He appeared more normal with a girlfriend. And what a perfect girlfriend I was; never questioning him, never checking on whether he was home more often than I realized, and never pushing to do anything. I was his boring, gullible, blind-to-the-truth girlfriend.
After I give them everything I know, I feel exhausted and disheartened. I want to go home; put on the warm, fluffy onesie I bought online two years ago, and occasionally live in when I am on a Netflix binge; curl up in my bed; and sleep for days. I want to rewind to before I met Brian and never bump into him as we both were picking up a sandwich at the same deli.
“Ava, are you with us?” Zander interrupts my musings.
“Huh?” I focus back on the guys and find them all staring at me.
“There’s just one more thing I need to do,” Zander says, looking uncomfortable.
“I can do it. I usually do this kind of—”
“I’ll do it,” Zander cuts Joey off.
Joey looks surprised by this.
What are they talking about?
“Ava, I need to take some photos of the bruises you have from that bastard.”
“Oh … Okay,” I agree slowly.
“It’s for our records and if, in the future, you wish to press any charges,” he explains, though it didn’t occur to me to ask for a reason.
I nod, watching as Declan and Joey leave.
“Do you need the blinds shut?”
I shake my head, watching nervously as he pulls out his phone to get his camera app.
I lift my sleeve first, showing him the handprint from when Brian dragged me to his car. Then I pull up my new shirt to show him the bruise over my abdomen where I was punched. It’s already turning an off-brown color.
As soon as Zander lowers his phone, I speedily move my shirt back into place, embarrassed to have the injuries and self-conscious, though I know they are not my fault.
Zander looks furious. I feel his anger like it is part of the air, thickening it and suffocating me.
“I promise he won’t get the chance to ever hurt you again,” he promises.
I nod rapidly, touched, yet unsure if it is something he will have much control over.
“I’m going to have Sasha take you home.” He nods to the window where I notice Sasha waiting just outside the door.
“Home? Is it safe for—”
“My home,” he clarifies, and I nod sadly as Sasha enters the room. “You don’t need to be here for now, and my home is safe for you. But you must promise not to leave, and to keep Van entertained if you can. He will catch the bus, so you just need to wait inside for him. He has a key.”
“Okay. When will you be back?” My gaze shifts to Sasha when she gives a quiet snort at my question.
Zander glares at her before he focuses back on me. “Late. There is plenty of food in the cupboards. Van eats almost anything. Make whatever you want.”
I nod numbly at him, still feeling a little shocked and unsure of myself and what I have discovered today.
“I got you some more appropriate things to wear,” Sasha announces, disturbing the quiet that follows Zander’s words. She smiles at me brightly and pulls on my hand to drag me out.
“Straight there, Sasha. No stops. And text me when you arrive,” Zander barks out just as the door closes behind us.
“Yeah, yeah.” Sasha waves Zander off, not glancing at the other guys who are talking quietly to each other farther down the hall.
Within seconds, we are heading toward the front door.
The phone is ringing when we pass her desk, and after one glance at the caller ID, she picks up the call, snaps, “No,” into it, and promptly hangs up.
“Shouldn’t you listen—”
“No,” she cuts me off, and then we are out the door and walking into the cool air.
The ride to Zander’s house is quiet. Though he told Sasha no stops, she pulls into a drive-thru and we get some burgers and fries for lunch. Considering Sasha has been gone so long for her lunchbreak, I’m worried about what she must have been doing.
“So, that shit you’re caught up in sounds pretty messed up,” she finally says.
I should probably be surprised she held her tongue as long as she did, considering what I have seen of her so far.
“You could say that.”
“This got to do with the ex-boyfriend you mentioned?”
“Yeah.” I hope this isn’t the start of her asking me questions about Brian. I have already thought and spoken about him way too much today for my sanity.
“Shit. That definitely overrides anything my exes have done. Although, I did walk in on one guy wearing some of my high heels. And the worst thing was they suited him better than me. I threw him the shoes and told him to get lost.”
“You know, in this day and age, you gotta wonder if wearing women’s shoes is all that bad,” I mutter, knowing it isn’t as bad as what Brian is into.
“You’re probably right. He was actually really nice. He did admit that he liked to wear my underwear and bras, too. I couldn’t bear the thought that he would look better in them than me. My vanity doomed me in that relationship.”
I smile at her, sipping on my shake and wanting her to keep distracting me.
“What other bad breakups did you have?”
“Well …” She taps the wheel for a moment before her eyes light up. “I dated a guy in college who seriously couldn’t last for more than a minute. And I’m dead serious. Once, I timed him. Most times, I just did a little foreplay so he would be done and so I never had to worry about getting started.”
I snort at that awful image.
“The worst part was his package was huge! If he knew what he was doing, I just know it would have been incredible.”
“How long did you stay with him?”
“Not long, just a few weeks. After him, I found myself a creepy stalker. Went on a couple dates with him until he got super weird, so I broke it off. He used to break into my dorm room and masturbate all over my bed and clothes. It was gross.”
I glance down at the remainder of my fries and feel my appetite fade.
