In Plain Sight by Hope Anika

Chapter Fourteen

“Whoa there, angel, let me help.”

Selena started when the large, steel ice grinder she was struggling to set down was abruptly lifted from her arms. She blinked at the shadow that stood outlined by the bright white light flooding the darkened midway. “Thank you.”

“You bet,” the figure said, his voice deep.

She blinked again, trying to bring him into focus. Large, standing fluorescent lights had been set up throughout the midway, flooding the space with painfully bright light. The sounds of metal being hammered and men working filled the night air. It was Sunday night and “tear down” had begun. Rides were being dismantled, games were being shuttered, and she was almost done cleaning the popcorn wagon, which, as it turned out, was no small feat.

The last item had been to clean underneath the awkward and heavy ice crusher—even though Fiona told her not to worry about it—but it was more awkward and heavier than she’d realized, and by the time she stepped down out of the wagon to set it on the ground, she realized she might very well drop it.

Until this person, whoever he was, had stepped in and saved the day. Or night, as it were.

“You’re new,” the voice continued as he set the grinder down, and suddenly Selena could see him. “I haven’t seen you before.”

Her heart slammed against her rib cage, and her breath caught. He wasn’t much older than she was, and he was smiling, golden-haired and blue-eyed, his ratty t-shirt smeared with grease. Smiling. At her. Warm, friendly, his eyes glinting. A thrill shot through her, followed by pure terror.

Smiling at her.

“Yes,” she said, for lack of anything better, and she turned away, back toward the wagon.

“I’m Josh,” he said. “My brother Mick owns the show.”

“Okay,” she said and stepped back into the wagon.

But he didn’t retreat. Instead, he leaned against the open doorway and looked around. “How do you know Fi?”

Unease whispered through her. She didn’t want to lie; maybe he would just go away. But he was still smiling at her. Flirting, she realized abruptly, a little stunned. He was flirting with her.

Which made her stare stupidly at him for a long, silent moment.

“Relax,” he said. “I don’t bite.”

And Rye and Fiona were only a few feet away; she was safe. He was just being friendly.

Wasn’t he?

His smile faded. “What’s your name, angel?”

“None of your goddamn business.”

For the second time that night, Selena started. Ares suddenly stood behind Josh, his face hard, his voice cold. “Beat it.”

His animosity surprised Selena, but Josh just ignored him and winked at her. “That’s a mighty strange name.”

“She’s just a kid,” Ares said, which for some reason, offended Selena deeply.

“Lena,” she said, feeling defiant. “My name is Lena.”

“Lena.” Josh’s smile returned, and both a flush of pleasure and a streak of fear tore through her. “Nice to meet you, Lena.”

Ares sent her a black scowl. “Don’t you have work to do?”

She stiffened. What was his problem? She’d been working her tail off for three days. Couldn’t she take five minutes and—

“You need help with anything else?” Josh asked, looking around the wagon.

“No,” Ares said before she could respond. “She doesn’t.”

But Josh just ignored him again and looked at Selena. “All good?”

“Yes,” she said and felt her cheeks heat. “Thank you.”

He nodded. “You need anything else, you come find me.”

“She won’t need anything else,” Ares snapped.

Selena looked between them. She didn’t understand what was happening. Why was Ares angry? What was wrong with Josh helping her?

“I’ll be right over there.” Josh nodded toward the small crowd of men dismantling the tilt-a-whirl. “Okay?”

“Okay,” she said, more than a little confused.

“Good.” He turned away and looked at Ares. Ares looked back. For a long, silent moment, they stared at each other, and Selena grew still. She might not have had much exposure to this world or the people in it, but she wasn’t stupid. She recognized the face off in front of her, even if she didn’t understand it.

“Someday,” Josh murmured and snapped his teeth at Ares. “We’re going to settle this.”

“Whenever you’re ready,” Ares retorted, unmoving. They were the same height, but Josh was much wider than Ares, his bones bigger, his shoulders broader. Still, Ares didn’t seem cowed.

He seemed…eager.

There was more to him than she’d seen.

Like there was more to Fiona, and Rye, and a whole lot more to Max… People were only a fraction of what they appeared.

What they shared.

“Take it easy, Lena,” Josh said.

Then he left.

Ares turned to her and glowered. “You shouldn’t talk to him.”

Annoyed, Selena stomped over to the dishrag she’d been using to wipe everything down. Every surface in the entire wagon was coated in sugar, even what was tucked into the narrow metal shelving along the top wall.

