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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

GARY

I drifted in and out for a while. The pain medicine they gave me made me drowsy, and everything felt kind of fuzzy. Nothing hurt anymore, though. Not even when the nurse cleaned out the cuts on my face. And she didn’t make Easton move while she did it, which was all I cared about.

He was being surprisingly patient with my clinginess.

He wasn’t normally that guy. He let me cuddle after sex for a little while, but he didn't let me cling forever. We didn’t hold hands unless we were in public trying to sell the rumor, and the same went for cuddling without sex.

I thought it made him uncomfortable, so I never pushed or complained.

Our relationship often felt like friends with benefits.

We hung out and joked around, had sex, and left anything lovey dovey at the door.

But tonight, he was giving in to all the clingy cuddling I needed without complaint.

He kept one arm wrapped around my shoulders, his hand trailing lazily up and down my arm like he was comforting me without thinking about it.

He mostly played on his phone, but I didn’t want to chat right now anyway.

He didn’t demand I tell him what happened until a police officer arrived to take my statement.

Easton lifted his head, and his voice was terse when he asked, “Are you Cruz?”

Blinking my eyes open, I looked at the officer. He was in uniform, with a full belt of weapons and a serious expression. He dipped his chin once to acknowledge Easton’s question. “Sergeant Anthony Cruz. Nice to meet you, Mr. Warner.”

He offered his hand to shake, which Easton took after setting his phone on his stomach. It was weird, hearing someone speak to Easton so formally. How did he even know Easton’s name?

The officer’s gaze dropped to me, and I stiffened, clinging a little closer to Easton. His expression softened, and his voice dipped to a more soothing level.

“Hello. You must be Gary. I got a quick summary about what happened, but I’m going to need details if I’m going to figure out who did this. Think you can manage? I promise you’ll only have to tell me once.”

I really, really, didn’t want to. It was terrifying to live it once. It felt unfair to make me relive it. Especially if they were going to send Easton away.

Easton’s grip on my shoulder tightened a little, and when I looked up at him, his expression was determined. “I’m not going anywhere. Just tell him what happened and once the doctor clears you, I’ll bring you home.”

How much clingy could he take? If I said I didn’t want to go home, would he lose his patience?

Not important right now. Drawing in a shaky breath, I turned to the officer and told him everything.

It took a while, and I started to cry at one point, but the officer was patient and never pushed.

Easton grew more and more tense the longer I spoke, and I knew it upset him to hear it.

I’d be upset too if someone attacked him.

You know, unprovoked and not in a semi-controlled setting like he did for money.

When I finally finished, the officer studied the notes he took with a frown. “Do you have any evidence that your sister started this rumor?”

I shook my head. “No. Just what we’ve heard from before.”

His brows furrowed tighter. “Before?”

Easton made an irritated noise. “This wasn’t the first time someone approached him. It never escalated beyond words before now.”

Well, that and someone bleeding from a punch to the nose, but it probably wasn’t a good idea to admit Easton assaulted someone for insulting me in front of an officer of the law. He couldn’t protect me from jail.

“Well, without concrete evidence, I doubt we’ll be able to do much about your sister, but I’ll do what I can to find your attacker.

You were on school property. There should be cameras around.

In the meantime, if this is a repeated incident, I don’t think you should be alone.

” His attention moved to Easton. “I’m assuming you’ll handle that. ”

Easton nodded once. “He’ll be with me.”

“Okay, good. Until we can find the guy, I think it’s safer for him to have someone with him.

” He put the notebook away and looked at me.

“I’ve written down your description, but once you’re feeling better, if you feel up to coming down to the station, I can have one of my guys draw up a composite we can use.

I’ll call you if and when I find this guy.

And if you notice anything suspicious, like someone following you, leaving harassing or threatening messages, then call me.

” He offered me his card and gave a polite nod to both of us.

“I’ll start on this right away. Mr. Warner. Gary.”

Easton was still tense after the officer left, and when I looked up at him, he looked like he was fighting to stay calm. Snuggling closer, I buried my nose in his chest.

“Can I stay at The Hideout? I don’t want to go back to my room.” The guy who attacked me knew where it was. I wouldn’t feel safe there until he was found.