“I called Zander up, and he got Dec to sort that dude out right away. He couldn’t look at me again without peeing himself.” Sasha laughs hard then.
“What is the deal with you guys?”
“What guys?” she innocently asks. Perhaps too innocently.
“You and Declan.”
“Nothing is the deal with us. He’s an asshole. Has been since I was nine-years-old.” She shrugs as though that is just the circle of life.
“You guys never …” I trail off then watch as horror settles over her face.
“What? No way. Look, those guys look at me like I’m their baby sister.”
“And you see them all as brothers?” I press.
“Well … I mean, Joey has always been a little too slutty for me. After all these years, he still surprises me by stooping lower and lower. But he’s happy, and I can’t say the women he dates seem unhappy. Either way, he’s definitely not my type romantically. He’s definitely annoying brother material. Then Zander …” She shakes her head a little as she gives me a small smile. “Well, I did used to have a small, tiny, miniscule, only lasted a couple weeks crush on him when I was younger. But he grew up into the Hulk and that is definitely not my thing. I need to have the biggest boobs in the relationship.”
I feel outrage on Zander’s behalf at being spoken about like that. “Zander doesn’t have big—”
“He does. His whole body is just one massive muscle, and well … No, not my thing.”
I shrug nonchalantly, biting my tongue on defending Zander further. I think his body is stunning. If you were wrapped up tight amongst all those muscles, how the hell couldn’t you feel safe? Feel loved? How could they not turn you on? Hell, I would likely surround him with weights just to watch his muscles bulge.
“Hello? Earth to Ava? Did I just lose you to thoughts of Zander’s body?” She smirks at me.
I immediately redden in embarrassment. “No, I was just thinking that you haven’t mentioned Declan yet.”
Her nose twitches like she smells something funny.
“Declan is something else. I am woman enough to admit he’s hot, but he’s also an asshole. He insults me constantly, and I’m pretty sure he does it purposely. He’s so moody that it’s impossible to know what Declan you’re going to get each second of the day.”
“What do they say in kindergarten? If a boy insults you, then he likes you?”
“I hate when people say that. Like we should take insults as something positive. What are we teaching girls and women when our concerns are just shrugged off like that?”
I never thought about it that way. Now it seems a little obvious that it is whacked.
“You’re right. I only met Declan for a couple hours and he seemed nice.” Once Sasha was out of the room. “But he was an asshole to you. I think he was trying to get you away from the topic, but there are definitely better ways to go about it.”
“Speaking of …” She turns her attention to me, and I immediately begin to brace for whatever is about to come. “If you ever want to talk, I’m here for you. I can already tell you’re going to be around for a while, so I think that makes us friends. I say we might as well be best friends. Us against the boys, yeah?”
I’m touched by her words, having never had a best friend. However, her words also scare me.
“I’m going to be here for a while?” With the way the guys were talking, this seems like it might all be over potentially soon.
“Well, yeah. I mean, between you and Zander.” She gives me a look like this is a forgone conclusion.
“There is no me and Zander,” I point out to her for what feels like the tenth time. What is her deal about this?
“Girl, I saw how he looked at you. Hell, I saw how you looked at him!”
“That wasn’t … He was just—”
“He likes you,” she cuts me off. “I’m not saying he’s perfect, but he’s nice and he’ll be good to you. You could do worse.”
She is obviously right. I mean, just look at Brian. There could be no one as bad as him.
“I just found out about Brian a few days ago. I’m not ready to … I can’t just jump into … I need time.”
Sasha reaches across the console and places her hand on mine, squeezing it softly. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to push you. And I’m sure Zander isn’t, either. I don’t think he even realizes how he looks at you. I’m just trying to distract you and doing a horrible job. I’ll let it go.”
I sag a little in my seat at hearing her words. I have so much on my plate that having to worry about Zander and whatever feelings may or may not be growing is too much.
True to her word, Sasha doesn’t bring Zander up in that way again. Then again, after what she has done, she doesn’t need to.
I can’t believe it. I got away with stealing Zander’s car and kidnapping Van. I wonder if I can get away with murdering Sasha?
Chapter 6
Van is incredibly excited when he sees me, and I must admit, seeing someone smile so big just because they have seen me is a nice feeling.
However, I quickly begin to feel out of my depth when Van’s manners take things to a whole new level. He tries to wait on me all afternoon, constantly asking me if I need a drink or if I want anything to eat. At a couple of lame jokes, I make him laugh uncontrollably, as if I’m hilarious. Then, when I ask him if he has any homework, he powers through it like everything is due the next day.
I can’t help thinking this isn’t right. That Van is acting way out of character and there might be something really wrong here.
Feeling out of my depth, I even resort to borrowing Van’s phone and calling Zander, which I notice is still saved under Asshole.
He at least picks up a little better this time, not barking down the line like last night.
“What’s up?”
“Hi, Zander, it’s me.”
“Everything okay?” He instantly sounds on edge.
“Yeah, sure … I think so …” I lower my voice as I walk down the hallway where I hope Van can’t hear me. “Van is acting weird.”
“Weird how?” I can tell I have Zander’s full attention.
