Page 16 of The Heart You've Borrowed

“Yeah, you probably do.” I wiped up the food on my desk.

“If you want you can either give me a list of stuff you want and I can go once I’m off so you can go up and relax or you can come with me. I don’t mind either way.” He shrugged.

“Do you mind going? It’s not that I don’t want to go with you but I still feel uneasy about Jett. I doubt that he has found me but it still freaks me out being out in public.” I whispered.

“Of course, just email me over a list and I’ll pick up whatever you need.” He reaches over the desk and grabs my hand.

“Do you think he will ever find me?” I swallow hard.

“He might, but if he ever does I will be right here with you. He won’t ever hurt you again Charlie.” He squeezes my hand before standing up to leave. I wrap up the rest of my food and set it aside for later.

I doubt that Jett will find me here but on the off chance that he does I need to be prepared. I don’t want to be surprised when that day comes. I want to be prepared, I want to be ready for it.

Chapter Twelve

Lio

After I get off I lock up my office and head for my truck. I have her list in hand and I make my way to the local grocery store. She thought she could get away with not putting a lot on the list, but I know her. I know she always likes to have her snacks on hand for when she’s watching her shows, and I know she likes a certain kind of coffee. Before I know the cart is full and my last stop is in the notebook section. I grab a few that I think she will like and throw in a bunch of pens and highlighters for her. I also grab her a few things for her desk I think she would like. I also saw on her list at her desk that she wanted some wall art. I make my way to the home section and grab a few I think she would have picked for herself. I got her one with cows on it, some with pretty flowers and inspirational quotes, and one with books on it. By the time I’m done, it’s already past six. After I pay I load it into the back of my truck and grab a pizza for her for dinner.

Once I’m back to the shop I load my arms up with all the bags, I’m more of a one-trip kind of guy. I drop all her office stuff for her in her office and decide that she will probably want to put it all up herself so I leave it on her desk chair before grabbing the grocery bags again. When I finally make my way up to her apartment my arms are killing me. I kick the door with my boot since I can’t exactly lift my arms. She opens it after a few seconds and her eyes widen.

“Jesus Lio, did you buy the whole dang store!” She laughs before grabbing a few of the bags from my arms. Once inside her apartment I set the rest of the bags down on the counter and start unloading them. It’s then that I remember the damn pizza is on my passenger seat.

“Hang on I forgot something, I’ll be right back,” I say quickly before running back down the stairs. Once I have the pizza, I run back into the shop and up the stairs. I don’t know how she does it but she has all the groceries unpacked and put away.

“Well, you waste no time.” I laughed.

“Sorry.” She shrugged laughing.

“I got you a pizza for tonight since it’s getting late and I figured you might not want to cook tonight.” I handed the pizza to her.

“Thanks, do you want to stay and eat with me?”

“Yeah, sure.” I cleared my throat.

“I’ll even let you pick the movie we watch while we eat.” She teased.

“Thank god, I can’t handle anymore of your true crime shit.” I laughed, bringing plates and napkins into the living room.

“Oh whatever, you can just say you’re a chicken.” She laughed.

“I am not, but you have an unhealthy addiction to those shows. It’s kinda creepy if you ask me.” I shrugged.

“No, it’s not. As a woman, we have to be prepared for whatever might happen in life. Men don’t have to worry as much as us.” She shrugged, grabbing a slice of pizza from the box.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, in most cases women are the victims. We are the ones that are catcalled, chased, raped, and murdered. It happens to men, but not as often. We can’t say no because then that might make them mad and they will lash out at us. If we do say no we have to be nice about it. It’s sick if you think about it.” Her body shuttered.

“Damn, yeah I get that. I remember my sisters talking about that stuff growing up. I’m sorry y’all have to go through that. It’s not fair. Sometimes I really hate how unfair life is for you guys.” I sighed, sitting back on the couch. It really is a sad world we live in.

“That reminds me of something I wanted to ask you.” She turns to face me.

“What’s up?”

“Can you teach me to defend myself?”

“Like just self-defense or how to fight?” I asked.

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