Book 1 - Page 97 (1/2)

Setting me down in a chair, he went to rifle through my drawers.

I watched him pulling out underwear, yoga pants, and a top. ”Have you forgotten I sleep in the nude with you?”

”We're not staying here.” He faced me. ”I don't trust Cary not to bring more intoxicated jerks home and once we turn in for the night I'll be drugged on the medication Dr. Petersen prescribed and possibly unable to protect you. So we're going to my place.”

I looked down at my twisted hands, thinking about how I might need protection from Gideon, too. ”I've been down this road with Cary before, Gideon. I can't just hole up at your place and hope he comes out of it on his own. He needs me to be around more than I have been.”

”Eva.” Gideon brought me my clothes and crouched in front of me. ”I know you need to support Cary. We'll figure out how tomorrow.”

I cupped his face. ”Thank you.”

”I need you, too, though,” he said quietly.

”We need each other.”

He pushed to his feet. Moving back to the dresser, he pulled open his drawers and grabbed clothes for himself.

Standing, I began to dress. ”Listen...”

He pulled a pair of low-slung jeans on. ”Yes?”

”I feel tons better now that I know the score, but Corinne is still going to be a problem for me.” I paused with my s.h.i.+rt in my hands. ”You wanna nip her hopes in the bud real quick. Stow the guilt, Gideon, and start weaning her off.”

He sat on the edge of the bed to pull on his socks. ”She's a friend, Eva, and she's in a rough spot. It's a cruel time to cut her off.”

”Think carefully, Gideon. I have exes in my past, too. You're setting the precedent now for how I'll handle them. I'm taking my cues from you.”

He stood with a scowl. ”You're threatening me.”

”I prefer to see it as coercion. Relations.h.i.+ps work both ways. You're not her only friend. She can find someone more appropriate to lean on in her time of crisis.”

We grabbed what we needed and walked back into the living room. I saw the mess left behind - an aqua-hued bra beneath an end table and blood spray on my cream sectional  - and I wished Cary was still around to smack some sense into.

”I'm digging into it with him tomorrow,” I bit out, my jaw tight with anger and worry. ”G.o.dd.a.m.n it, I should've decked him when I had the chance. I should've knocked him out cold, and then locked him up in his room until he gets his brain working again.”

Gideon's hand at the small of my back rubbed soothingly. ”It'll be better to do that tomorrow, when he's alone and hungover. More effective that way.”