Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
CHASE
“Wake up.”
I groaned as the basement lights flicked on and pulled the blanket over my head. Good fucking god, my skull hurt.
The blanket was ripped off my body, and I shivered, curling up in the fetal position.
“Jeff called,” my dad said. He was pissed; I could tell by the calm menace in his voice.
Jay Everton was usually a happy-go-lucky guy, but when I cracked an eye open, that version of my dad was nowhere you be found.
“You didn’t show up for your third shift in a row.
Told me to tell ya not to bother coming back. ”
“Thanks for the message,” I croaked. “Turn the lights off on your way out.”
I rolled away, giving him my back. I heard his deep sigh before his boots thudded back up the stairs.
Ah, so he wasn’t pissed; he was disappointed. Might actually be worse.
And now I was awake and my head was throbbing and I needed a cheeseburger.
I pulled myself together enough to roll out of bed, throw on some basketball shorts and a hoodie, and head upstairs.
No one was around, thankfully. I didn’t need more looks of disgust from my family members; I was disgusted enough with myself for the whole Everton clan.
When I stepped outside, the sunshine fucking blinded me and I made the decision to walk off my hangover instead of get behind the wheel of my truck.
The walk into town from the house wasn’t rough, but my ass was dragging and Rosie’s was on the far end of Main Street. By the time I hit the main drag, I was sweating toxins out from every pore.
When I finally pushed through Rosie’s door, the bell jingling overhead made my headache spike. The diner was half full with the usual lunch crowd—a mix of farmers and tourists passing through.
“You look like death warmed over.” Rosie planted her hands on her hips, giving me the same disapproving look my dad had earlier.
“Thanks. Can I get a cheeseburger? Extra bacon.” I slid onto a stool at the counter, pressing my forehead against the cool surface. “And water. Lots of it.”
She filled a glass and set it in front of me.
The bell chimed again. My stomach dropped as Elena’s laugh floated through the diner. I kept my head down but watched in the mirrored backsplash as she and the cowboy settled into a booth. He helped her with her jacket like a fucking gentleman.
Elena looked good. Really good. Her cheeks had color, and she’d gained back some of the weight Peter’s attack had starved off her. The cowboy said something that made her throw her head back laughing again.
My fingers twitched toward my pocket where a little plastic baggie of joy sat.
“Order’s in.” Rosie’s voice made me jump. She studied me with narrowed eyes. “You okay, honey?”
“Bathroom,” I muttered, sliding off the stool.
The men’s room was empty, thank fuck, and I locked myself inside, hands shaking as I pulled out the coke. The ritual was as familiar as breathing—tap out a line, roll up a bill, inhale. The burn in my sinuses was welcome compared to the ache in my chest.
I burst out of the bathroom, tossing cash on the counter. Couldn’t be in here, couldn’t watch Elena glowing at someone else.
“Your burger—” Rosie called after me.
The bell clanged as I shoved through the door. Movement across the street caught my eye—Kai ducking into Books and Crannies.
This motherfucker. I’d warned him at the summer festival to stay away from my baby sister. Told him Charlie was off-limits.
I crossed the street, peering through the bookstore window. Charlie stood between the shelves, Kai’s hands cupping her face as he kissed her. She melted into him like he was everything she’d been waiting for.
The coke hummed in my veins as I shoved the door open harder than I meant to, nearly taking out a damn display stand. Didn’t matter. My eyes locked on the two of them—him—all smug and too close, and something inside me snapped.
“I fucking knew something was going on between you two,” I barked, voice cracking.
They turned like they’d been caught doing something dirty, which only made the fire in my chest rage hotter. The room spun, and I had to blink a few times to steady it, but I kept my finger trained between them like a loaded gun.
Kai stepped in front of her like I was some kind of threat. Like I was the problem.
“You drunk?” he asked, all calm and holier-than-thou. “Or high?”
I nearly laughed. Or maybe I did. The sound came out jagged and mean. “You don’t fucking know shit, Kai.”
Charlie’s voice floated from behind him, small and soft, like she was still stupid enough to care. “Chase, what’s wrong? Are you really…” her voice dipped, “high?”
That stung. Not enough to stop me, but enough to make my skin crawl.
I pointed straight at her. “You need to stay away from him. He’s bad news.”
She didn’t shrink. Of course not. She stepped up beside Kai, all fire and fury like she was Mom reincarnated. Same stance, same defiance. Like she thought she could save me with a damn lecture.
“Oh, and you’re such good news right now?” she snapped, hands on her hips. “Look at you!”
“I’m fucking fine!” I roared, even though the room tilted and I had to shift my weight to stay upright.
Kai didn’t flinch. Just stared me down with that look that said he saw right through me. “You’re not.”
That quiet certainty made my skin itch.
