us physically as far as compatibility says that living in his home is a recipe for disaster.

“Rowan, I don’t need pity protection” I frown.

“How much do you have in savings?” Mia asks.

“Yeah… About that,” I say slowly.

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