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‘He doesn’t have any shame.’ That’s what Patton had said. It seemed like more of a warning now.

  I took a breath, “Just do me a favor and put the seat down when you’re done.” I can do this, I can find myself again with these guys.

  I heard a laugh in response to my remark and the toilet flushed. Tyler walked out of the bathroom and gave me a wink, “You’re gonna have to do that yourself, Em. You’re outnumbered.” He didn’t wait for my response, he padded his way around me to the stairs. “Did Chase leave me any coffee?”

  “There might be a cup left.” I edged into the bathroom, fearing what it might look like. Jeff didn’t clean up after himself, that’s what I was for. But they either they had a cleaning lady, or they were considerate enough of each other that they didn’t leave a mess in the bathroom. Of course he had left the seat up, but it didn’t matter.

  I could do this. I could handle three guys.

  6

  I felt like a whole new person after a shower and clean clothes. I still hurt, I still ached, but the hot water seemed to set so many things right. I ran into difficulties trying to re-wrap my ribs, and after the third attempt, I got impatient and dressed without it. I didn’t have Patton’s gentle hands helping me, and I wasn’t comfortable enough with Tyler to ask him for help. It didn’t hurt too much, as long as I didn’t breathe too deep.

  I managed to make my way downstairs with my dirty clothes and the ace bandage bundled under my arm. I could see Tyler putting together another pot for the coffeemaker. He hadn’t bothered to get dressed.

  “He wasn’t kidding about the no shame thing, was he?” I asked as I found my bedroom door.

  “Consider yourself lucky I got boxers on.” He didn’t turn to me until the coffee maker started. “I’m one step away from being a nudist.” He shrugged a little. “Usually I have the house to myself during the day. This is as considerate as I get.” He paused then looked at me, his eyes narrowing. “Unless you don’t want me to wear clothes.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me and edged the waistband of his boxers down so that I could see the start of pubic hair that drew a line from his navel down his lower abdominals.

  I could feel the heat drawing to my face, and I quickly turned to my door. I shoved it open and tried my best to not just slam it closed. I took a deep breath and focused on my little room so I wouldn’t give in. I didn’t need to turn around and see just how much skin Tyler was willing to show.

  “T-that’s okay!” The pitch of my voice went up higher, “Clothing is much appreciated.”

  “I was kidding,” he said with a laugh. I heard him coming up behind me, and I turned to see the grin he was giving me. He had dimples. “I’m just trying to give you a hard time. I’ll behave from now on, promise.”

  I took a breath and forced myself to relax. “Testing me?”

  “A little bit.” That grin stayed in place. “I knew the other two weren’t gonna do something like that.”

  That’s something of a relief. Though, eyeing Tyler, I could only imagine what Chase and Patton looked like in a similar state of undress.

  “I told Chase I wasn’t going to be trouble.” I tried to school my expression so it looked like I was unaffected by him. “So, I’m not going to be.”

  His lips twisted up to one side as he looked at me. I didn’t know what he was looking for, but he shrugged. “Want some coffee? Chase didn’t leave me enough to function on.”

  “That wasn’t Chase, that was me.” It was my turn to grin. I turned to drop my dirty clothes in the corner by the door; I’d pick up a hamper later. “I want to say something about snoozing and losing,” I came back out into the kitchen without bothering to close my door, “but you know.” I pursed my lips as I considered him. “I want to say you deserve what you get for giving me problems.”

  “Harsh.” He plucked up the coffee cup I’d been sipping on earlier. “This evidence of your crimes?”

  I climbed onto a stool then seized as pain lanced through me. I had a witty retort for him, but it left me as soon as I moved the wrong way. I crumbled against the countertop of the island and tried my best to keep from crying. I felt a gentle pressure on my back.

  “What can I do?” His voice was soft, and I could somehow hear the concern over the throbbing in my side.

  “Make it stop hurting?” I gritted out.

  “I offered to go stomp a new hole in his ass, and you said no.” Tyler carefully eased me off the stool and managed to take the majority of my weight. “I’m gonna put you back on your bed,” he said, and I glance up to see my door frame. “I’ll get you some Tylenol and see what we can do from there. We can chill in bed, or on the couch. Whatever.”

  “I got stuff to do,” I protested. “I said I would cook dinner tonight. I need a phone…” I let him set me on the bed. “I can’t chill.”

  “You don’t have a phone?” He made it sound like it was the weirdest thing, but I didn’t want to give him the details. They shouldn’t be hard to figure out. “I’ll go,” he set me down on the bed, “like yesterday, and you can chill. Let me go get dressed.”

  I wanted to get out of the house and explore. I knew with the way that I looked, it was hard to not get a look at the black and blue face in the mirror before getting into the shower, that I didn’t want to be dependent on anyone else again.

  “Go get dressed and we can go together,” I said, hoping he would understand.

  “Stubborn.” He pulled a face at me. “Fine, I’ll go get dressed.”