“Fuck you, Kai.”
I swung my gaze back to Charlie so fast the world spun. Words tumbled out of my mouth before I could catch them—sharp, mean, venomous.
“Careful he doesn’t knock you up, Charlie. Would hate to see you throw your life away.”
Her face crumpled like I’d hit her. Good. Maybe that would make her listen.
But even as I turned and staggered back out into the daylight, bile in my throat and guilt riding my shoulders, I couldn’t stop replaying her face.
Couldn’t stop wondering what the hell happened to me.
A day later, and I still couldn’t believe Kai was fucking my little sister.
I knew enough about him to know he was no fucking good for her.
The image of them kissing in the bookstore haunted me.
His hands in her hair, her fingers gripping his shirt like she couldn’t get enough.
My baby sister, the one who used to follow me around the orchard with her books, letting some tattooed bartender with a drinking problem put his hands all over her.
I gripped my phone, thumb hovering over Jared’s name. Elena used to be the voice in my head telling me not to do stupid shit like this, but Elena wasn’t here anymore. She’d made it clear she was done watching me destroy myself.
CHASE
Need to meet up
JARED
Callaghan’s, 30 min
The irony wasn’t lost on me. Here I was, judging Kai for his demons while drowning in my own. But that was different. At least I wasn’t trying to drag someone pure and good down with me. Not anymore.
My phone buzzed with another text.
CHARLIE
We need to talk about what happened.
I ignored it, grabbing my keys instead. The September air had a bite to it as I walked to my truck, but I needed something more than a quick fix tonight. Something that would make me feel alive again, the way Elena used to.
That’s how I ended up at Ike’s Used Motorcycles, staring at a beat-up Kawasaki that had definitely seen better days. The price was right—probably because it was one bad turn from falling apart, but I didn’t care.
“I’ll take it,” I said, pulling out my wallet before I could think too hard about how Elena would shake her head if she saw me now. But she’d given up that right when she’d given up on me.
At least on a bike, I could outrun my thoughts about Charlie and Kai. About how I was becoming exactly the kind of asshole I’d accused him of being.
Ten minutes later, I pushed open the door to Kai’s bar, blinking against the change in light. My eyes burned, pupils already blown from the bump I took before walking in, but I felt good. No—great. Loose, invincible, like I could take on the goddamn world.
Jared was already at the bar. Right on time.
Kai’s expression soured the second he saw me, like I’d tracked dog shit onto his polished floor. Whatever.
“Well, if it isn’t the cradle robber himself,” I said, sliding onto the stool beside Jared with a smirk I didn’t have to fake. “Jared, you know this asshole’s trying to fuck my baby sister?”
“Chase—” Kai started, voice tight with that fake-ass moral superiority he always wore like cologne.
I cut him off with a sharp laugh, leaned forward, and said, “Or wait, maybe you already are? That why she’s always sneaking around?”
He turned his back on me—rude—and grabbed a glass of water like I was some kid on a juice cleanse. No whiskey. Coward.
While he played bartender, Jared slipped something into my hand under the bar. Fast, practiced. We’d done this dance before.
“Jared, get the fuck out,” Kai snapped, catching more than he was supposed to.
Jared raised his hands like he gave a damn. “I’m going, I’m going.” He tossed me a nod then headed for the door.
As soon as it shut, Kai zeroed in on me like I was some wild animal in his kitchen. “Stay away from him, Chase. He’s bad news.”
I barked a laugh. “Like you’re one to talk. Corrupting innocent girls, playing the reformed bad boy…”
And then the bell over the door chimed.
I didn’t even have to look. The look on Kai’s face said it all. Everything in me snapped to attention like a switch flipping. Rage off. Charm on. That’s what she needed from me, right? Big brother, cool as ever.
“Charlie,” I said, turning slowly, letting her name stretch out like a smile.
Her eyes flicked between me and Kai, reading the tension. But instead of going to him—thank fuck—she sat beside me. My sister. My blood.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, voice soft, warm, concerned.
She hesitated. “Oh, uh, I was looking for you,” she said, fingers twisting like they always did when she lied.
“Perfect timing! I’ve got a surprise.” I lit up like I wasn’t wired to hell and back. “I bought a motorcycle! Wanna go for a ride?”
Her eyes went wide. It was adorable, really.
“Oh yeah?” she asked, but her voice trembled. That doubt again. That fear.
I stood up before she could say no. “C’mon,” I said, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
She hesitated, glanced back at Kai. He looked like he was about to explode, but I ignored him. We walked out together. The sunlight hit me like a poke in the eyeballs, but I kept smiling. I could feel Kai watching us. Good. Let him.
I threw a leg over the bike, revved the engine, and took off, wind screaming past my ears, Charlie’s arms wrapped tight around my waist.
She was safe with me.