The hoarding probably started after that. Gina turned to drugs and ran away. Ezra left probably because he didn’t want to get stuck taking care of mom and me.
And here I was… sitting in the basement thinking of myself. I reached over and took a long swing from the bottle of vodka I’d taken from under the bar.
“There you are,” Erik said, cautiously peeking his head around the boxes.
“Here I am,” I said without looking up.
“You okay?” Erik asked.
I sighed. “I’m fine. Just sitting down here selfishly drowning my sorrows.”
“She didn’t mean any of it,” Erik said.
I met his eyes. “She definitely, one hundred percent, meant all of it.”
“Okay,” Erik said, sitting next to me. He grabbed the bottle from me and took a drink. “That doesn’t mean she’s right.”
“I think she’s right,” I said. “We’re all probably being selfish trying to talk her out of going to get her daughter.”
Erik exhaled. “It’s not selfish to want to do the smart thing. We have good reasons. You aren’t the only one that tried to talk her out of it.”
“Yeah, but she doesn’t have any problem freaking out at me,” I said, taking another drink. “And in front of everyone.”
“Don’t let it get to you,” Erik said.
“I won’t,” I said, holding up the bottle.
Erik smiled and took the bottle from me. He took another quick drink before setting it on his other side.
“You don’t need that,” Erik said.
“Are you sure? It seems to be helping,” I said.
“I’m sure,” Erik said, getting to his feet. He stretched out his hand. “Food is ready.”
I sighed, letting my chin drop. “I’m not hungry.”
It was a lie. My stomach had been rumbling the entire day. The powdery donut hadn’t been very filling.
“I’ll go get our food then,” Erik said. “We can eat down here in the dark basement together.”
“Fine,” I groaned as I took his hand.
He yanked me to my feet, and I bounced into him. My chest was pressed against his.
He looked down into my eyes, and my head started to spin. I placed my hand on his stomach to steady myself, and it felt as though I’d touched a light socket.
I jerked my hand away and took a step back. He cleared his throat as he gestured toward the exit.
“So, what’s the plan?” I asked, trying to cut through the thick air that surrounded us.
I wanted to think about anything other than why it felt so weird being close to Erik. Erik shouldn’t have been in my head at all, especially after my night with Archer.
Archer was staying, and it was most likely due to the house and supplies, but maybe I was part of the reason too.
“We’re going to put everything we want to take with us into the garage,” Erik said. “Then when we get the vehicle, it should be quick to transfer our supplies over.”
“That’s smart.”
“And then we figure a day for Archer and me to get the gas,” Erik said. “Sam wants to leave as soon as possible.”
I squeezed my hands into fists. “Of course.”
“She also wants to have a big party tonight,” Erik said.
“That sounds like Sam,” I said.
“I think she’s got eyes for the new guy,” Erik said.
I swallowed hard. “Oh?”
“I don’t know for sure. Just a feeling.” Erik chuckled. “You should probably just forget I said that. If I knew anything about women, I probably wouldn’t have been single most of my adult life.”
“I thought you were just too busy.”
“It’s both.”
Sam wasn’t at the table. She was still mad.
Fine. Whatever.
I was still mad. If Sam had issues with me, she could have taken them up with me privately.
I didn’t feel the need to go to her little party. There was no reason to have a party.
Hell, I probably wasn’t even invited. Erik was probably right about her interest in Archer.
I grabbed my plate off the counter and sat down at the table. Archer hooked his foot around the rung of my chair and yanked me closer.
Both Erik and Dorian looked toward the sound. Archer held up his hands and laughed.
“Sorry,” he said. He leaned closer, his voice softening. “They don’t want me to be close to you?”
I blushed. “I think the noise just surprised them.”
Erik’s plate clanked as he plopped it down on the table. He pulled the chair closer and sat down. It felt like his eyes were on me, but I didn’t want to look up and see that I was right.
“Seems like it might storm again,” Archer said, tilting his head toward the window.
Erik’s fork clanked loudly against the plate. He shoveled some of the beans into his mouth and chewed slowly.
“It’s rained a lot since the solar storm, don’t you think?” I asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” Archer said, leaning closer. “I don’t mind the rain, though, do you?”
“It can be relaxing,” I said.
Archer placed his arm around the back of my chair. “Is there anything more romantic than snuggling up under a blanket during a thunderstorm?”
“I could think of a few things,” Dorian said.
Erik exhaled loudly. He got up from the table and wiped his plate clean with a paper towel.
“That was good. Thanks for warming that up, Dorian,” Erik said.
“Yeah, no problem.” Dorian smiled. “It’s the least I could do for you taking me in when the world was collapsing around us.”
I couldn’t help but feel like they were making fun of Archer for talking about romantic thunderstorms when we had bigger things to worry about. Of course, they didn’t make fun of Sam for wanting to sit at the bar and drink the night away.
“Let me know
