In Their Arms

CHAPTER SEVEN

SEVEN

DAWN

I can't help the small skip in my step as I step into the small thrift shop where Fin works. Another week has come and gone in the blink of an eye and my tips combined with my paycheck have allowed me to come back sooner than expected. 

Fin pops her head up from the magazine she's hunched over and a giant smile covers her face. 

“Kara! Come look at what we just got, I thought of you immediately when I saw these.” She hops up, meeting me halfway and grabs my hand to drag me towards the shirts. 

There's a bunch of graphic shirts that weren't here last time and I feel my lips pull up in a smile. We dig through them and I'm happy to find four I fall in love with right away. Fin's grandmother calls her name from somewhere in the back so I keep looking to see what else I can find. 

I end up making a pile on the counter and add to it twice since my arms keep filling up. I'm flipping through the movie section when a ding alerts me to a new customer. I keep my head down, grabbing a few DVDs when a presence behind me has the hair lifting behind my neck. Turning, I spot Holland looking at me with a small smile playing on his lips. His green eyes trail over me from head to toe and back.

“Holland? What are you doing here?” I turn to face him fully and he plucks the Deadpool movie from my fingers. 

“I was passing by and thought I saw you.” 

“I'm in the back of the store, Holland. You can't see me from just passing by." I say, using air quotes as I mimic his voice on the last part of my sentence. 

“Was that supposed to be me?” His voice deepens with laughter and he swipes his thumb over his upper lip as if he's manually erasing a smile. 

“You didn't just see me, Holland.” I ignore his teasing and refuse to lower my gaze from his eyes. 

He breaths a deep sigh and breaks eye contact with me. He turns to start looking through the DVDs but he keeps eyeing me. I don't turn away from him so he knows I'm not letting this go. I want an answer. 

“Fine, woman. I may have followed you, okay?” He faces me again and props his hands on his hips. 

“Why?” I mirror his move by placing my own hands on my hips. 

“Because I've hardly seen you in days and I want to know that you're being safe. That you're okay.”

“Why would you care? I'm not a fucking charity case.”

“No one ever said you were.” His words are sincere but I can still hear Tyler's voice in the back of my head. I break eye contact and curl my arms around my middle. I hear Holland sigh a moment before his hands land on my shoulders. “Let me guess, Tyler said some things that night?”

I don't want to get into this now so I turn away. His right hand trails softly across my neck and an involuntary shudder rolls through my body. I see where he dropped my Deadpool DVD so I snatch it up and tuck it protectively under my arm. I continue to dig, all the while feeling his gaze on me like a caress. 

We don't speak anymore but he stays with me, even when Fin comes back out and we start talking. After initially looking him over she's ignored him, which I'm grateful for. 

“So do you want to go with me to this cool new restaurant I found? It's sushi but with a total retro vibe and the music is amazing.” Fin asks me after all of my purchases are rang up and I've paid her. 

“That sounds good to me. Where is it?”

“It's on the other side of town, about twenty minutes out. How about Friday night? It will probably be busy but after we can explore, Gram doesn't like me going around alone.”

“I have to work Friday but I'm off Saturday, how's that?”

“I can make that work. Text me and we'll iron out the small details.” 

“Sounds good to me.” I grabbed my bags, frowning and slapping at Holland's hand when he tried to help me. 

“Give me the fucking bags, Kara.”

“No-” 

He rolls his eyes at me before grabbing all of the bags and storming out the front door. I can see his Range Rover parked in front of the store and he's putting my bags in the back seat. After closing the door he turns, planting himself with his arms crossed over his chest and raises a brow at me. I narrow my eyes back making his lips curl upwards. 

“That man is fine as hell. Go get him.” Fin shoves me forward making me stumble and she bursts out laughing. I can't help the laugh that bubbles out of me. 

“Bye, Fin.” I shake my head as I leave. 

“Bye, Kara!” She sings back. “See you Saturday.”

I step outside, making my way to Holland. He grabs me by the arms, pulling me close to him. He widens his stance so that I end up with his feet firmly planted on the outside of my own. His hands aren't tight and there's still a small grin tugging his lips upwards. 

“If I offer to drive you back home, are you going to fight me?”

“Depends.”

“On what?” His tone is wary which has me smiling myself. 

His hands travel upwards so they're cupping the sides of my neck. His thumbs gently stroke my jaw and a small shiver rolls over me. 

“On if you let me get coffee first.”

He chuckles, the sound causing warmth to pool in my stomach. It's a sound I've only heard a handful of times but this is the first it's ever been directed at me. 

“Babe, we can go wherever you want.” He softly kisses my forehead and I have to stop myself from melting into his chest. 

He reaches out with his left hand to open the passenger side door. He waits while I hop in, closing the door once I'm buckled. I watch as he makes his way around the back of the vehicle. He climbs in smoothly, starts the car and buckles in himself. Rock music fills the car and he turns it down. 

“This cool?”

”Sounds good.”

“Let's go get your coffee and get back. The guys are planning dinner and we want you to eat with us.”

“I don't think-”

“All of us want you there, Dawn. Don't make me beg.” 

“Okay.”

He smiles at me, flashing perfect white teeth. 

I breathe deep and loosen my fingers that I don't remember clenching around my seatbelt. Hopefully tonight won't end horribly.