Chapter Nine
Last night was…
Actually, I have no words for it. I’d tried to articulate my thoughts by verbally journaling on my phone, but all I could come up with was weird.
The part I couldn’t say out loud was why it was weird. Yes, having your brother maul you in his sleep is not cool, especially when you’re easily triggered by men. But Rowdy isn’t any man. He’s family. Safe.
Is that why my body responded?
Because it was confused?
Just thinking about his teeth on my neck makes me flush. I should be disgusted, but I can’t get it out of my head. And then, later, he tore at my panties, exposing me to him. Had I not alerted him to the fact I wasn’t this mysterious Lila, he may have tried to have sex with me.
All I know of sex is awful and traumatizing, but my body burned hot. It’s still burning hours later.
I should talk to him. He’s likely beating himself up over it. Rowdy’s like me. Broken, troubled, lost. If our roles were reversed, I know I’d feel gross and monstrous.
“Stay here,” Aunt Eve says. “I forgot the rice.”
I clutch onto the shopping cart where I know the twins are seated inside and wait for her to return. Someone laughs close by, and I immediately recognize it.
“Destiny?”
I grin, turning toward the voice. “Weston? What are you doing here?”
“Buying groceries. Same as you. That’s literally the whole purpose of this store.”
I stick my tongue out of him and he chuckles.
“Who are these little ones?” he asks. “They’re cute.”
“Forest and Meadow. My cousins.”
He attempts to talk to them, but they squawk at him like baby birds being threatened by a snake. This alerts Aunt Eve, and she descends on us like a storm.
“Leave, boy,” Aunt Eve growls. “My children. Mine.”
He laughs again, but it dies in his throat. She must be giving him a vicious glare or maybe even found a sharp object to threaten him with. A flood of embarrassment rushes through me. My family does not like Weston for some reason. They’re protective to a fault.
“He’s my friend,” I rush out, reaching for where I think she’s standing. My fingers brush against her hair. “Weston. It’s Gwen’s son.”
“Hey,” Weston mutters awkwardly. “Sorry if it was creepy that I spoke to your kids. Just trying to be nice.”
“Nice people don’t have to try,” Aunt Eve barks out. “It comes natural.”
Oh my God.
“She’s kidding,” I rush out. “Come on, we can walk around while they finish up their shopping.”
I hold out my hand and Weston immediately takes it. His hand is big and swallows mine. Aunt Eve grunts but doesn’t stop me. He’s quiet until we’re down another aisle, and then he finally speaks.
“Your aunt is fucking scary.”
A giggle escapes me. “She really is. I basically saved your life just now.”
“They shelter you too much,” he grumbles playfully. “And to think I was actually going to ask you out on a date.”
I slow to a stop and turn to look in his general direction. “You were?”
“Now I’m scared shitless.”
“That’s too bad. I might’ve said yes.”
His mouth brushes my cheek as he dips it to my ear. I shiver at his intimate touch. “In that case, can I take you out tonight?”
“What would we do? I can’t exactly go watch a movie with you.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“If we’re going to a movie or not.”
He’s still close enough his breath tickles over my face and his hand hasn’t let mine go. My skin tingles in a good way. It’s a great distraction for the strange stuff that happened in the RV with Rowdy.
“No movies,” he promises. “We could go ice skating.”
“Ice skating?”
“Wait… You don’t know what that is? Have you been living under a rock?” He cracks up laughing at his joke. “Don’t answer that.”
“I don’t know…”
“I’ll take care of you. I promise.” He squeezes my hand. “It’ll be a proper date and everything. I’ll pick you up, bring flowers, and we’ll eat while we’re out. Say yes, Destiny.”
I can’t help my cheesy grin. “Yes.”
I’m going on a date.
This is good.
“You’re sure about this?” Uncle Atticus asks, heavy footsteps pacing the floor in front of me.
“Yes. It’ll be fun.”
“But he’s a boy and I know what teenage boys want. One thing. You know what that one thing is, kid? Trouble, that’s what.”
Weston was right. I’m extremely sheltered. Not just because of living out in the wilderness, away from civilization. No, my family shelters me because they see me as weak because of my near blindness. I’m someone to be protected, not someone who can protect herself. It’s annoying.
You couldn’t protect yourself with Jace…
Fear and uncertainty make me question everything, but I quickly squash it. Weston is nice. He’s nothing like Jace. For one, he asked me out rather than kidnapping me. I bet if we ever got to the sex part, he’d make sure I was good with it first.
“Take this,” Aunt Eve says, taking my hand and dropping something cold into it. “Switchblade.”
“Where the fuck did you get a switchblade, woman?” Uncle Atticus hisses, horror in his tone.
“,” she replies as if he’s stupid.
“You should be banned from that place,” he grumbles. Then, to me, he sighs. “But yeah, stab him in the balls if he gets handsy.”
I gasp at his words and Aunt Eve laughs. It’s rare, but she does it from time to time. A smile finally tugs at my lips too.
“If I promise to stab him, will you guys leave him alone when he picks me up?”
Neither of them makes that promise.
Knock, knock, knock.
Cold air rushes in and Uncle Atticus greets Weston with gruff, intimidating words. I shove the knife into my coat pocket, keenly aware they willingly gave me a sharp object despite what I’ve done with one in the past, and make my way toward the sound of their voices.
“Hey,” Weston chokes out, fear in his voice. “Am I about to get murdered and my body disposed of in the woods?”
“Yes,” Aunt Eve blurts out.