“He’s doing his homework.”
Okay, saying it out loud sounds ridiculous.
“He’s doing his homework?” Zander slowly repeats.
“What twelve-year-old is interested in his homework? And straight after school? With zero bribing on my behalf?” I explain, feeling more stupid the longer I talk. “And he laughed at my joke, which was really bad.”
Zander is trying to help me with something that is dangerous, and I’m bothering him over Van doing his homework and being polite? What is wrong with me?
I quickly backtrack. “Sorry, just forget I called you. I’m being silly—”
“No, it’s okay. It’s good you called. If you ever feel unsafe or that something might be wrong, I want you to call me. But I don’t think Van doing his homework is any cause for alarm. It might actually be cause for celebration.”
“You’re right. I just thought, after yesterday when you mentioned him not engaging at school … well, I just worried this might be a sign of something important. Something I might not understand because I don’t know him.” I wish I could kick myself for calling Zander. He’s going to think I’m some attention seeking hypochondriac, seeing drama in everything.
“This is a good thing. I don’t think he’s done homework once since … It’s a good thing, Ava.”
“You’re probably right. Sorry to bother you with this.” I feel like an idiot, my face is flushed, and I’m desperate to end this call.
“Like I said, you can call me anytime. Actually, while I have you on the phone, I can let you know I’m probably going to be late tonight.”
“Oh, okay.” I glance back down at Van. Logically, I know I’m being an idiot about this, but part of me worries there is something more going on here and I’m not equipped to handle it. At least if Zander was here, it would be his responsibility, not mine.
“Van’s bedtime is nine-thirty, and make sure he cleans up whatever you cook for him. He’ll eat anything, except fish. He cleans after every dinner as part of his chores.” Zander sounds a little distracted now, his attention obviously shifting to something else on his end.
“Okay.”
“And double-check he brushes his teeth. I have no idea why, but he always tries to get out of it.”
“Sure.” I try not to sound as overwhelmed as I feel.
Van is twelve, not a baby. He can do everything himself, and he likes me, so this shouldn’t be too hard.
Zander takes a deep breath that echoes through the phone. “Thanks for doing this. I appreciate it.”
“No worries.” Honestly, it really isn’t a problem. I’m fairly certain Zander has already done enough for me to owe him a lifetime of gratitude.
He disconnects the call soon after, and then I’m faced with Van again. Alone.
When it comes time to make Van dinner, I fear I get confirmation that he’s being weird.
I burn the garlic bread on one side a charcoal black, which Van eats enthusiastically. He doesn’t just go back for seconds of my casserole, but thirds. I know it wasn’t that good. When I suggest he watch a movie once dinner is over, he is quick to suggest that we see if Juno is on Netflix. It is. Then, after clearly getting bored of Juno within minutes, I watch as he sits through an hour of the movie without complaining or saying a word to me.
A boring hour for a twelve-year-old must feel like ten hours of sitting still.
When I shut it off to put him out of his misery, he mentions getting ready for bed … an hour before his bedtime!
“Van, is everything okay?” I finally ask, now definitely convinced something is up.
“Of course.” He is swift to answer.
Before I can interrogate him further, he closes his bedroom door behind him.<
br />
I glance over at his cell resting on the kitchen nook where I placed it last, but I can’t bring myself to call Zander. I’m probably overreacting. Well, it will sound that way when I try to explain it.
“Hey, so … your brother not only finished his homework, but he ate some burnt bread, and then watched a movie with me that he hated, but he didn’t complain about. Then he decided to go to bed early. You should book him in for a psychiatric appointment immediately.”
Yeah, that doesn’t sound stupid at all.
Van soon exits his bedroom, now wearing his pajamas, and makes his way into the bathroom where he proceeds to brush his teeth.
He is brushing his teeth without me having to prompt him!
What is happening?
Am I just looking for something else to focus on, overanalyzing Van so I won’t have to think about my own sad life?
As Van leaves the bathroom, wiping his sleeve across his mouth, I glance again at the time. It’s still well before his bedtime.
“You sure you’re ready for bed?” I ask.
He shrugs, but he doesn’t make any move to step back into his bedroom, just hangs out in the hallway.
“Van, are you sure you’re okay being here with me?” Maybe he’s nervous to be left alone with me? Maybe the shock of last night is catching up to him and he is realizing that Zander has left him alone with his almost kidnapper?
When you think about it, that sounds stupid, too. What is Zander thinking by leaving me in charge?
“Yeah, of course.” He sounds so honest and sure of himself that I don’t think he’s lying.
“And you’re feeling all right? Not sick or something?”
Now he’s looking at me in confusion. He probably just had a busy day and is tired, or he’s afraid I’m going to make him watch a different movie that will bore him to death.
“I feel great.”
“Are you tired?”
He shrugs again.
Given he hasn’t yawned once, and Zander pointed out what time he needs to be in bed, as though he usually doesn’t go to bed on time, it makes me think there must be something here.
“You know, I think you mentioned showing me a photo of Zander with dreadlocks if I ever came back here.”
I Stole His Car (Love at First Crime Book 1) Page 10