Chapter 4 #2
I lowered my arm and looked around. Four pairs of shocked eyes stared back at me. Only Cammie had the reaction I’d expect, which was none. Hitting two black dogs wouldn’t have shocked Hayden or the guys we’d played against in Richmond. A black hat might, depending on the group.
“My turn!” Cammie shouted. She ran to the board to retrieve the darts. I barely had time to step back from the line before she positioned herself behind it. In three graceful throws, she nailed a black hat. Judging by everyone’s expressions, the rest of the group had no idea she had serious skills.
“What was that?” Wyatt asked her.
Cammie shrugged. “I’m pretty good with a bow and arrow, too. Guns scare me, so I have no I idea how I’d do with those. I assume you’re a great shot,” she said to me.
“Good enough to pass the marksman exam for my job,” I said, “but I’m no sharpshooter.
” I’d only had to fire my service weapon once, and I hoped I never had to repeat the experience.
“Where’d you learn to play?” I asked her since it was obvious she hadn’t learned from anyone here, and I’d rather not linger on the topic of my job while standing next to a man I’d arrested.
“My daddy and I played all the time before he went to prison.” She watched me carefully, and by the set of her shoulders I could tell my next words would determine whether she liked me as a person or simply tolerated me as a guy who sometimes played basketball with her boyfriend.
“He taught you well,” I said.
Wyatt might have been in the dark about my first interaction with half his friend group, but he and I had several conversations about Cammie’s father.
I knew he was serving a life sentence in South Carolina after three drug-related convictions, one for cooking meth on the same property where he lived with his daughter.
At first, Wyatt’s angry reaction mirrored mine.
In time, he’d grown to respect Cammie’s dad.
I wasn’t as nice or as forgiving as Wyatt, yet I knew to keep my opinions of repeat drug offenders to myself in the current situation.
“I’m not sure why I’m even trying,” Cal said, walking up to the line for his turn.
Everly stepped closer, and my pulse instantly rose.
“You surprise me,” she said, watching Cal but speaking to me. Her voice was softer than I’d ever heard her use before, sweet even. Something about it seemed less guarded, and I wanted to keep her talking as long as I could.
“I played a lot in Richmond,” I said, watching Cal as well. Like Theo, he’d be decent if anyone ever helped him. “I was in a league.”
Everly shifted her body to face me, and I turned away from the game to look into her honey-colored eyes. “I meant your apology to Theo,” she said. “And how you reacted or didn’t react when Cammie said her father was in prison. I guess we’ve only really talked while you’re on duty.”
“I guess so,” I said, smiling at her. Her cheeks flushed a beautiful pink.
“You’re up, Evie,” Cal said, handing her the darts.
Evie. The nickname suited her and didn’t. Though clearly a term of endearment, the childishness of it was hard to reconcile with the striking woman by my side.
The color in her cheeks deepened. “Levi can have my turn.”
“Heck no,” Cammie said. “Every person on the team has to play. That’s the rules.”
“I thought we weren’t playing by the rules,” Everly said. “Right, Levi?” She looked up at me, her eyes pleading, and I swear my heart skipped a beat.
“I guess that’s the one rule we follow,” Cal said before I could answer her, which I appreciated. I didn’t want to disappoint Everly by agreeing it was one of the most basic rules of the darts.
Everly sighed. “This is going to be embarrassing,”
Cal and Theo both tried to hide their laughter and failed.
“Cut it out,” Cammie said, glaring at Cal. “I don’t care if she throws the darts on the floor; you don’t laugh at someone for trying.”
“Sorry, Evie,” Cal said, still smiling.
“Would you like a few pointers?” I asked quietly.
“That would imply I had a modicum of skill to improve,” she said, slipping back into the tone of voice I’d always heard before.
It hit me then that she used it as a shield or perhaps a sword. She had the sharpest tongue of any defense attorney I’d faced. If she had to go to war on the dartboard, I wanted her to win. “Take position, and I’ll see what adjustments you can make.”
She blinked up at me. “I just walk to the line and throw the dart.”
“Would it be OK if I helped put you in the right stance?”
Though she nodded, she didn’t move to the line. I placed my hand on the small of her back and started toward it. She let me guide her to the line before I stepped behind her.
I’d notice she was left-handed the first time I watched her write notes during an interview. It didn’t mean she was left footed, but I had a feeling she might not know either way.
“Turn your body sideways with your left foot slightly forward,” I said.
“Sideways?” Cal asked. “That’s interesting.”