“Oh my God,” I groan. “They’re kidding. Do I smell flowers?”
“Yeah, these are for you.” Weston takes my hand and guides it to the wrapped bundle of flowers. “Careful. They’re roses and they have thorns.”
“What color are they?”
“Pink. Like your cheeks.”
Warmth pools there and I feel kind of dumb. But it’s also sweet. “Thank you.”
“Of course.”
“Here,” Uncle Atticus says, “hand them here. I’ll put them in water and in your room. Get her home by ten. Not a second later.” He plucks the roses from my hand. “Her phone has a tracker on it, but even without it, we will always find her, which means we’ll always find you. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
We can’t get out of the cabin fast enough. It’s not until we’re in Weston’s car that I finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“Sorry,” I mutter. “They’re over the top.”
“More like really fucking terrifying. Your uncle is a beast.”
“His wife is scarier if we’re comparing the two.”
He chuckles. “I’m setting an alarm on my phone for nine thirty. There’s no way in hell I’m not getting you home on time. I’d like to keep my balls, thank you.”
I don’t mention the knife in my pocket that was given to me specifically for the purpose of stabbing his balls.
As we drive, Weston entertains me with more silly stories. He’s playful and loves to talk. I enjoy being around him immensely. However, the drive to town is lengthy, and I can’t help but drift back to thinking about my brother.
He avoided me all day.
According to Uncle Atticus, he went hunting with Wild. I’m sure Rowdy is dodging discussing what happened, but we’re eventually going to need to talk about it. I need for him to know I don’t fault him for what happened, and I certainly am not afraid of him.
Are you going to tell him how it made you feel when he nipped at your neck?
“Hey,” Weston murmurs. “I lost you. I’m rambling. Sorry. Just nervous.”
Ugh. I’m the worst. While he’s trying to have a conversation with me on our date, I’m obsessively thinking about how my brother mauled me at night and why I’m not upset about it.
“You’re not rambling,” I assure him. “I’m worried about ice skating. After the grocery store, I had my phone tell me about it. Seems dangerous.”
His hand finds mine and he squeezes it. “I won’t let you fall.”
Thankfully, we arrive at our destination. I’m able to drive away thoughts of my brother and focus on my date. Weston is a gentleman, opening the door for me, and guides me to the rink.
“This place is outdoors,” Weston explains. “So it’ll be cold. But they have amazing concession stand food. We can skate a bit and then break to eat.”
I soak up everything he says. The area smells heavenly—sometimes savory like maybe chili or hotdogs and other times sweet like something baking. My stomach grumbles, but Weston doesn’t hear. He’s too busy yapping about his parents bringing him here every winter since he was old enough to walk.
Once we have ice skates on, which are heavy, we hobble out onto the rink. Weston steps out first and keeps his hand clasped around mine to guide me out onto it. As soon as both skates are on the slick ice, I start to slip.
“Need one of these?” a female asks. “First-timers should use them to be safe.”
“Actually, yeah,” Weston says. Then to me, he instructs, “Put your hands here. It’ll give you something to hold on to while you skate.”
I grab hold of the device and frown. “How will I know which way to go?”
Heat warms me from behind and Weston’s big hands settle on my waist. “I’ll skate behind you and guide you. Is it okay that I touch you here?”
He’s so kind and thoughtful, always making sure he has my consent. After all I’ve been through, it feels nice.
Last night, Rowdy didn’t ask for consent. He had his fingers in your ass crack, for crying out loud.
Shame chases away the chill. Again, I’m on this date, with Weston’s full attention on me, and I’m thinking about the worst possible thing I could be thinking about. My brother’s fingers in my underwear.
“Is your college close by?” I ask in an attempt to focus on something—anything—else.
“It’s a drive but not bad. I go back next week, but I will visit a lot. Don’t worry.”
Am I worried?
“Oh. Do you know Wild? He goes to college. I’m assuming it’s the same one since his isn’t far away either.”
He’s quiet for a moment and then sighs. “Yeah, I know him.”
“You don’t sound too happy about it.”
“As soon as I saw your uncle, I wondered if they were related because they look so similar. We’ve crossed paths at parties.”
“And you don’t like him?”
“He’s a hothead and fucks anything that walks. We don’t really have much in common.”
Weston squeezes my hip on the left and I start turning in that direction. It’s intimate the way he’s holding me but also necessary. I’m not hating it by any means.
We skate for probably an hour and then he takes me to get chili dogs and a funnel cake. Everything is delicious. This date is really nice so far. He orders us hot chocolate with marshmallows next. More skating ensues until I have blisters on every toe and my heel, and then an alarm sounds.
“You really set an alarm?” I ask with a giggle.
“I’m not dying tonight.”
By the time we get back to the cabin, I’ve pushed any awkward thoughts out of my mind and am living in the moment with Weston. It’s the best night of my life.
“Ten minutes to spare,” Weston says as we step onto the porch. “I wonder what we can do in those ten minutes.”
His hands find my face, tilting my head up. Hot breath that smells like marshmallows tickles over my face. Rather than kissing me like I know he wants to, he waits for permission.
I stand on my toes, seeking out his mouth with mine. His lips part and he meets me with a soft sigh. He kisses me gently. It’s a nice end to a nice date.
Someone clears their throat and we both jerk apart, probably looking super guilty for something fairly innocent.
“Good night, Weston,” Rowdy rumbles.
Weston grunts. “Yep. Night.” Then, to me, he murmurs, “I’ll call you later, baby.”
Baby?
This is so weird, but I don’t hate it.