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But when she tried to grab Isla, she was shocked to see her pull away from her touch.
Isla’s voice broke with pain as she said, “He’s not making me do anything. Why would you think that?”
“Someone like him only wants one thing, sweetheart. I know you can’t see it right now because you’re too kind, but that’s why I’m here—to help you find the right path. And right now, Isla, you’re going the wrong way.”
Isla’s eyes flashed with pain, and her bottom lip trembled as her feelings took over.
“How can you say that? You should trust my judgement. You don’t even know him.”
Clarice was about to say something, but Isla was already out of the kitchen and out the front door.
“Isla! Isla, wait! Where are you going?”
Isla kept running and didn’t answer Clarice’s calls. She wanted to be as far away from everyone as possible. She didn’t like it when people hurt her.
She started out running, then slowed down to a jog, and finally stopped to walk. When she got to a small coffee shop, she was out of breath and red-faced.
Everyone turned to look at her when she walked in quickly, and she suddenly became aware of how she looked.
She wasn’t dressed right for the weather or for being in public.
Isla spent the whole day in the house, so she just wore a big pink hoodie and white knee socks. She put on some pink vans before she left.
She probably had a lot of knots in her hair from all that running, and her wet cheeks didn’t help at all.
She felt embarrassed by the attention and awkwardly sat down in one of the more private booths to get away from their stares.
After a minute or so, people started talking again, and Isla let out a sigh of relief before she remembered that she had no money or phone.
She started to panic slowly, and her palms got sweaty with worry.
She looked through the crowd for someone who looked friendly and decided it was best to ask an employee if she could use their phone.
Isla slowly got up and did her best to fix her sweater before heading to the cash register.
She thought of a lot of different words and phrases she could use to start the conversation, and she wished she had practiced before.
When she got to the front counter, she stopped and the cashier raised an eyebrow at how strange she was acting.
“Could I please use your phone? It’s important.”
Isla did her best to keep eye contact with the bigger man, but her nerves made her mind race.
The young man looked to be in his early 20s and seemed friendly enough especially when he smiled at her softly.
“Sure”
He gave her a black android, and Isla thanked him quietly before calling the one person she could always count on.
She heard a faint crackle and a deep voice after the phone rang three times.
“Who are you and what do you want?”
Isla smiled to herself even though he was mean to her. Just hearing his voice made her day better.
“Please come get me, Kade.”
Right away, his voice got a lot softer.
“Hey, I thought you were with Clarice all day. Is everything okay? Whose phone is this?”
Before she spoke, Isla looked down at the floor. “I’m at a coffee shop, and the cashier let me use their phone to call you. Clarice and I had a fight.”
Kade sighed with relief that things weren’t worse.
“Okay, baby, tell me where you are, and I’ll come get you.”
When Isla heard a chime, she quickly looked up. It meant that someone had come into the store.
She had been waiting in the booth for Kade to show up, and he did not let her down. He came just ten minutes later.
When she saw his big, bulky body, her eyes lit up, and she got up from her seat to go to him.
“Kade,” she said.
A few people turned to look at her when she spoke, and she lowered her eyes in embarrassment, her cheeks turning a light pink.
Kade laughed and went over to the blonde. He put his hand on the small of her back and whispered in her ear as he led her back to the booth.
He whispered softly, “Baby, what are you wearing?”
His breath on her neck made her shiver. She noticed her pajamas, and her face turned red.
“I sort of just ran out of the house, so I didn’t have time to change,” she said softly as she played with the end of her sweater.
Kade hummed and stroked her bare thigh. A big shadow fell over them before he could say anything else.
“Hey, I just wanted to make sure everything went well.” The cashier stopped and looked between the two. “With the call and all,” he said.
Isla was about to say something, but Kade beat her to it.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes, everything is fine now,” he said sharply.
The younger worker’s eyes got wide when Kade spoke harshly, and he stammered out a weak “okay” before going back to the front counter.
Isla frowned at Kade and lightly tapped him on the shoulder.
“He lent me the phone to call you. You didn’t have to be so rude.”
Kade turned his eyes away from the cashier’s back and looked into hers. She was shocked by how intense his gaze was.
“Baby, I’m not a very nice man.” He squeezed her hips and then went on. “And I don’t like it when random guys try to talk to what’s mine.”
Isla raised an eyebrow at what he said and how he didn’t say sorry. “But you’re nice to me.”
Kade moved her blonde hair behind her ear and stroked her cheeks.
“And just you.”
Isla tried to look angry by crossing her arms, but she ended up laughing and ruining her act when Kade’s fingers tickled her sides.
“Stop, I’m mad at you,” she said between laughs.
“Are you?” Kade asked with a smile that showed off his dimples.
They were clearly lost in their own world and had forgotten that they were in a coffee shop. Isla could feel a lot of eyes on her, though, so she pulled away from Kade’s hug in shame.
Kade ran his fingers through her hair and looked at the nosy customers, which made them all look away right away.
He was so annoyed by their constant behavior that he flared his nostrils and rolled his eyes. He decided to leave the small shop and take Isla home.
“Come on, baby,” he said, giving her a little push to get out of the booth.
Isla got up and looked at her shoes, waiting for Kade to tell her to leave.
She relaxed when she felt a big hand on her back and grabbed his hand as he started to take her to his car.
Leaving the coffee shop, which had been a temporary safe place for her, brought back memories of what had happened between her and Clarice just an hour before.
Isla bit her lip and looked at Kade, getting a side view of his face from where she was standing.
She looked down at their hands and wiggled her fingers that were in his grasp. She loved how firm yet gentle he was holding her palm.
She couldn’t understand why anyone would dislike him.
He may have looked scary on the outside, but inside he was soft, caring, and sweet.
She was even more angry with Clarice because of what she was thinking. What her caretaker said was rude and ignorant. She had no idea who he was.
Isla thought she had to keep Kade safe from people like her.
Kade asked, “Penny for your thoughts?” with a soft smile on his face.
Isla smiled when she heard it. “It’s nothing. I’m just angry at Clarice for not even trying to understand you.”
Before answering, Kade squeezed her hand. “It’s fine, baby. She doesn’t have to like me.”
Isla’s lips turned into a frown, and she hugged his arm to her chest.
“But it’s not okay. I hate that she thinks you’re an evil person. It’s just,” she said with a sigh of frustration, “it’s not okay.”