  As soon as he left me, I decided to give another go at trying to re-wrap my ribs. It was just as much a struggle then as it was in the bathroom. I didn’t consider the door and the fact that it was left open. I figured it’d take him a minute to get ready to go, so I had time to pull my shirt off and get this done.

  I didn’t realize my folly until I heard a sharp intake of breath. I looked up to see Tyler standing in the doorway. His eyes weren’t on my face either. At least he was dressed, so I didn’t have to see if my state of undress was getting to him like that. Or, maybe, he was taken aback by the bruising.

  “You need help?” His pitch deepened.

  I looked away from him and nodded; I couldn’t help but flush. There was an attractive man looking at me without a shirt on. I was never really provocative, or promiscuous for that matter. I didn’t have a lot of boyfriends before Jeff, and certainly none that were near as hot as Tyler.

  He took the bandage from me and deftly started to finish the job I had started. “If it's too tight, speak up,” he murmured. He didn’t make any move to actually touch any of the bare skin. The closest he got to my breasts was to adjust the material just beneath them. It was gentlemanly, which surprised me considering his flirting earlier. He fastened off the bandage and stood up. “Get your shirt on, let’s go.”

  ***

  “So,” Tyler started as we walked down the block to a little shop. “Do we get to hear what happened at all?”

  “I think it's pretty obvious.” I grimaced at him.

  “This something that happened often?”

  I shook my head. “He’d pushed me and shoved me when we got in arguments, but it was the first time he outright hit me.” I didn’t look at Tyler as we went into the shop. “It was the first time, and the last time. I’m not gonna let something like that happen again.”

  He made a pleased noise from behind me then vanished, I assumed to do shopping of his own. I didn’t bother to keep track of him, I was more concerned about finding their prepaid phones than what trouble he might get into.

  I was halfway down an aisle before I heard him cry out, “I didn’t do that.” Curious and afraid, I looked up to see the girl behind the counter glaring at him. “I’m just helping her move on, man.” He looked irritated as he decided to find me instead milling about on his own. “There’s always one dude pissing in the cheerios for the rest of us, I swear,” he grumbled as he got to me.

  I blinked and looked back to the girl at the counter. ‘Do you need help?’ she mouthed to me.

  Wow.

  I shook my head. “He didn’t do it.” That seemed to set her at ease. Whatever animosity came with the clerk seeing me melted away, and we started meandering around the store together. “Sorry,” I started offhandedly. “I didn’t consider my appearance.”

  “We’re good,” he reassured me as he considered the options we had before us. “Can I ask why you’re going for a cheap prepaid option instead of just a regular monthly deal?”

  “I don’t want to stand the chance that he’ll be able to find me.” I picked up one phone, it was an old flip model. I had a cell before with Jeff, but it had been simple like this. I didn’t need to be on the internet, I had plenty to do to keep me busy… Jeff had cut me off from a lot.

  “Ghost him completely then?” Tyler picked up a smartphone. “This one is forty and you can surf the net with it. If you’re on wifi, you don’t have to worry about blowing through your time.” He offered it to me like it was the most logical choice.

  “I don’t really need that,” I tried to argue.

  “It’ll give you access to email.” He nodded at the flip phone in my hand. “That dinosaur won’t. What are you eighty? The internet,” he shoved the phone into my hands, “who can turn down the prospect of having porn in their pocket?”

  Ugh.

  Regardless, I took his suggestion, then I found my way to the makeup aisle. I had foundation already in my bag, but I doubted it would be enough to cover the mess of my face. Maybe I should get more…

  “Might take about two to three weeks for the bruises to heal.” I spun around, surprised to hear Tyler behind me. I thought he had gone on to counter without me. “And I don’t just mean for your face to heal.” He didn’t sound condescending about it. It was more like he was trying to be careful with how he should treat the situation.

  It was obvious he wasn’t comfortable with this. I gave him the best smile I could manage. “I’m fine. Don’t worry. I promise.”

  I don’t think he believed me.

  7

  The day went a whole lot better than I expected. I thought I would feel uncomfortable with how forward Tyler was, but he only seemed to be teasing the majority of the time, and he backed off any time that it seemed to be too much. So, he was either really good at reading people, or I was being transparent. The only thing he actually pressed for was my new phone once I got it programmed. He was quick to input the rest of the guys' numbers into it for me saying, “Just in case you need anything and we’re not here.”

  “Do you work?” I asked because he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to get ready for work, and it was pushing three o’clock.

  “Yeah.” He sent himself a text then pulled out his own phone. “Gonna add you to our group text. Don’t worry, no dick pics. But, Patty and I like to send girl pics and memes to Chase while he’s at work. On slow days it’ll get busy.” He sounded amused as he spoke, and I smiled in appreciation. “You got some phone calls to make?” He looked curious as he asked it, though he reached forward for the television remote.

  “I need to call my Mom.” I started to stand, but something in me protested, and I winced.

