Chapter 12 Evie
The town of Havenwood was unlike anywhere else I’d been. The strangest mix of criminals, the ruthless rich, and then your everyday people who wanted to sit in a cute coffee shop and sip a matcha latte.
I was currently in the latter group, but my position did tend to swing through the options depending on the day.
Regan raised an eyebrow over her drink, watching as I looked out the big front window of Sweet Haven Cafe again.
“Are you expecting someone?”
“Other than the guys picking us up to head to Finis Ledges? No.”
Harper slid into the seat next to me, the minutes of her shift ticking down.
“Okay, my shift is basically over. Can I please tell you about the worst date of my life before we go?”
“How bad a date are we talking?” I asked.
Harper groaned, slumping over a little before looking between us.
“Like final-circle-of-hell levels of bad. Like final boss who wants to take me out of the dating scene in the absolute worst way. First, this guy takes me to a steak restaurant for our first date. I told him I don’t eat meat, and that’s the place he chooses?
I’m already trying to mentally check out, but then he orders for me. For me. Like I’m a child.”
Regan choked on her drink, trying not to laugh. “Did you let him?”
“Well, it’s not like dating has been going well, so I was thinking maybe I needed to be open-minded and let him take the lead, right? I want a man in charge and I thought maybe I needed to try it. Do you want to know what this man ordered for me?”
I leaned in, fully invested now. “Please tell me it wasn’t chicken tenders off the kid’s menu.”
“Worse.” Harper’s voice dropped to a horrified whisper. “He ordered me a rare steak. Rare. It was bleeding on my plate.”
Regan gasped, a dramatic flair to her tone. “No.”
“Oh yes,” Harper nodded grimly. “And when I reminded him I was a vegan, he called me ugly and said he understood why I was still single now.”
I nearly spit out my drink. “Did you make it out of the restaurant before murdering him?”
“Barely. I threw the bloody steak at his face and left.” Harper took a long sip from her drink, laughing. “I am never dating again.”
“Lies.” Regan laughed.
“Maybe. But next time, I’m bringing a taser.”
Regan smiled and then looked at me. “You okay after . . . well, after the breakup?”
I groaned, sitting back. “I’m fine. Annoyed, but fine.”
“Annoyed at the ex or Aiden?” Harper asked.
“Can it be both?” I asked. “Because as much as I don’t care about the ex, I’m still mad about it all.
Mad that he sucked. Mad Aiden watched it happen.
I’m even mad I blamed Aiden simply because the ex is right.
Who would want to date me when I have a tall, gorgeous man following me at every turn and cutting anyone who crosses the line simply because my brother is overprotective?
That isn’t sexy. It isn’t even appealing, no matter how good I look. ”
They looked at each other, the small look of pity assuring me I was right even if they didn’t want to say it.
“Rook isn’t going to calm down now,” Regan said. “He’s been all over me lately about being careful and not going out alone. I assume this has to do with the Anderson guy that someone asked him about. I don’t get why that’s so scary though.”
“They threatened us girls, specifically,” I said. “Even Aiden went a little crazy with the guy they had there.”
A chill ran down my spine, remembering the first time Aiden went crazy like that.
It rarely happened. In my entire time of knowing Aiden, he only truly lost his cool a few times.
The first time was burned into my mind—it might be one of the first times I really knew I was falling for Aiden.
The memory hit me so hard I leaned back.
I was sitting on the couch of our first apartment.
My boyfriend was next to me, the scent of beer and cigarettes filling my nose, but my younger self thought the older man next to me was intense and passionate in a romantic way.
I didn’t see the danger of it then, but Rook had.
It was the first time Aiden had started to annoy me with how much he was suddenly around.
It was the first time I had the apartment to myself, though, Rook and Aiden both having to go to work.
I pressed closer, thinking it was playful until his grip tightened. My push met resistance, and the twist of his lips made my stomach churn. Like a rabbit being watched by a predator, I froze, not knowing what to do to make him stop when he seemed to be enjoying himself.
The door had slammed open, Aiden filling the doorway. My eyes went wide, my heart nearly stopping in my chest as embarrassment had filled me. I was never honest with myself if it was embarrassment at being caught in general or being caught frozen in something I didn’t want to be a part of.
Aiden had yelled, his deep voice filling the apartment like nothing I had ever heard before.
