Page 44 of Betrayal & New Beginnings

Two orgasms later,Iwas even more tired thanIwas before, but also very happy.IrealizedIcould get used to this.Andthat thought scared me.

16

ELLIE

Wade andTammyhad redone the schedule soIwas now working more bar shifts rather than waiting tables, sinceIwould always be behind the bar with someone else— whether that wasTammy,Wade,Sam, or whoever— and they would be close.Iwasn’t sure it was needed anymore becauseRandallhadn’t called again sinceTammytold himIno longer worked here and we moved my car.Theplan was working, butWadeand the guys still wanted me to be protected at all times until they could “check a few more things.”Theynever divulged what those things were, butIassumed that was what badass security people specialized in, soIdidn’t push.

Wade andIstill hung out most nights, unlessIwas working the late shift, but even then, he would come get me and walk me back to the apartment after my shift.Weate meals together, watched movies, and, yes, shared more amazing sex.Thelines were definitely blurred, butIwasn’t sure how to bring it up, andWadedidn’t try to bring it up either.

One morning this week,Ifinally talked myself into bringing the topic up casually over breakfast, but he took a phone call fromVince, who informed him he’d just moved my car back.Wadeexplained that the tracker on my car had been removed and was now currently onJack’scar sitting inArcher’sapartment complex parking lot.Thisway they could keep an eye on it while still givingRandallthe impressionIhad moved in case he was still tracking it.ThismeantIfinally had my car back.Iwas so excited thatIforgot to askWadeabout where we stood in terms of being a couple or just having casual sex.Ialways felt so guilty having to ask one of the guys to go with me for groceries or to the store, andIreally needed to go clothes shopping.

With my newfound freedom of transportation,Itook off on some errands, whichWadetold me was fine as long asItold them whereIwas going and agreed to share my location on my phone with all the guys.Italso felt good to be able to offer to drive whenRuthieandIhung out instead of always having her drive.EspeciallysinceArcherwas right—Ruthiewas a speed demon behind the wheel.

A few days afterIgot my car back,Iwas getting in soIcould drive over to one of the nearby college campuses and check it out for next semester.AsIslid into the driver’s seat,Inoticedthe seat was pushed back really far and all of my mirrors were nowhere near where they needed to be.Itstartled me a little, butIrealized one of the guys must have just borrowed the car and forgotten to move everything back.

A few days after that,Iturned on my car and the radio was on full blast.Deafeninglyloud music shot from the speakers to the point where even afterIturned it down, my ears were still ringing for what felt like an entire minute.Ihardly ever listened to music in my car, preferring audiobooks or podcasts, soIwas very confused but chocked it up to maybe bumping the buttons on accident.

The final straw for me was whenIwent out to my car to grab my umbrella from the passenger seat floor whereIleft it and saw one of those green tree car air fresheners hanging from my rearview mirror.Isat frozen in the seat for a moment, realizing thatIwould not have put that in there.Ipreferred the ones you clipped to your car’s vents, not the kind that hung from the mirror, distracting you as they swung.Achill ran through me asIremembered thatRandallloved those air freshener trees in his car.Mystomach churned with dread asIpulled out my phone and calledWade, who answered immediately.

“Hey, babe,” he answered, andIwent right into it.

“Did you put an air freshener in my car?”Iasked him.

“What?” he asked.

“An air freshener,”Iexplained. “Likethe ones that look like aChristmastree hanging from your rearview mirror.Didyou or one of the guys put one in my car?”

“No,Ididn’t, andIcan’t see whyVinceorArcherwould have done that.What’sgoing on,” he started to say with more of an alertness in his voice. “Whereare you?”

“I’m in the parking lot on the side over next to the hair salon,”Iexplained to him.

“Get out of the car and go into the salon and stay in there untilIcome for you,” he told me sternly. “I’mwalking out of the building now.”

I agreed and stayed on the phone with him asIwalked up to the salon.Therewere several complexes near the pub andRangerShieldSecuritythat were mixed use, businesses on the main floor and apartments on the upper floors.Iliked to park over by the salon, which was across the street diagonally to the pub, because they had more spots that were under the shade of trees, so my car wasn’t a thousand degrees whenIgot inside.Iwalked into the salon, pretending to just browse the hair products on the far wall whileIwaited forWade.Isaw him andVincewalk up to my car, andImade my way outside.

They started to inspect the car, inside and out, beforeVincespoke.

“Has this ever happened before?”Hesounded concerned and angry.

“No, but there have been some other weird occurrences lately,”Isaid and then told them both about my seat and mirrors being moved, as well as the radio incident.

Wade’s eyes twitched, andIcould see his jaw start to strain asIexplained the other happenings.

They looked at each other and said a few words that sounded like code and didn’t mean anything to me, before looking back at me.IrealizedIwas about to lose some of my car freedom all over again.

Technically, the guys didn’t sayIcouldn’t drive it anymore, but they did make me park my car right in front of the entrance toRangerShield, where it would be covered by their security cameras.Wadeinformed meImustpark it there from now on, andIhad to tell them if anything else out of the ordinary happened.Noexceptions.

“Better safe than sorry,”Waderemarked, his expression serious. “Wecan’t take any chances after what happened.”

I agreed, especially since this latest incident had me a little spooked myself.Ruthieeven called me later to tell me thatArcherwas making her park her car next to mine.

“Hey, just got the memo fromArcher.Weget to be car neighbors now,”Ruthiejoked, likely trying to cheer me up.

I felt guilty that my problems were spreading to other people.

“Sorry about that.Ididn’t mean to drag you into this mess.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she countered. “Justlet me know if you need anything.We’reall in this together.Theguys too.”

---