  “Don’t worry,” he pulled out headphones, “I’ll give you privacy.” He fidgeted with them before he put him on his head.

  I watched as Tyler turned on a game console, started up a game that was saved, and got lost in what looked like a war era game. I couldn’t see the character, just a rifle and his hands. I guess this was a hazard of living with men, they checked out when it came to video games. Jeff didn’t really play games, though he spent a lot of time on his phone when he was home and awake.

  Now, it was like I was alone, aside from the little quips Tyler muttered into the microphone. I could have taken the time getting to my room, but if he was going to give me this moment to be comfortable and have a semi-private conversation, I was going to take it. It was more than I ever got with Jeff.

  I dialed Mom’s number from memory, not an easy feat considering how the internet and cellphones had made it so when didn’t need to remember things like this. Fortunately for me, the house phone had been the same number since before I had the privilege of having a phone. While I didn’t remember her cell phone number, the house phone was another thing. Mom worked from home, something she had gotten lucky with after Dad had passed away when I started college, so I didn’t have to worry about her not answering the phone. I was intending to let it ring until it hit the answering machine, but it only got to the fifth ring before Mom picked up.

  “I’m not interested, I’ve found Jesus, and I have no money to donate,” she answered with a little extra perk in her voice. It was a practiced greeting she used for any unfamiliar number. Luckily, she wasn’t one to just screen calls like a normal person.

  “Mom,” I breathed, and I never felt so relieved. “It’s me, Emily.” Just the sound of her voice seemed to loosen something in me.

  “Emily! Baby,” she sounded just as happy to hear from me as I was from her. “Jeff has been ringing my phone off the hook looking for you.”

  “He’s not there, is he?”

  “Oh no,” she snorted. “I told him I would let him know if I saw you. Fat chance, that, but I assured him that you weren’t here, and there was no reason for him to come over. If he felt so inclined, I wouldn’t answer the door. These are my working hours, and I’m not going to waste them entertaining that jackass. Sorry,” she released a breath, “but you sure know how to pick ‘em.”

  “I always thought I had better taste.” I wasn’t going to argue with her, Jeff had been someone she didn’t like from the beginning. She didn’t give me a reason then, but I found myself wishing I had listened to her.

  “I’m assuming you had an argument? Does this finally make you done with him? I’ll borrow Mr. Garner’s truck and we can get your things out of his apartment while he’s at work.”

  She was even willing to help me move back home, without question. I was relieved that there was no reprimand coming. The only thing that hurt was the fact that she seemed to know that the relationship would fail. I took a shaky breath.

  “Honestly, anything I left in the apartment is as good as his. I don’t want it anymore.”

  That seemed to quiet her. Her voice lowered, and it was like I could feel her concern over the line, “Baby, are you okay?”

  Just like that, something cracked in me. My shoulders shook against my will, and I could feel tears dribbling down my cheeks unabated. There was no holding it back. But that was something Mom always had a knack for, pulling things from me.

  “Mama,” I sniffled. “He hit me.”

  The line was quiet for a beat. “I’m sure I can borrow a shovel and a tarp from Mr. Garner, too,” her voice went hard. “It might take me a little bit, baby, but I’ll take care of him. I just have to remember what Dad did with the bullets.”

  “No.” I winced and swiped at a cheek. I turned away from Tyler, trying to hide the fact that I was starting to quake from my tears. “No, Mama, I just want to disappear. I don’t want to do anything like that. It can be like this never happened.”

  “Honey,” her voice went comforting again, “there’s only one good place for a man like that.”

  “Mama,” I whined, and I felt a hand rest on my back. It was warm, and I turned to see Tyler watching me from the corner of one eye. His hand started to rub small circles on my back, and I sighed. I didn’t have it in me to stop him. “That would be a waste of bullets,” I said at last.

  “You’re not wrong.” She released a breath. “Where are you? I’ll come to get you and bring you home. We’ll see what the damage is, then we can go from there.”

  It was tempting. The idea of having my mother’s arms around me was something that made me want to cry all the harder, but the hand rubbing at my back made me hesitate. I had signed a lease. I’d already paid in advance. If I went back to live with Mom, Jeff would be able to find me.

  “As much as I want to,” I said after a length, “I’m worried he might find me.”

  “Does she have somewhere she can go?” Tyler asked gently.

  I grasped onto that. “Can you go stay with Aunt Karen?” I asked at the same time Mom belted out an angry, “Who was that?”

  “I found a place to stay.” I swallowed hard. I didn’t know how she was going to take it. “Give me a few weeks, time enough for Jeff to stop harassing you, then I’ll bring you over here to meet my roommates.”

  “I’m assuming they know what happened?” Her voice was still hard.

  “Yes ma’am.” I sniffled again, then I felt the heat of Tyler pressing into my back. An arm wrapped around my middle, and I turned towards him, taking the comfort that he seemed so willing to offer. “I’m safe,” I assured her. There was something about the man behind me that made me believe that.