Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
The school week soared by. During my run after school Friday, Logan called. He asked me how my week had gone. I was happy to report that I was keeping busy and droned on about the flowers I planned on planting this weekend in the front yard along the driveway. Logan asked if I’d made any friends. I briefly told him about the twins and Ethan. The four of us at school had been inseparable all week. What I didn’t tell Logan was I’d had both Creed and Colt over this morning for breakfast. I didn’t want Logan to know I had woken Creed up twice this week with my screaming. If Logan knew I was having consistent nightmares again, he’d worry and that was the last thing he needed right now. Besides, it had been really nice to have breakfast with Colt and Creed. Instead of stomping over and banging on my door to complain like last time, Creed had woken up Colt before coming over. I had opened the door to concern instead of irritation. With sleep-tousled hair, Colt had asked if I was alright. The heavy turmoil that usually weighed on me for a while every time after I had a nightmare had receded quicker with that question. Like I had done last time with Creed, I’d offered them breakfast as an apology. They’d both sat at my kitchen island while I’d cooked. I’d purposely made extra food again and wrapped the leftovers in tortillas, making breakfast burritos for Knox and Keelan.
“You couldn’t find any girls to be friends with?” Logan asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“I haven’t met anyone I’ve clicked with yet. Maybe next week.” So far, the girls I interacted with the most were Cassy and her clique of mean friends. They were constantly trying to hang around the twins and their friends. The girls’ presence irritated Colt. Creed regarded them with indifference. One would think that anyone with a sliver of self-respect would move on, but the twins’ lack of interest in Cassy and her friends seemed to have the opposite effect.
They blatantly hated me. Wednesday, Cassy had rammed her shoulder into mine as we had passed each other in the hall. She’d told me to stay out of her way. I had a feeling she hadn’t been referring to when she was walking in the halls. She and her friends had judged, snidely commented on, and made fun of everything and anything to do with me. They’d quickly picked up on the fact that I wore a sweatshirt in gym. Sam, a member of Cassy’s posse, had asked if I wore sweatshirts to hide the fact that I was flat-chested. Not that it mattered, but my breasts were not something I would ever feel insecure about. Amber, another member, had said my hair color made me look like a troll. I’d done my best to ignore them. Colt, on the other hand, couldn’t. He’d come to my defense a few times. A lot of the girls didn’t like that, especially Amber. It was obvious she had it bad for Colt and she saw me as a threat for being his friend. When Creed had come to my defense yesterday after Cassy had made a comment about the scars on my ankles, Cassy had glared at me with this look that had promised I would pay.
“I know you’re eighteen and all,” Logan started, his tone hinting that he was slightly uncomfortable with what he was about to say. “And you’ve got a level head on your shoulders, but if you end up liking one of these boys, you know how to be safe, right? I really don’t want to give you the sex talk, but if I have to?—”
“That won’t be necessary,” I cut him off. I’d already had the talk with my mom. “And like I said, they’re just friends.”
“Yeah, I had girls who were ‘just friends’ in high school, too.”
I scrunched my nose as I turned down my street. With Logan’s call, I’d slowed to a walk and now that I was cooled down, my run was over. “I don’t think I can have anything more than friends.”
“That’s perfectly fine, Shi. Healing isn’t a race and if anyone tries to pressure you into anything you’re not ready for, just remember what I taught you.”
“I don’t think stabbing a teenage boy in the carotid is the best course of action.”
“You never know.” The smile I could hear in his voice caused the corners of my own mouth to lift.
An awkward silence followed. We’d been skirting around the Mr. X topic. Steeling myself, I forced out the question I was dreading to ask. “How…how is it going?”
He was quiet for a moment. “We have a possible lead in Mississippi. Ian and I are catching a flight there in about an hour.”
If he had more to report than that, I knew he’d tell me, and he wouldn’t sugarcoat it, either. That was just who he was. I was grateful for it, but that didn’t mean it was always easy to hear.
We hung up not long after that and the music from my running playlist started playing through my earbuds again. As I approached my house, I headed for my 4Runner. Talking to Logan about planting flowers had reminded me that I still needed to get the big bags of soil out of my trunk. Humming to the music, I opened the trunk and pulled out one of the three heavy bags. I grunted as I used my knee to heft the heavy bag further up in my arms.