“Lena,” Ares said and stepped into the wagon behind her. “I mean it.”

Her hand tightened on the rag. “He just helped me with the ice maker.”

“He’s looking for a piece of ass.”

She stiffened; embarrassment burned through her. They weren’t really having this conversation, were they? “Unlikely.”

“Very likely. That dick doesn’t want to help you. He doesn’t want to be your friend. He just wants to screw you.”

Her cheeks were on fire. She turned to glare at him. “Go away!”

“No. We’re going to talk about this.”

“Why?”

“Because I want you to understand that Josh is just looking for a fuck.”

That word—and all that it conjured—made her speechless for a moment. Then a painful laugh caught in her throat. “Have you met me?”

Ares pulled the wagon door shut behind him, closing them into the small space, shutting out the sounds of the midway. “What does that mean?”

That I’m a freak. That I don’t belong here. That this is not my world!

But it was, now. No matter how chaotic and dangerous and unwelcoming.

“I’m not like you,” she said.

It wasn’t enough, but anything else would be too much, and she was hyperaware of the care she had to take. She wasn’t safe, not really, no matter how she might try and fool herself. She couldn’t afford to reveal anything real; she couldn’t share her fear and frustration and isolation.

“I know you’re here because you’re in trouble,” he said, watching her. Serious and unflinching, seeing more than she wanted. “And that asshole, he’s just more trouble.”

Selena wanted to argue, even while she understood he was probably right. Yes, it had been nice, being smiled at. Talked to. But she wasn’t stupid. Her mother had made very sure that Selena knew and understood the sole reason a boy might speak to her. What he would want. How he would see her, use her, discard her. Her ankle-length skirts and long-sleeved blouses had been just one line of defense; her mother’s blunt explanation of a woman’s place in the world of men had gone much further.

They’re stronger than we are, and the world stands with them. They use pain and power and pleasure, and if you let them, they will take until there is nothing left to give.

Selena hadn’t known her father well; he’d been more a ghost than a parent. But her brothers had been nothing like the men her mother described. They’d been thoughtful and loving and kind; they’d cared about her feelings and asked her opinions.

She’d thought perhaps it was because they were family. But now…

She wasn’t certain. Because the men she’d met in the past few days hadn’t embodied her mother’s dark warning, either. Not Max, who’d saved her life by endangering his own. Or Rye, who hovered over her protectively. Or Ares, who stood before her now, trying to protect her, because he was afraid she would trust the wrong person and get hurt.

Her mother, she realized, had only ever known part of the truth.

“Okay,” she said finally. “I’ll be careful.”

He just stood there, silent, watching her.

She went back to scrubbing the counter. “What?”

“I mean it. That dickhead will use you.”

“I understand,” she grated.

“I don’t think you do.”

She was tempted to throw the rag at his head. “What do you care?”

“I care because I can tell something epically messed up happened to you, and when something like that happens, it’s easy to make stupid mistakes—like him.”

Selena went still. She’d always been skilled at presenting the world with a calm, unruffled demeanor. Even Max had remarked upon it. You’re like a goddamned sphinx. That Ares could see through that reserve, into the dark, hollow place where she was terrified and ashamed and broken was…devastating.

For a long moment, she couldn’t speak. This boy…he made her feel something. Something she didn’t understand and couldn’t explain, but something real. And that he knew she was so badly damaged…

Tears filled her throat in a sudden, vicious thrush she couldn’t speak past. Her vision blurred.

“You just need to be careful,” he said softly, and she could feel his gaze burning into her profile, but she couldn’t speak.

So she only nodded sharply.

“If you need to talk…” He took a step toward her, and her paralysis broke, and she took a stumbling step away. He halted. “I’m your friend, Lena.”

She said nothing, painfully aware of that steady, relentless gaze. The kindness in his voice.

Your friend.Another thing she’d never had; an idea. A fantasy.

Just a dream.

She didn’t know how to have a friend, or how to be one. All of these people urging her to talk, to share, when all she wanted to do was forget.

Why wouldn’t they let her forget?

Because none of this…it wasn’t real. Not really. Soon she would be gone as if she’d never been, and it wouldn’t matter. They wouldn’t be friends. They would just be memories.

“We decide what matters,” Ares said suddenly, and his voice was like a blade severing the twisted, painful knot of her thoughts. “We decide everything.”

She didn’t understand what that meant. But before she could ask, he turned and left, slamming the door behind him.

And she was alone. Again.