Chapter 4
Chapter four
Levi
When I first stopped speaking to him, he reached out constantly. Emails. Texts. Voicemails. I left them all unopened. By the time I’d wrapped up my cases in Richmond and moved to Peace Falls, he’d settled on a weekly call.
I’d purposefully driven to Church and parked a few minutes before I told Wyatt I’d meet him and his friends, so I’d be able to answer my dad’s call before I went inside.
I tried not to think too hard about how it was the first Friday the weekly ritual conflicted with my plans.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a night out.
It had to have been in Richmond. Before Hayden overdosed and I found out half my unit had a side hustle selling contraband pills.
Before my dad suggested I look the other way.
I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel as the dash clock ticked to 7:59PM.
I tried not to think of my father the rest of the week.
When his weekly calls first started, I spent far too long considering why he chose Fridays at 8PM.
Sunday at dinnertime would have made the most sense.
Mom cooked a big meal every week, and we’d sit around the table for hours eating and talking.
It’s something I would have asked him if we were speaking.
The moment the clock changed to 8PM, my phone rang. I let it ring once more before sending the call to voicemail. My shoulders eased with equal relief that he’d called and that I wouldn’t have to think about him for another week.
I shoved my phone in my pocket and headed for the door before I could convince myself to drive back home and spend the evening watching TV with Sherly like usual.
As I entered the bar, three things happened that made the situation so painfully awkward, I wished I’d talked myself out of coming: Wyatt called my name, which meant I couldn’t turn around and leave once I realized who was with him; a man and a woman at Wyatt’s table shot death glares my direction; and Everly Hendricks stole all the air from my lungs.
That last one was nothing new, but I hadn’t expected her to be part of the group with Wyatt.
Her dark hair was in soft waves around her shoulders.
She always wore it up for work. I’d caught glimpses of her around town on the weekends when she wasn’t in a suit and heels.
The first time I saw her at the grocery store about killed me.
Everly dressed up was striking. Everly dressed down was a walking fantasy.
Though neither prepared me for Everly in a dress.
The hint of cleavage and the way the material clung to her body like a second skin was beyond sexy.
Because she was sitting at the end of the table, her long, toned legs were visible from where I stood frozen by the door, making it very difficult to keep my body from reacting.
A glance at the two unfriendly faces with her helped.
“Glad you made it,” Wyatt said, not picking up on the daggers aimed my direction.
“What the fuck?” the pissed-off guy shouted.
Wyatt’s girlfriend, Cammie, turned and smiled at me. “Hi Levi. Have a seat.”
The only empty chair was next to the tiny woman with black hair who looked like she wanted to kick me in the balls.
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” she said, confirming my assumption that I was unwelcomed.
“Poppy,” a redhead with her back to me yelled. “What’s wrong with you?”
“He’s the dickhead who arrested Theo,” the glaring man said.
With that, everyone facing the other direction turned to look at me.
Last year, I had, in fact, arrested Theo Makis, who was sitting beside the pissed-off woman named Poppy. He held up his hand in greeting before Poppy grabbed it and pulled it onto her lap.
“You arrested Theo?” Wyatt asked me. The genuine surprise on his face meant he hadn’t known. Poor guy was going to feel terrible about the situation he’d unwittingly created.
“He was just doing his job,” Theo said calmly.
“Like hell he was,” the man yelled. He was sitting across from Lauren, and she turned from facing me to hiss something at him. Whatever she said didn’t faze him in the least. “He put Theo in handcuffs and brought him into the station for some bullshit citation.”
“Which is warranted in certain circumstances,” Everly said.
I raised my eyebrows at her, since she’d argued the complete opposite when she breezed into the station last year to demand Theo’s release.
“Levi was only working with police records,” Everly added. “He didn’t know Theo’s whole backstory.”
Which was for damn sure. I still cringed when I thought about that day.
A mom and dad had accused Theo of inking their underage daughter.
I ran a background check and saw he’d done time for aggravated vehicular manslaughter.
I’d been in Peace Falls less than a month and hadn’t heard the entire story yet.
Couple the citation being a second offense with a guy who looked like he could snap me like a twig, and I’d cuffed him and brought him in.
Knowing what I know now, I’d have handed him the citation with an apology, scheduled an interview, and taken my ass back to the station.