A hand grabbed my shoulder. I didn’t know if it was because I had just talked about Mr. X or what, but fear exploded in my chest and my survival instincts took over. I dropped the bag of soil, grabbed the hand on my shoulder, and threw my elbow back at the person behind me. They caught my elbow with a skilled dodge before it could touch them. So I hooked my foot around their leg and slammed my whole body backward into theirs. With my music still playing, I felt rather than heard their grunt jump in their chest. By the lack of breasts and the masculine smell, I was betting my attacker was male. We both fell to the ground and I rolled off of him with my hands still locked around his. My plan was to hyperextend his arm. As I threw my legs over his neck and chest, my gaze locked with wide, familiar, golden brown eyes. The person I had just taken to the ground was the twins’ flirty older brother.
“Keelan!” I quickly ripped my earbuds out and was met with the sound of laughter. Standing in their driveway, Colt and Creed were bent over laughing.
A slow, bright smile stretched across Keelan’s mouth. “I think I’ve met my soulmate.” He shifted under me and groaned. “Can I have my arm back now?”
I might have been in shock because I still had his completely tattooed arm clamped between my legs. I quickly lifted my legs off of him and released my grip on his hand. “I’m so sorry, Keelan,” I said, scooting away until my head touched the bumper of my 4Runner. I brought my knees to my chest and tried to slow my speeding heart rate. My hands were shaking uncontrollably. Scratch that, my whole body was trembling.
I rubbed my chest as I let out a wobbly breath. I was relieved that it had been Keelan, but fear had taken root. The kind of fear I hadn’t felt in a while.
Keelan’s eyes narrowed as he studied me. Then he quickly sat up. “Hey, are you okay?”
Not trusting my voice, I nodded.
Worry furrowed his brow. “Shit, I’m sorry I scared you. I called out to you, but you had your music on. I was seeing if you needed help.” He pointed at the bag of soil I’d dropped.
Creed and Colt, who had finally stopped laughing, came over and stared down at us.
Colt gave me a small smile. “I warned him not to sneak up on you because you scare easy.” He shook his head, chuckling. “Didn’t expect you to ground him, though.”
“That was the best thing I’ve ever seen,” Creed said, grinning at Keelan. “How did someone as tiny as Shiloh take down someone who’s been learning mixed martial arts since he was six?”
Keelan shrugged. “Once I realized she had some skill, I wanted to see how much she knew.” His eyes flicked to me. “How long have you been training?”
“Almost a year.”
His brows shot up. “Jiu-jitsu?”
I nodded. “I’m sorry if I hurt you,” I said with a shaky voice.
Having noticed, Keelan quickly got to his feet and held his hand out to me with concern etched around his eyes. “It’s okay, Shiloh. I’m not hurt.”
That was a relief. I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. I quickly brushed off the dirt sticking to my leggings and the sleeve of my jacket.
Colt scooped up the bag of soil and threw it over his shoulder. “Where do you want it?”
I pointed toward the porch. “Next to the steps, please.”
Creed and Keelan grabbed the remaining two bags from my trunk and followed Colt.
“What are you planting?” Keelan asked.
“Flowers,” I said, shutting my trunk and pocketing my earbuds. The three of them aligned the bags next to the steps. “Thank you.”
Keelan brushed dirt off his hands. “No problem.” He eyed my running attire. “Have you eaten yet?”
“Not yet,” I replied.
“Perfect. You can come out to eat with us,” Keelan said.
The twins frowned at their older brother, giving me the impression that they didn’t want me to come.
“I don’t want to impose?—”
Colt’s frown dropped as he looked at me. “You won’t be imposing. Knox is the cook in the family, but he’s working late tonight. The three of us have to fend for ourselves.”
“Plus, we need to make it up to you for making breakfast for us twice this week,” Keelan added.
I glanced at Creed to see if he was alright with me going.
He gave a slight shrug. “We were thinking about going to this diner down the road. They have good burgers.”
A burger sounded amazing. “Do I have time to take a quick shower?”
“Of course,” Keelan said. “Forewarning, though, Creed gets grumpy when he’s hungry.”
Creed went to punch Keelan in the arm, but Keelan easily dodged and pulled Creed into a headlock. Colt sighed at the both of them and I chuckled as I headed inside.
I took the world’s fastest shower. I only had time to smear on some foundation and apply mascara. After running a comb through my wet hair, I braided it to the side. I threw on jean shorts, a black T-shirt, and tennis shoes. On the way out the door I grabbed my purse and sweatshirt. I slid into the latter as I walked next door.