It was full of rage and shock and I ducked my head, trying to shrink back into the couch.
Aiden didn’t say another word as my boyfriend started yelling about leaving us alone, but with one more look to me, Aiden had stalked forward, ripping him off the couch and off me.
Aiden’s fist shot forward, smashing into his jaw again and again, each strike rattling teeth and bone.
My boyfriend had tried to run but Aiden grabbed him, dragging him out the door himself.
Hours went by before I could move. The door slammed open again, Aiden standing there still in a rage. His fists bloody, his chest dirty. He took three large steps toward me, grabbing my arms to look me over.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No,” I said. “You stopped him in time.”
With a sharp nod he let me go. “I’m going to shower. Pick a movie and I’ll order food.”
He hadn’t said another word for hours, but sat close to me on the couch, shared a blanket with me, glancing over once in a while to make sure I wasn’t crying, I assume.
He was quiet, and strong, and safe.
Regan’s phone rang, pulling me from my memory. She grinned when she looked at it, already letting me know who it was.
I stared out the front window again, still lost in that day six years before.
From that day on, Aiden had always been my safe place.
My safe person.
Because no matter how horribly I acted, no matter what terrible situation I had myself in, he was safe. He might lecture me, but he didn’t judge me. And I knew no matter what was happening, he was going to shield me from harm.
Maybe he was a bodyguard. Rook picked the right person—but it felt like more for me. Two sides of the same coin: he was my safety, and I was his chaos. You could love safety. But could someone like Aiden love chaos?
“Hello?” Regan asked, still grinning as she brought the phone to her ear.
The way she and my brother were some of the most vicious people but seemed to trip over their own damn feet about each other was beyond me. It didn’t seem possible to be so cruel and violent, but such a sappy mess for each other.
“All right, we’ll wait out front,” she said, pausing as Rook responded. Her eyes darted to me and I froze. “Oh, yeah, I’ll tell her.”
After a few more seconds of smiling and sappy words, she clicked off, her face going serious again.
“Aiden isn’t coming, so he said you’ll have to ride with Mason.”
“Perfect.” My heart sank. I knew I had pushed it a bit with Aiden last night—even if we had fun, it was all based on me forcing him to go out with me for the blackmail. If he was blowing off Hero’s birthday to stay away from me, he had to be sick of me. “When will they be here?”
The knife twisted. The hurt turned into a thread of anger and I pulled on it.
If he was really going to blow me off after I tried to be nice, it felt like we’d taken one step forward only for him to stomp it out again.
I pulled out my phone, pulling up my text conversation with Aiden.
Evie: Coward.
I hit send, not caring if he didn’t understand the meaning.
“Ten minutes. Just enough time for Harper to pack up and get ready,” Regan said.
A flash of movement caught my eye in one of the mirrors along the wall, a shadow shifting out of view outside the front window. I turned, trying to catch a glimpse, but it was gone.
A chill settled over me, prickling at the base of my neck.
Every instinct was suddenly on edge, the hairs on my arms standing to attention.
I shifted, glancing sideways, but everything seemed normal—people walking downtown on a Friday night, lost in their own worlds.
My eyes drifted back to the large mirror along the wall, catching glimpses of the passing crowd, hoping to spot a familiar face, some explanation of what made my hackles rise, but there was nothing.
The creeping, heavy sensation, pressing into me as if I were being watched from somewhere in the shadows, eyes lingering on me just beyond my vision.
I tried to shake off the thought, but it crept through me again.
So much of our life revolved around dangerous people and dangerous things, and one thing I had learned was to trust my gut feelings.
Which seemed a lot easier when I at least knew what the threat was.
Inside, the room was empty besides Harper and Regan, and outside the crowd stayed in motion, but it did nothing to calm my nerves.
I heard the bikes pulling up before I saw them. Three bikes pulled into the calm street in front of the cafe.
“They are here,” I said, sliding out from the chair as Harper shoved a box into her backpack.
“And that is . . . what exactly?” I asked.
“Hero’s present. He gets doughnuts and nothing else. He barely deserves those, but I thought a peace offering would be appropriate on his birthday.”
I grinned, not saying a word about how they were always bickering.
The girls followed me out, and I headed right to Mason’s bike.
“So you’re the lucky one who is stuck with me tonight?”
“We calling it lucky now? Do I have to watch you like a hawk all night, too?”
“I would prefer you not to.”