Read Online Against Me (Cedar Tree Book 3) by Freya Barker - Free Book Online
Authors: Freya Barker
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talk. Haven't had much experience.
"Just spit it out. Rip it off like a band aid, it's not that hard." She’s laughing at me now.
"Fine. I may have said something about it not being a good idea to bring me here because of what it might remind you of, and I also may have told him he wasn't responsible for looking after me."
"Alright, the first is a load of crap, and the second isn’t smelling that pretty, either. What is wrong with you?" She gives me a playful shove that almost sends me tumbling off the bed. "Oops, sorry. That was a little harder than intended," she chuckles sheepishly.
I shrug my shoulders, "Just used to being a bit of a loner, I guess. Not good with people just being nice for the sake of being nice."
"You are a ditz, Katie. Seriously. They're not being nice for the sake of being nice; they're being nice because of you. They want to be nice to you. Hell, we want to be nice to you because you're a likeable person, believe it or not," she snickers, "but I get the feeling maybe you haven't been told a whole lot. That's ok, we'll work on that," she says with a firm nod. "But fill me in on the day. All Gus would say was that you were in trouble when he left in a hurry this morning, and just now he barely said anything when he got home, so I'm flailing in the dark here."
Thinking about how my day started filled me with the instant weight of guilt over poor Sue. I'd only known her for a few months and only superficially at that, but she never failed to stop and chat for a bit about all kinds of stuff. The closest I'd really ever come to having a female friend since I was a teenager. The thought that I was upstairs very uncharacteristically drowning myself into a bottle of Scotch because I was feeling scared and sorry for myself while someone killed her just outside my window, didn't sit particularly well. Then there is missing Juan, who I'm positive was scared out of his wits and I did nothing for him. Me, top notch security expert, sat right next door, sucking back the Glenfiddich while someone took him from his room.
Haltingly at first, but then spilling out the sequence of events to Emma is like a purging of a different kind. She just looks at me, her mouth falling a bit wider as my story comes tumbling out.
"My," she croaks out after she swallows deeply, "Even in a care facility you manage to lead an exciting life," causing me to snicker this time.
"Not something I was looking for, I promise."
"I figure that. So what happens now? Gus just called from the road this afternoon saying you'd be staying here, which is wonderful by the way. It's exactly what I was talking to Caleb about the other day, anyway."
I must have had confusion written all over my face, because she mutters ' oh shit,' under her breath.
"Guess he didn't have much of a chance to talk with you yet, huh? Fuck me. Mouth is running away on me again."
"Yeah. Not sure what you're talking about, but it sounds just like Caleb not to clue me in. He didn't on the discussions about where I was going to be going or staying."
Working up a good head of steam, I don't hold back.
"He's moving me around like a pesky piece of furniture that doesn't really fit but he can't get rid of. I'm sick of it. He makes these obligatory visits to Larchwood to see if I'm still breathing and then he's off to save the world again, and I don't even understand why he's taken on the responsibility. I hate feeling like someone's responsibility. Most of the time I don't know what the man is thinking, except the one time when I think it is obvious; when he does something so outside of his self-controlled norm, so glaringly provocative that I act on it, he fucking walks away! Arghh!"
My hands grip my short locks and I pull, wanting to feel the sting in my scalp, I'm so frustrated. All I hear beside me is a soft chuckle.
"Don't laugh, it's not funny. He seriously makes me lose control. I'm not this person; this crazy, emotional mess! I don't even know myself like
"Just spit it out. Rip it off like a band aid, it's not that hard." She’s laughing at me now.
"Fine. I may have said something about it not being a good idea to bring me here because of what it might remind you of, and I also may have told him he wasn't responsible for looking after me."
"Alright, the first is a load of crap, and the second isn’t smelling that pretty, either. What is wrong with you?" She gives me a playful shove that almost sends me tumbling off the bed. "Oops, sorry. That was a little harder than intended," she chuckles sheepishly.
I shrug my shoulders, "Just used to being a bit of a loner, I guess. Not good with people just being nice for the sake of being nice."
"You are a ditz, Katie. Seriously. They're not being nice for the sake of being nice; they're being nice because of you. They want to be nice to you. Hell, we want to be nice to you because you're a likeable person, believe it or not," she snickers, "but I get the feeling maybe you haven't been told a whole lot. That's ok, we'll work on that," she says with a firm nod. "But fill me in on the day. All Gus would say was that you were in trouble when he left in a hurry this morning, and just now he barely said anything when he got home, so I'm flailing in the dark here."
Thinking about how my day started filled me with the instant weight of guilt over poor Sue. I'd only known her for a few months and only superficially at that, but she never failed to stop and chat for a bit about all kinds of stuff. The closest I'd really ever come to having a female friend since I was a teenager. The thought that I was upstairs very uncharacteristically drowning myself into a bottle of Scotch because I was feeling scared and sorry for myself while someone killed her just outside my window, didn't sit particularly well. Then there is missing Juan, who I'm positive was scared out of his wits and I did nothing for him. Me, top notch security expert, sat right next door, sucking back the Glenfiddich while someone took him from his room.
Haltingly at first, but then spilling out the sequence of events to Emma is like a purging of a different kind. She just looks at me, her mouth falling a bit wider as my story comes tumbling out.
"My," she croaks out after she swallows deeply, "Even in a care facility you manage to lead an exciting life," causing me to snicker this time.
"Not something I was looking for, I promise."
"I figure that. So what happens now? Gus just called from the road this afternoon saying you'd be staying here, which is wonderful by the way. It's exactly what I was talking to Caleb about the other day, anyway."
I must have had confusion written all over my face, because she mutters ' oh shit,' under her breath.
"Guess he didn't have much of a chance to talk with you yet, huh? Fuck me. Mouth is running away on me again."
"Yeah. Not sure what you're talking about, but it sounds just like Caleb not to clue me in. He didn't on the discussions about where I was going to be going or staying."
Working up a good head of steam, I don't hold back.
"He's moving me around like a pesky piece of furniture that doesn't really fit but he can't get rid of. I'm sick of it. He makes these obligatory visits to Larchwood to see if I'm still breathing and then he's off to save the world again, and I don't even understand why he's taken on the responsibility. I hate feeling like someone's responsibility. Most of the time I don't know what the man is thinking, except the one time when I think it is obvious; when he does something so outside of his self-controlled norm, so glaringly provocative that I act on it, he fucking walks away! Arghh!"
My hands grip my short locks and I pull, wanting to feel the sting in my scalp, I'm so frustrated. All I hear beside me is a soft chuckle.
"Don't laugh, it's not funny. He seriously makes me lose control. I'm not this person; this crazy, emotional mess! I don't even know myself like
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