Page 56 of No Strings

“Ah, no that would be a first.” I tell the group, “I can’t believe you guys kept going with Rhys there.”

“You think that’s the first time I’ve heard or seen them?” Rhys deadpans.

“I guess not. Hang on, they just have sex wherever?” There’s a long pause; they aren’t telling me something. “What?”

Rhys seems to be the one to break the silence, “Beau and Davis used to live in my house.”

“Why move?” Again, the silence stretches on and that’s when it dawns on me. “Oh, because of me.” I look down at my feet. I uprooted their lives. Not just Rhys’s. Davis and Beau’s. Molly and Brent’s. All for what? Because I have a crazy ex?

“Don’t do that.” Rhys’s voice cuts through my downward spiral. I raise my eyes to look at him. But it’s Davis who speaks next.

“We were happy to.”

I mindlessly nod, playing over every interaction since I’ve been here. “I thought you said you didn’t tell them?” My voice has an edge to it.

“When the boss tells us to move, we don’t question it.”

“Brent being the boss, not this dickhead.” Beau nudges his head to the side to signal he was talking about Rhys.

Rhys ignores Beau completely and looks towards me. “I just wanted you to have space where you felt comfortable, and more importantly, safe.”

Tears prick my eyes. He thought of me, my safety and comfort. He thought of me more than just a victim or just Shane’s little sister. He thought of me as a person. My voice is soft, but he hears me. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Things have turned serious, and I want desperately to move on from it, so I turn my attention to Davis. “So, ah Davis, how’s the wound? Need it re-dressed?”

“Beau did that.”

I nod, and we shift to awkward small talk as Rhys cooks up a dozen sausages and a few steaks. He grabs some paper plates and throws a steak and three sausages on each. That’s a lot of meat. Digging through the esky, I look for a salad. Doesn’t even have to be a salad. Just bits of a salad.

Rhys watches me for a hot minute before asking “What are you looking for?”

“Um, a salad. Or a tomato or cucumber. Something that isn’t just meat.”

“Yeah, Cook asked if we wanted something like that, but I said nah.”

It takes me a minute to process what he said, then looking at him dumbfounded and I question. “Nah?”

“Yep.” He takes his paper plate and walks over to sit where Beau and Davis are.

I roll my lips over my teeth and into my mouth and bite down on them, letting them slowly free. It’s fine, I don’t need a salad, or vegetables or fruit. I can be one of the guys tonight. Sitting down at our makeshift camp site, Rhys decides to poke. “Right there, Princess?”

“Peachie.”

They all chat about bullshit I have no interest in. Fishing, cattle, car parts.Blah blah blah. I completely zone out chewing on a sausage, until I hear my name.

“Hmm?”

Davis speaks. “I saw you brought your sketchpad.”

I haven’t opened it since we’ve been here, but it is currently resting next to me. “Oh, yeah. Yep.”

“You good?”

“Ha, nah I just like to muck around when I’m feeling stressed or overwhelmed.”

Rhys doesn’t like that answer apparently. “She’s good.”