“Aiden, Poppy, behave,” Lauren said, rising from the table. “Take my seat, Levi.”
Which would put me directly across from the pissed-off guy. Pieces of information shifted into place, and I realized the man who had chased after my squad car when I arrested Theo was Lauren’s fiancé, Aiden. No way in hell was I sitting across from him.
“Come on,” Cammie said, jumping up and taking my arm. “Let’s play darts.”
My chest tightened at her words. Wyatt still looked a little dazed but stood and followed us to the back of the bar.
“I’m sorry, man,” he said as we claimed one of the dartboards lining the wall. “I knew Theo had some ridiculous charge last year that was dropped. I had no idea you were involved.”
“Maybe I should leave,” I said. Fuck, I wanted to leave. I’d rather let Aiden punch me in the face than play darts.
Everly’s delicate scent washed over me as she stepped close. “Absolutely not,” she said, placing a soft hand on my arm. “There’s no excuse for how Aiden and Poppy are behaving other than they’re fiercely protective of Theo.”
I turned to face her, and her eyes widened slightly before she quickly pulled her hand back. She’d never touched me before. It’d only been a moment, but a strange calmness spread through me.
“Still not an excuse,” Theo said, joining us with a man who looked vaguely familiar. “They need to chill.”
I shifted my feet, calculating how soon I could leave without making Wyatt feel terrible for inviting me. At the very least, I could use the opportunity to apologize to Theo. “For what it’s worth,” I said to him, “I regret how I treated you that day.”
“What happened, happened,” Theo said. “I don’t hold it against you.” He smiled and took a sip of his sparkling water. His friendliness made me feel like an even bigger ass for hauling him to the station in cuffs.
“Cal Cardoso,” the man next to Theo said, holding out his hand. “We met briefly in the park.”
Last summer Wyatt had asked me to be near Cammie when she had to meet with her ex-boyfriend.
Since I’d seen the aftermath of the single time Wyatt was in proximity of the guy, I appreciated my friend for knowing he should keep his distance.
I’d pretended to toss a football with Cal and a teenage kid while Cammie gave her ex a suitcase.
The whole thing seemed shady as shit, but Wyatt assured me there was nothing illegal happening.
I decided to believe him. I was just relieved Cammie’s ex left town after because he had every one of my instincts screaming.
“I thought you looked familiar,” I said, giving Cal’s hand a brief shake.
“Let’s play a game while Lauren and Rowan put the other two in line,” Cal said.
They could play. I’d just watch.
Cammie laughed. “If anyone can, it’s them.”
“Why do you think I left?” Theo said. “It’s impossible for me to get mad at my wife, and someone needs to.”
Another piece clicked into place. Poppy had been as irate as Aiden when I arrested Theo, which made complete sense now.
“Here,” Everly said, handing me three darts. “You’re on my team.”
Hearing her say that made my stomach flip, and not just because I hadn’t played a game since Hayden died. I told myself to get a grip before I said or did something to make the night even more awkward. “What are we playing? 504? Cricket? Killer?” I asked.
“Um, we just throw at the board and add up points,” Cal said, looking as confused as Wyatt and Theo. Cammie fought a smile. I’d bet she knew exactly what those games were but hadn’t tried to teach them to anyone. Everly kept her expression blank, so I had no idea what she was thinking.
“That works,” I said. It was also unlike all the games I typically played, which somehow made the thought of throwing a dart again less upsetting.
Theo went first and threw buckshot within the triple ring. With a few adjustments to his arm and stance, he could be a decent player.
“You’re up,” Everly said.
I felt her eyes on me as I aligned my body to the board.
Even with the grief wreaking havoc in my chest, knowing I had her complete attention made me more nervous than it should have.
I took a second to lock it down before aiming for the bullseye and releasing the dart.
It landed with a thunk directly in the button.
Everyone clapped, but it wasn’t ideal for the first throw.
At least for me. I’d have to aim the next two around it if I went for a black hat, and my record hitting all three with the first dead center wasn’t the best. Instead, I aimed for the treble twenty on my second shot and just missed, so I returned to the bullseye for my last throw.
When the dart landed within the inner circle beside the first, Everly let out a small gasp.