I was always alone.
I knew that sounded stupid, considering people constantly surrounded me, but a part of me has always felt, well, invisible. I pulled into my driveway and waited for the garage door to open before sliding my baby inside. Holden always wanted a Ford F250 diesel, so I got one. She was black with flames down the side, and his name was among those flames. I stepped into the foyer of my house and shivered. It really was cold out. I checked the thermostat and inched it up a few degrees. I stepped into my living room and grabbed some firewood, throwing it into the fireplace and lighting it up. I loved my fireplace. Jinx and I always made s’mores during the winter.
I walked over to the picture on the wall of the guys and me. We were all smiling and flipping off the camera. It seemed weird that we all stayed so close. Most people who formed friendships in elementary school didn’t stay as close as we did. We were always together; me, Paul, Ransom, Rebel, Jinx and Gareth. I ran my finger over Paul’s face in the photograph. He was doing better, but he still had a long way to go. When Gareth was getting threatening notes, never in our wildest dreams did we think it could be Paul could be behind them. Turned out, Paul was jealous of Gareth and wanted to come back as our lead guitarist. We’d since been informed that Paul had chronic depression and PTSD, which played a huge role in his behavior. He was getting help now, and we hoped to bring him back to Arizona soon.
I sighed and walked into the kitchen. I didn’t really cook. Most of my meals were the frozen kind or the pizza delivery kind, but once in a while, I liked a steak on the grill. I opened the pantry and smiled at the potato bag on the bottom shelf.
Damn Achilles.
When we were told we’d have a security detail, I thought it was only during tours. Turns out it was all the time, and my lucky ass wound up with brooding Achilles. I pulled the potatoes out and wrapped them in foil. I stepped out onto the patio and immediately shivered. Was I nuts grilling in December? I lit the grill and threw the potatoes on. I shut the sliding glass door and wandered back into the kitchen. The doorbell rang and I crossed the living room to answer it. I had barely gotten to the knob when the door flew open, revealing Achilles loaded down with bags.
“Why do you even bother to use the doorbell if you’re just going to walk in?” I stood with my hands on my hips and what I hoped was a scowl on my face.
“You took too long,” Achilles answered, shoving two bags into my arms.
I followed him back to the kitchen and placed my bags on the counter, rifling through them. I grinned as I spotted marshmallows and chocolate. I knew Jinx and Achilles talked a lot, which was probably why Achilles knew so much about me. Achilles pulled out a box of graham crackers and I turned to face him.
“Making s’mores?” I asked hopefully.
“Yes. We are,” Achilles replied.
“Have you ever had them?” I asked, curious. I knew he’d been in the military before becoming a bodyguard. I had always wondered what those guys did during downtime. If they even had any.
“No. We spent most of our time telling ghost stories around the fire and singing,” Achilles said with a straight face.
I narrowed my eyes. “You’re fucking with me, right?”
“Yes. I am. We did have something along those lines,” he told me as he pointed to the chocolate and marshmallows. “But they weren’t the same. M.R.E.’s can only do so much.”
“M.R.E’s? I think my brother mentioned them once. Meals ready to eat. I hear they give you the shits.”
“Among other things.” Achilles placed the groceries on the counter and glanced at me. “Grill on?”
“Yep.”
“I’ll go put these steaks on.”
Achilles seemed at ease in my kitchen, which again made me wonder how many times he’d been in my house. I made salad to keep busy and peeked out the glass door now and then to watch Achilles. His mother had definitely named him correctly. He was tall, and I mean, like really tall. I topped out at six foot, but Achilles towered over me. I checked out the curves of his ass as he bent over, and whistled softly under my breath. Achilles straightened and then turned around, and I quickly went back to work chopping tomatoes.
What was it about Achilles that turned me on so damned much? I’d always considered myself straight with a side of bi, but Achilles? Well, he turned my head so fast, I think I got whiplash the first time I laid eyes on him. And now he was in my fucking space 24/7. He was disgustingly good looking, but the side of him I liked the most was how he could be so caring and sweet. I rinsed my hands in the sink as Achilles came through the back door with the steaks. He placed the platter on the counter and handed me a knife.