Page 78 of Cam Girl

“One needs tohavefriends in the first place.”

I glance over him toward the doors leading outside, seeing nothing of the night-drenched world beyond. There’s only our reflection.

“It’s a choice we make, for sure.” He doesn’t sound as though he’s mocking me, either. “Sometimes it’s a real mark of growth to carefully choose who you have around you. Small circles.”

“I haven’t been as careful as you have.” I lean toward him, absorbing his warmth. “Or maybe I’ve been too careful and I’ve isolated myself from people who might be able to help me.”

“You have your sisters.”

“Sure, and I know they would do anything for me. But there are some things you have to handle yourself. You know?”

Aiden ducks his head. “Yeah, I get it.”

He curls the arm closest to me around my shoulders and draws me against his body tighter.

“Please.” The earnestness of his tone freezes me in place. “What are you doing, Gilli? What are you running from?”

“I want to tell you. I can’t.” The truth shocks me.

I do want to tell him.

“Then maybe you should just leave. Would it be safer for you to find another place to hole up?”

“It’s a bad situation, Aiden. It’s something I don’t want you involved with, otherwise I’d ask for your help.”

Huh.

His fingers clench against me, hischest rumbling. “I have a feeling you rarely ask for help. It can be a bad thing, you know. To take on too much and refuse to share the burden. Trauma response, or some type of therapist jargon.”

“I know. In this case…trust me. I have to be here. There’s nowhere else for me to go.” I nibble on my lower lip.

The words are there, ready to erupt.

It’s a surprise to want to tell Aiden what’s going on. He’d surely have some opinions about how to handle this mess. Maybe he would have a betterinwith the cops. I’d feel a whole lot better if the local law enforcement took me seriously.

I say nothing.

“It’s exhausting to do it all yourself,” Aiden says.

And I’m lucky he isn’t the kind to press. Not yet, anyway. It may yet come.

“I know.”

Acknowledging it adds weight to my shoulders and slumps them forward until I’m leaning into him hard.

His fingers tap out a soothing beat against my shoulder before he begins to massage gently.

“When you’re ready to talk, I’ll be around. Soren might take a while, but he’ll come around too. He always does. There isn’t a thing he wouldn’t do for someone he cares about.”

“There's your second lie of the night. He doesn’t care about me.”

“You’d be surprised,” Aiden murmurs.

I clear my throat, my grin falling away and discomfort taking the place of our earlier laughter. It sucks how badly I want Soren to care, especially when I have no clue why I want it so badly.

“What were you looking at online?” I ask in a clear subject change.

Aiden’s fingers go still against my shoulder. “I think you know,” he whispers against my ear.

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