Joe was laughing now, wiping his face with the back of his hand. "No, nobody is coming to take you away. Damn, Ara. Just as paranoid as ever. Can't you accept that sometimes people will just help you? That's what friends do."
A prickle ran across my skin. I'd come to Joe for help, but I still couldn't fully trust him. What was wrong with me? I'd trusted Brenon, and that had been a mistake. My jaw tensed.
"What is it?" Joe asked. "That's not your worried face, that's an angry face."
I couldn't help but smile. "You know me too well, Joe."
"What's his name?"
Heat rushed to my cheeks and I quickly occupied myself with the coffee.
"Ara, didn't you learn your lesson from the last guy?" he asked.
"Hey, I walked away before I did anything stupid, okay?" I snapped at him. "I don't want to talk about it."
He put his hands up in mock surrender. "Okay. I won't ask about it again. Now, where'd you put that card?"
I grabbed the card off of the nightstand and handed it to him. Any other person would have persisted in asking me about the guy; Joe knew better. He understood that there were some things we just didn't want to re-live by speaking about them. I bit down on the inside of my cheek as I tried to push the thoughts of the Ringmaster away. How long would he come back to haunt my thoughts? We hardly even knew each other. I shouldn't be thinking about him so often.
Setting the coffee cup down, I stepped off of the bed. "I'm going to the bathroom."
Joe looked up from the metallic card. "There's clothes in the dresser, towels under the sink. Use whatever you want."
I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks."
As I walked toward the bathroom, I wondered why I was never attracted to the good guys. Joe and I had been friends for years, but there was nothing between us beyond that.
Hot water ran over me and I tried to rinse away the memories of the Rose Circus and Brenon's touch. Why had I let him in? I'd worked so hard for so many years to keep people out. I'd avoided most romantic relationships during college. Why Brenon? I scrubbed myself with soap and a washcloth until my skin was pink and hurting. I had been stupid. Keeping people away made everything easier. If you didn't let yourself get attached, you didn't get hurt. This whole mess came down to protecting the one person in this world I would die for. The more people I felt the need to protect, the more vulnerable I was.
I sat down in the tub, eyes closed, letting the water run over my face. Coming here had been a mistake. Aside from my brother, Joe was my closest friend. I'd put him in danger and if any of the Fae followed me, they could use him against me.
Jumping up off of the floor, I turned off the water and got out of the shower. My heart was racing. They'd used my brother against me once already, what was to say they wouldn't do it again. Grabbing a towel, I wrapped it around me and ran out into the living area, soaking wet.
Joe dropped the card and ran over to me. "What is it?"
I must have looked entirely wild at that moment. Eyes wide, hair dripping wet. "I have to call Ryder. I have to make sure he's safe."
Joe picked up the cordless phone and handed it to me without speaking.
I dialed the number and waited.
"Hello?" When Ryder's voice greeted me on the other end, a wave of relief washed over me.
"Hey, it's me," I said.
"AB! Thank god. I was starting to worry. Are they treating you well?" Ryder asked.
I squeezed my fingers around the edge of the towel, wondering what I should tell him. I'd learned the hard way that lies come back to bite you. "Um, no. They let me go. Debt all taken care of."
"You talked them out of it?" he asked.
"I think they just realized how terrible I was at circus performing." I laughed.
"Did they make you perform?"
"I did the trapeze once," I said.
"No way!" Ryder said.
I heard some muffled noises and other voices in the background. "Ryder?"
"Yeah, that's my roommates. Hey, can I call you back later? Wait, where are you?"
"I'm at Joe's. Going to stay here for a bit and figure some things out," I said.
There was a pause from Ryder. "You doing okay, AB?"
I tried to sound as happy as possible. "Yes. Don't worry about me; I'm the one who is supposed to worry about you. Go, have fun with your friends."
"Okay, talk later."
The phone went silent. I pushed the red button to turn it off and handed it back to Joe. He took it from me and returned it to the charger. "Feel better?"
I nodded and looked down at the puddle I'd made on his threadbare carpet. "Sorry about that."
"Don't worry," Joe said. "Find something to wear, will ya? I think I figured out this card and we've got a drive ahead of us."
"Really?" I grabbed the card from him and turned it back and forth, looking at the inscription in the metal.
Joe took the card back from me. "Clothes first."
Chapter 3
"Kansas?" I asked again as Joe's old Toyota accelerated onto the on-ramp. "You sure?"
"You saw those numbers. They match the latitude and longitude for Dodge City, Kansas. What else could those numbers be?" He flipped down the visor and glanced at me. "Worst case scenario, we get to go on a road trip, and you get to be harder to find."
"I'm sorry I involved you in all of this," I said.
"Are you kidding? My life is all cushy office and phone calls. I could use some excitement for a change," Joe said.
In the whirlwind of my arrival and the quick decision to drive to Kansas, I hadn't spent much time asking about how he was doing. "I'm a terrible friend. You got an office?"
We spent the next few hours talking about Joe's job and getting caught up on his life. The conversation was so normal, it helped me to take my mind off of the weirdness my life had become.
"You hungry?" Joe asked.
"I could eat," I said.
We stopped at a diner in the small town we were driving through and stretched our legs in the parking lot. A dozen motorcycles were parked outside the building letting us know it was a popular place.
As soon as we stepped through the door, I had to stop and stare at the walls. Harley-Davidson memorabilia hung on every wall. Classic rock played from a jukebox in the corner, and the floor was dusty from peanut shells that customers tossed from the tables and the bar top.
A blonde woman in a black tee-shirt and shorts waved to us from behind the bar. "Have a seat wherever."
We found a table in the corner opposite the jukebox and grabbed the menus from behind the napkin holder. The food was mostly burgers and fries.
"Hey, they have a veggie burger!" Joe pointed to the menu.
"Sounds perfect." I set the menu down and looked around at the decor. Framed photos of groups of people in matching leather vests and old motorcycles hung on the wall.
A long wooden bar lined almost the entire wall. Bottles and glasses were stacked neatly behind it. Men and women in leather sat on stools drinking beer and having conversations. More people in leather sat at a few of the other tables. Nobody seemed even to notice we were there, which was just fine with me. I relaxed a bit, feeling like we'd chosen the right place to grab some food.