CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ANIKA
I slowly blink out of my shock. The past few minutes have been wild, bizarre, borderline insane. I came in here to remind Nathan about the call we had with our potential buyer in an hour. Only to find him strangling my ex-boyfriend. And as if that wasn’t crazy enough, now he’s saying I’m his girlfriend?
Confused doesn’t even begin to cover how I feel right now.
But I manage to tone it down. I exhale a soft breath because it’s not hard to realize why he said that. Edward’s standing in front of us right now and it’s not hard to miss the flash of pain in his eyes. He looks at me, his expression betrayed.
I don’t know why he’s acting like I killed his puppy. We broke up two years ago and he seemed happy enough to get out of the relationship.
“Anika, what is this guy saying?” he asks, fury in his tone.
He hasn’t changed at all. He’s still wearing his trademark outfit, a t-shirt and ripped jeans. He always called it his rock star look. Now I can admit it’s the cringiest thing I’d ever heard. Everything about Edward is so cringe. I was blinded by love back then. I didn’t see him for what he really was. But now I do.
And Nathan’s got the right idea. I do want to hurt him. Minus the attempted murder part of course.
“Tell me you’re not dating him!” Edward shouts.
“Don’t yell,” I say on an eye roll. “And you heard him loud and clear.”
“So what? You’re dating him?”
“Yes, I am,” I reply, the lie passing my lips with ease.
Nathan’s silent beside me but I can feel his hand in mine, strong, steady. He’s like an unshakable boulder. One I didn’t know I needed.
“I don’t believe you,” Edward spits.
“That’s your problem. Now leave,” Nathan states, his voice cutting through the air like a whip.
Edward’s blue eyes narrow, “I’m going to report you to the police for assault.”
I suck in a sharp breath at that but Nathan doesn’t even blink.
“Go ahead,” he says calmly.
After one last glance between us both, he storms out of the room. Once he’s gone, I exhale a relieved breath before turning to Nathan. He has a pleased smirk on his face that has my eyebrows rising.
“What was that?” I ask, punching his shoulder.
He chuckles before rising to his feet. He stands in front of me, the height different causing me to look upwards.
“What was what?” he asks calmly.
“That. With Edward. You looked like you were about to kill him. That wasn’t cool.”
“Relax, sweetheart. I would have let him go eventually.”
“It didn’t look like it. Don’t do that again,” I tell him.
“Why? Were you worried about him?” he asks on a frown, his eyes darkening.
“What? No. Of course not!”
I was with Edward for seven years and now I feel nothing for him. Nathan’s the one I was actually worried about. It’s not like I want him to go to jail for murder.
“Besides, I’m your girlfriend, now, right? Why would I be worried about another guy?” I question sarcastically.
“Precisely,” Nathan agrees on a nod.
I punch his shoulder again. Although I might as well be punching a wall thanks to the hard ridges and toned skin. He doesn’t even flinch.
“Why did you tell him that?”
He shrugs and I inwardly groan. He’s being way to blasé about this whole thing.
“Nathan, you can’t just tell someone we’re dating when we’re really not.”
“I don’t like how he was looking at you,” he says gruffly.
“What do you mean? How was he looking at me?” I question confused.
His eyes moves over my face, gaze almost caressing. I fight back a shiver, feeling my stomach grow uneasy.
“Like he owns you. Like you’re his.”
There’s no disguising the anger in his voice at that.
“I’m not,” I say softly, trying to assuage him.
“You’d better not be,” he murmurs.
I’m still fucking confused. This possessiveness, his proclamation about us dating. It’s throwing me off. I just made a decision last night to at least be friends with him. And now… I have no fucking clue.
He steps away from me, heading behind his desk and taking a seat. I cross my arms over his chest, turning to look at him.
“You’re not going to comment on the fact that you told him we’re dating?”
“Relax, Anika. It didn’t mean anything,” he states.
Ouch. That hurts way more than it should. Especially since I should know better. Of course it didn’t mean anything.
“Sure but he has a big mouth. I’m pretty sure he’ll tell his bandmates and they’ll tell people and before you know it the entire town knows we’re dating, when we’re really not.”
Nathan’s not even fazed by that. He simply continues to stare at me in that unnerving way. Like he’s trying to undress me with his eyes. I swallow softly.