“No. You’ll come back to my place with me.”

Oh. Well, that was kind of nice. I’d never been to Easton’s apartment before. I knew he lived off campus, but he said he wasn’t home a lot. He filtered between my room and The Hideout, and was only ever at his apartment to sleep.

“Why did that officer call you Mr. Warner? It sounded weird.”

He huffed out a laugh, though it still sounded strained. “He’s a friend of my old man’s. My old man is a stuffy bastard with anyone who isn’t his family.”

“Oh. Still weird, though.”

He slowly relaxed, his free hand combing through my hair. That was really nice, and I settled more comfortably against his side.

“I think so, too. I don’t like using my last name. I’m not like my family.”

“Me neither,” I murmured. I’d never set someone up to be attacked like Brienna did. And I knew if I ever found evidence, my parents would back her up. Even if the guy had managed to hurt me, they’d probably just say I asked for it.

Letting out a heavy sigh, I closed my eyes. “Maybe we can pick new names. Something cool that’s just ours and doesn’t link us to people who don’t understand us.”

Easton hummed an agreeable sound. “Got any ideas?”

I thought about it for a second before suggesting, “Dickens? Like Charles Dickens?”

He snorted. “No. Everyone would call you dick.”

Oh. That was probably true. “Lewis? Like C.S. Lewis?”

“Are you only going to be naming really old authors?” he asked. I could hear the amusement in his voice, and I felt my cheeks flush, but hey, we all had our likes. Mine just happened to be books.

“Well, why don’t you suggest one?”

“McClane,” he suggested.

“Hey, that’s kind of cool, actually. Easton McClane.”

“Mhmm. Like John McClane, from Die Hard.”

“Ugh. Never mind. Pick something else.”

He barked out a laugh, and my heart rate finally settled as we tossed out ideas for new last names that had no ties to our families. And if I secretly compared his suggestions to both our names, that was my business. If I kept the schmoopy stuff to myself, he never had to know.

I was mostly out of it when the doctor let us leave.

I had a mild concussion, minor contusions, and sore ribs from being shoved against the wall, but no breaks and nothing life threatening.

He told me to take the weekend to rest and to call if I noticed any increasing headaches or nausea.

Easton took the medicine prescribed to me for the pain and tucked it into his back pocket before scooping me off the bed and into his arms. Normally, I’d complain, but tonight I just needed to be close to him.

He carried me out of the emergency room to where Coach and Angel were waiting, shoulder to shoulder on the uncomfortable hospital chairs and half asleep.

“Let’s go,” Easton said, nudging Coach’s foot.

Coach blinked his eyes open and scrubbed his hands over his face while Easton gave the same treatment to Angel.

Angel was less polite about waking up, whining and complaining until Coach offered to pick him up, too.

Then he decided he was plenty awake to get himself moving and scurried out to pull the car around.

Coach followed with a heavy sigh, and I heard Easton snicker as I watched them walk away.

“What’s so funny?”

“They’re both pretending like they don't want to fuck each other. It’ll happen eventually.”

Huh. I never would’ve gotten that from them.

They were either distant or combative whenever I was around them.

Coach gave Easton the keys to his car, since I was alert enough now to sit by myself.

I wasn’t happy about it, but I didn’t want to make Coach or Angel play chauffeur all night either.

It was late, and everyone was tired. I pulled my knees against my chest in the front seat, hugging them during the drive, and Easton kept one hand on the wheel and one on the back of my neck.

It was comforting, and I appreciated it.

He pulled into an underground parking garage below a tall building. I couldn’t get much detail because it was late, but it seemed kinda fancy. Fancier than any place I’d ever lived in anyway. I yawned so hard my jaw cracked, and I winced.

“Tired?”

I nodded, rubbing roughly at my eyes. “Those pain meds made me sleepy.”

“Mm. A few more minutes and you can go to bed.”

He parked near the elevator, and to spare him from having to carry me everywhere, I got out myself, but he scooped me up anyway after coming around the car. This time with my legs around his hips. I liked this position better and sighed happily as I buried my face against his neck.

“Just relax, Gary. I’ve got you.”