Creed was the one to answer after I knocked on their door. His eyes roamed over me with a look of irritation. “It’s hotter than hell out. Lose the sweatshirt.”
“No.”
Creed held out his hand. “Just take it off.”
“Whoa, what are you asking her to take off?” Keelan asked, appearing behind Creed with Colt. They looked from Creed to me.
Colt seemed to pick up on what we were arguing about right away. “Leave her be, Creed. It makes her feel comfortable.”
Creed ignored his twin and didn’t remove his stern gaze from me. “No one is going to say shit about your scars and if they did, I’d kick their ass.”
“Why would she need you to kick someone’s ass? She can clearly do it herself,” Keelan stated. His flattery was definitely good for the ego.
I held Creed’s stare as I debated. He was right about it being hot. Sweat was already rolling down my spine. With each passing day I lived here, wearing athletic jackets and sweatshirts was making me more miserable.
Without backing down from our stare-off, Creed added, “You’ve got to stop caring about what other people think, Shi.”
Hearing my name shortened by someone other than Logan did something to my heart. Woke it up, maybe? Sure, it beat fast when I was scared, and it hurt when I was sad. But I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt the warmth of happiness. Shayla had been the first to call me Shi. As a baby, she hadn’t been able to fully say Shiloh . Thinking it was cute, my parents and Logan had adopted the nickname as well.
Creed was right. I needed to stop caring what other people thought. Knowing I had him and Colt in my corner made the decision easier. I slid my purse off my shoulder and held it out to him. He took it and I shed my sweatshirt. Keelan’s gaze roamed over my scars with a schooled expression. I battled with myself to not care—to ignore the heavy weight of his eyes. Creed saved me from my overwhelming nerves by pulling my focus back to him. He plucked my sweatshirt from my hands, balled it up, and tossed it into their house.
I opened my mouth to tell him that I’d need it back. He cut me off by saying, “One down. Only fifty more sweatshirts to go.” Then he handed me back my purse.
“Alright, let’s go,” Keelan said before I could tear into Creed, who had the audacity to smirk at me as we all walked over to Keelan’s silver Jeep Wrangler.
The diner had a fifties theme, and all the waitresses were wearing poodle skirts. “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis was playing in the background as we were seated at a half-circle booth. I slid along the rounded bench seat first and ended up sitting between Keelan and Colt.
“Oooh, I’m getting a milkshake,” I said as I read over the menu. “Chocolate or strawberry? Hmm...I can’t decide.”
“How about you get one and I’ll get the other and we’ll share?” Colt suggested.
I beamed. “Okay.”
Because Creed had said they had good burgers here, I ordered one and so did the guys. Once the waitress left after having taken our orders, Keelan looked at me. “So where did you train?”
“I didn’t learn in a class setting,” I replied.
“Where, then?” Creed asked.
“My uncle taught me in the Alaskan wilderness.”
Keelan’s curiosity was clearly piqued. “Have you thought about joining a class? We offer some at the gym.”
“You work at Desert Stone, too?” I asked him.
Keelan gave me a confused look and opened his mouth to respond.
“Yes, Keelan works there, too,” Creed said before Keelan could.
I felt like I was missing something. “That’s nice that you all get to work together.”
Keelan grinned at his brothers. “Yes. I suppose it is nice that we all get to work together. Knox works there, too.”
“I’ve been there a few times now and I haven’t seen any of you,” I said.
Keelan turned his grin on me. “Knox and I were there the day you signed up. I spotted you when you were getting the tour with Becky, one of our personal trainers.”
“Why didn’t you tell us Shiloh had signed up?” Colt asked.
Keelan shrugged.
The waitress returned with our drinks. She set the strawberry shake in front of me and the chocolate in front of Colt. Keelan and Creed had ordered Cokes. Before the waitress could take off, Colt asked for extra straws. After she placed them on the table, Colt quickly unwrapped four straws and put two in each of our shakes. I couldn’t help but smile as we went to take sips of our shakes.
“Mmm,” I hummed. The strawberry was really good and creamy. After I was done taking a drink of my strawberry, Colt slid his chocolate shake over to me.
“Jealous you didn’t get a shake to share with Shiloh?” I heard Keelan ask Creed.
I glanced over at Creed to see him glaring at his older brother. “Shut up,” he grumbled.
Keelan just smirked.