“I don’t really know,” I said, unable to look directly at Davis as I lied to him. Max brushed a kiss over the top of my head. I leaned into his strength. “My dad and I aren’t talking right now.”
“Aw, babe,” Isabel said, voice soft with sympathy. “What did he do?”
I offered her a grateful smile. Of course, my supportive friend immediately put the blame on my dad instead of me. If we’d had a falling out, Isabel was firmly in my corner.
“You know how he’s always smothered me.” I mumbled my way through the lie that I’d planned in advance with Max. “He freaked out about the fire and tried to force me to come back and live at the house with him. We had a really bad fight about how he’s too overbearing, and how I’ve hid so much awful stuff from him because I was trying to protect him from getting upset. I told him about the bullying and social isolation that he caused by keeping me separated from my peers growing up. The whole thing was terrible. So…we aren’t talking right now,” I finished, my voice barely hitching. I’d given them some of the truth, just enough to cover the bigger lie.
“Honey, that’s terrible,” Davis said, his eyes wide with compassion. “I’m so sorry you had to deal with that bullshit. Especially after your place burned down. You can come stay with me as long as you need to if you don’t want to go live with your dad.” He eyed Max, his sea green eyes deep and serious. “I’m sure she’d rather keep staying with you, though. We haven’t thanked you yet.”
Max blinked, bewildered. “For what?”
“For pulling Allie out of that fire!” Isabel exclaimed. “We could’ve lost her, and you saved her.”
Davis let out a long sigh that sounded suspiciously like the word swoon. He was definitely on board with seeing Max as my personal dark hero.
Twin flames flickered over his black eyes as he stared down at me. “I would do anything for Allie.”
Yes, he’d walked into a fire for me. He’d faced his brutal father for me. He’d been brave enough to give me his whole heart, even after a lifetime of cruelty.
“I would do the same for you,” I vowed, speaking only to him.
Charlie made another humming sound, more contemplative this time. She was grateful to Max for saving me, and she was starting to see how deeply I cared for him too.
“Do you want help going through your things?” Isabel asked me. “I don’t know what you can salvage after the fire, but we’re here for you. And we can help you look for a new place to live.”
I shook my head, smiling. “I’m staying with Max. We’ll find a place.”
“What about your internship?” Isabel asked. “Do you think you’ll go back this summer?”
My stomach dipped. I still hadn’t told them about what had happened with Mike. There were too many difficult things to lie about. And I didn’t have to hide what’d happened with my old boss. He was a sick bastard, and he deserved to be exposed for what he’d done to me.
“I’m not going back,” I declared, tossing my hair over my shoulder. “I don’t want anything to do with that place. Mike made a move on me in his office last week. It was totally disgusting.”
“What?” Charlie gasped.
I nodded grimly. “And he tried to blame it on me.”
“Gaslighting motherfucker,” Davis swore.
“Report him,” Isabel advised. “Or he’ll do it to someone else.”
I offered a savage nod. “I intend to. I won’t let him get away with it.”
“Screw reporting him,” Davis said. “Max, please go punch him for us, like you did with Gavin. No one messes with our Allie.”
Max lifted his brow at me, a question in his dark eyes. Yes, he’d gladly beat up Mike if I asked him to.
I placed a grateful hand on his corded forearm, but I straightened my shoulders. “I can handle Mike.” I wasn’t going to allow a man to victimize me ever again.
“I know you can,” Max said, muscles flexing. “But let me know if you change your mind.”
Davis sighed again, Isabel giggled like it was a joke, and Charlie made a soft sound of doubt.
“What exactly do you do, Max?” my gentlest friend asked with surprising incisiveness. “When you’re not punching people.”
“He’s in between jobs at the moment,” I quickly interjected. “He was injured at work recently.”
Surprise struck me when Max replied, “I’m good at punching people. I thought I might try teaching others how to do it properly.” He stared down at me, eyes dark and serious. “Starting with you.”