Everly’s attention snapped to him. Of course, the entire group had stopped talking to watch us.
“How far sideways?” Everly asked, looking more nervous with each second.
“Is it OK if I touch you?” I asked.
Her eyes widened, but she nodded. I placed my hands on her hips and gently twisted her in the direction I wanted.
“When you throw, you want to keep your upper arm as still as possible.” I lifted her left arm and folded it at the elbow.
Her skin pebbled beneath my fingers, and her breaths quickened.
She was probably nervous to have everyone watching her, though her reaction, coupled with the intoxicating scent of her perfume, sent a rush of need through my body.
If I didn’t hurry this lesson along, I’d embarrass myself.
She still clutched all three darts in her left hand. “I can hold the other two,” I said, flattening my palm.
She cleared her throat and placed two of the darts in my hand. “Now what?”
“Aim for where you want—”
“That’d be anywhere on the board,” she mumbled.
“Aim at the board and throw in an arc, releasing the dart at the top. Follow through with the motion, even after the dart leaves your hand, until you’re pointing at where you want the dart to land.”
“Can you show me?” she asked, looking over her shoulder.
I stepped closer, wrapping my hand around hers to mimic the throw. “Just like that.”
“Got it,” she said.
“Now breathe,” I said, stepping away. “You want the release to be relaxed.”
Wyatt laughed, and I realized how dirty that sounded.
“Release the tension in your shoulders,” Cammie added, ignoring the innuendo and putting the focus back on the game. “Don’t overthink it.”
Everly let out a breath and tossed. The dart hit in the four single, and she let out an excited yelp. “I did it,” she said, smiling back at me.
“Well done,” I said, handing her another dart. “Aiming for the single score is a good strategy.”
“I have no idea what that means,” she said, her eyes the warm brown I’d wanted directed my way for far too long.
“Just keep doing what you’re doing,” I said.
She scored points on the next two throws as well, and the smile on her face grew.
“Look at you not avoiding Officer Studly,” a woman said as Everly handed Wyatt the darts.
Everly’s cheeks pinked again, and she glared at the newcomer.
“Hi, I’m Maddie,” the woman said, holding her hand out to me. “Everly’s sister. Sorry I'm late.”
I was so shocked by what she said, I forgot to introduce myself as we shook hands. She knew who I was anyway if she’d given me a nickname, but why would Everly avoid me?
“I thought you were stuck at the hospital,” Everly said, sounding annoyed.
Her cheeks were bright red now, and as her eyes shifted from me to her sister, it hit me like a punch to the stomach.
My attraction to Everly wasn’t one-sided.
If she wasn’t a defense attorney and I wasn’t a cop, perhaps she’d have taken the time to get to know me when we ran into each other around town.
Maybe we’d have exchanged numbers. Maybe we’d have gone out. Maybe we’d be something.
It’d be so simple if we weren’t who we were. Instead, she’d avoided me. Which was definitely the sensible thing to do. Still, the realization that she was even slightly drawn to me made my night. Who was I kidding? It was the best thing to happen to me in over a year. Too bad I couldn’t act on it.
“I’m in my OB/GYN rotation,” Maddie said to me. “I got a chance to assist with a twin C-section. Who’d turn that down?” The joy on her face was so contagious, my lips quirked up.
“Pretty sure most people,” Everly said, all signs of irritation gone but the color still bright in her cheeks.
A ghost of a smile played at the corners of her full lips, and the warmth in her eyes suggested a deep affection for her sister.
As an only child, I’d often wondered what a bond like that would feel like.
Angry one minute, laughing the next, an undercurrent of love ebbing from one emotion to the next.
“Got room for one more?” Maddie asked.
“You can take my spot,” Everly said. “I’m going to see if I can talk some sense into Aiden and Poppy.”
As far as I was concerned, they could continue to hate my guts if it meant spending more time with Everly, but she clearly wanted to get away from me.
I watched her weave through the tables toward the front of the bar, where Poppy and Aiden were taking turns talking and gesturing wildly.
I turned my attention back to the game, while silently counting the minutes until I could leave without causing any more of a scene.
Now that Everly wasn’t my teammate, I was ready to call it a night.
“What’s with them?” Maddie asked as Wyatt got ready to take his turn. “I heard a bunch of yelling and walked right by.”
“Apparently Levi arrested Theo last year,” Wyatt said without taking his eyes off the dartboard.
“Well, that’s awkward, big guy,” Maddie said, patting my arm. “Whose bright idea was it to invite you?”