Taken by the Alien Next Door (Aliens Among Us #1) - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,97

it was, indeed, full of other people.

She and Zevris walked another block, crossed the street, and turned at the corner. The new street was like the last, with the dark, looming apartments and trees on either side and vehicles parallel parked up and down its length, but one key thing set it apart—Zevris’s truck was one of those vehicles, awaiting its owner at the end of the block.

Voices drifted to Tabitha from down the street—masculine voices, talking and laughing. Her eyes caught on something ahead. It was the tiny orange ember of a cigarette as someone took a drag from it. Only then did she notice the four men standing in the shadows against the building, two leaning against the wall and two standing on the sidewalk. At least three of them were smoking.

Zevris had already shifted his course so he and Tabitha were as close to the curb as they could be without walking face first into a tree, apparently aiming for the gap between the group of men and the parked cars.

The men looked toward Zevris and Tabitha, one of them taking another drag of his cigarette. Despite the shadows, it was impossible to miss their leering grins. Though none of them were as big as Zevris, they all looked solidly built and athletic.

“Well, aren’t you two fancy,” one of the men said.

Tabitha leaned just a little more firmly against Zevris, already feeling that old, familiar, uncomfortable heat creeping into her cheeks. She recognized the man’s tone. There’d only been a couple kids in school who’d truly bullied her, and that was the exact tone of voice they’d used when doing so.

“Surprised his coat’s big enough,” said another man.

She moved her feet a little faster, hoping Zevris would pick up his pace. They were so close to his truck, so close to moving on with their evening.

She felt the men staring at her as Zevris led her past them. A couple of the men snickered.

“Ever seen a cow in red?” the first man asked.

“Trying to attract a bull, maybe,” replied another.

“Target’s sure big enough.” The third man grunted and made a drawn-out mooing sound.

Tabitha tensed and pressed her lips together as ice flowed through her veins. Her chest was tight, and it was difficult to breath as she fought the sting of tears. She knew that man’s voice. She knew who he was.

Cody fucking Everton.

Don’t you dare cry, Tabby. It doesn’t matter what they say, doesn’t matter what he says. They don’t matter. He doesn’t matter.

“You could park a truck on that ass,” the fourth man said.

Zevris slowed his pace.

No, no, no! Don’t slow down, please. They won’t stop, and I don’t want to see him.

The second man laughed. “Your dick would get lost if you tried, Tad.”

“You’d get lost if you tried, Vance,” Tad replied. “We’d have to send in a rescue team.”

Zevris halted. He was still for a few moments before he hooked a finger beneath her chin. Tabitha resisted when he tried to tip her face up. After this perfect evening, he didn’t need to see tears in her eyes. He didn’t need to see how this affected her.

Because damn it, it shouldn’t have.

But it did.

She wanted to tell him it was okay, to just keep walking, but she couldn’t find the words. She’d heard all the insults before, and she’d moved on from Cody years before. She should’ve been above the hurt. But it always seemed to catch her off-guard, and she never came up with the perfect comebacks until long after the confrontations were over.

If she were to write down everything she’d thought of to say to Cody after she’d dumped him, she could’ve filled a five-subject notebook. Of course, her mind refused to produce even one of those things now.

“I don’t fully understand what their words mean,” Zevris said in a voice that, though low, already held a dangerous edge. “Are they referring to you when they say cow?”

Tabitha reached for his hand and tugged him forward. “It’s nothing. Let’s…let’s just go home.”

Zevris pulled her back toward him, caught her chin with his fingers, and forced her to look up at him. He searched her face for a second or two, and his eyes hardened. “There are tears brimming in your eyes, Nykasha. Are these men insulting you?”

Her bottom lip quivered before she could stop it. “It’s nothing,” she repeated.

He brows fell low, and he clenched his jaw. His hold on her chin tightened infinitesimally. “It is not nothing if it has