“You need to take this seriously,” I state. “I’m sure you don’t want people to think we’re in a relationship.”
“I don’t give a fuck what people think.”
I sigh, “So what happens now? Do you want me to tell Edward we were lying before he runs his big mouth?”
“No. I don’t want you talking to him at all,” he grits out. “Just let it be, Anika. It’ll be fine.”
He’s being way too annoyingly blasé. I highly doubt it’ll be fine but he doesn’t look like he’s in the mood to even consider the implications of this at all. I let out another sigh before shrugging.
“Alright then. I just wanted to remind you about the call with the collector,” I say. “He’s going to negotiate for the best price possible so I hope you’re prepared for that.”
“Okay.”
I leave the office, still confused as hell about what just went down. But one thing’s for sure, he did all that because he was protecting me. He did it for me. And that in no way helps me in getting over him. Which sucks. A lot.
What I am absolutely sure of though is that shit is going to hit the fan quick with the chain of events he’s started. He’s really underestimating how fast rumors spread in a small town like this.
The fan starts to stink almost as soon as I leave the center for the day. I’m walking to my car when my phone starts to ring in my purse. I groan softly, waiting until I’m inside the car before pulling it out.
It’s my brother. Just great.
“Hey, Bubba.”
“Don’t ‘hey, Bubba’ Anika Elizabeth Cameron,” he says, causing me to roll my eyes. “Do you want to know what I’ve just heard?”
He’s in Greenville for the day, taking care of some business with his company. But Carson’s always been well attuned to what goes on here in Edenton. He has friends everywhere.
“Not really. But I’m sure you’re still going to tell me,” I say lowly.
“You got that right,” he retorts, his tone hard. “Care to explain why I just got several texts asking me when you started dating Nathan Wolfe?”
I shut my eyes briefly, releasing a sigh.
“People in this town seriously need to learn how to mind their own business.”
It’s been what? Five hours since Edward was here? I knew he was going to run his mouth but he couldn’t have taken his time doing it?
“So it’s true?” Carson questions and I can hear the agitation in his voice.
Knowing my brother, he’s this close to blowing his top.
“Of course not,” I quickly reply. Nathan might have made the decision to start this by lying to Edward but I can’t do that to my family. I might not care about anyone else, but I can’t lie to them.
“So what’s going on? You know I’ve been watching you two right? Something’s going on. I just haven’t said anything because you seem more like your old self these days. Is Wolfe the reason for that?”
My heart skips a beat at that. I didn’t even realize anything had changed. I had no idea I’d been acting different. Then I think about the first thing that happened when I woke up this morning. My hand twitching and an image blooming in my head.
I’ve tried not to think too much about it all day but I had an urge to paint this morning. Like a part of me that I thought was dead had been awoken.
Maybe Nathan really is good for me?
But thinking he’s good for me is one thing. Reality has a way of being dangerously disappointing.
“Anika,” Carson grits out, drawing my attention back.
“We’re not dating, I promise.”
“So what’s with the rumor?”
“Uhm… Nathan told Edward we were together in order to get him to back off. I’m not sure what really went down between them both. All I know is that he pissed Nathan off and him saying we were dating was Nathan’s way of protecting me?” I say it like a question because really I have no idea what that man is thinking.
“The vampire’s back in town?” Carson grits out.
“Yeah,” I reply my lips twitching.
Honestly, now that I’m thinking about it, calling Edward a vampire’s pretty accurate. Although leech would also be appropriate. They both suit him a lot.
“Alright. I’ll take care of it,” my brother decides.
“Woah, hold up,” I hurriedly say. “Please don’t do anything. Whenever you get involved, things always get blown out of proportion. I’m a big girl, Carson, I can handle myself. Just leave Edward alone, he’s nothing to me. And don’t say anything to Nathan either.”
There’s a slight pause on the other end because he speaks.
“I’ll ignore the vampire for now. But Wolfe and I need to talk,” he concedes.
I shrug. Nathan’s a big boy. He can handle himself.
“Okay. Thanks, Bubba. I’ll see you later.”
“Bye.”
He hangs up and I let out a soft breath. Today has been completely exhausting. I’m drained. Which is why I choose to drive to my parents’ house. I’ll get a nice hot meal and maybe I can get ahead of this rumor.
Honestly, as much as I like Nathan now. He’s still the same pain in my ass he was the first time we met.