Chapter 18 #2
“Maybe don’t joke about that,” Bodhi mumbled as Callum cursed under his breath and continued to pace.
With a sigh, I pulled away and realized that if I wanted to get some sleep, I was just going to have to do it and ignore the others.
“Okay. I’m going to bed. I’m really okay. Yes, I’m going to be freaked out for a little while, but Bradley is behind bars, all the charges in the world will be pressed, and his father isn’t going to try to get him out of it.”
“His father tried to put his son on the right path before and failed,” my dad corrected. “He’s not going to fail this time.”
“Well, you did threaten to bury me in the backyard somewhere, so we’ll do that to him if I ever see his scrawny little neck again.” Callum gave me a look.
My dad snarled. “Or if I see any of the four LS again.”
I nodded tightly. “It might not have been all of them, but at least two of them were egging him on in this. I don’t know what I did to annoy them other than just existing. But I’m done with them. I have my family here. I have my friends. I’m fine. I just want to go to bed.”
“Now go to bed.” My mother was there then and kissed my temple. “We’re leaving, and you and Callum can go to bed, and he’ll make sure you’re fine. You sleep well, okay?”
“I don’t know if I really want to just leave so that she’s sleeping in Callum’s bed,” Rune mumbled.
“I don’t want to think about that,” Dad said with a sigh.
But Rune’s lips twitched anyway, and then my family was gone, taking Bodhi with them, and I stood there in front of Callum, just wanting to be in his arms.
“I’m really okay.”
“It’s going to take me a little while to get there. And Felicity? Somebody helped him. Somebody knew exactly what to do to fuck with my brewery. So you’re going to have to bear with me for a little while until we find out what happened.”
I nodded and wrapped my arms around his waist. It took a moment, and then he was holding me, and I could finally let myself relax in his embrace.
“Let’s go to sleep, little flower. Because I’m never letting you go.”
I kissed his chest and finally let myself just breathe.
If only for the moment.
* * *
“I wish you would just stay home. Maybe behind four alarms, where your family can watch you?” Callum posed it as a question, and I just shook my head.
“Really? You truly believe that I would be at home right now when you’re having a huge bottle day event?”
Callum sighed and then kissed the top of my head. I ignored the odd looks from people who were either just now realizing Callum and I were seeing each other or still confused as to why we were.
“Hey, Callum, can you come over here for a minute? I need to ask you a few questions thanks to the damn pump.”
Callum pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just stay in sight of Rune and the others for the rest of the day. Okay? I know I sound like an asshole. But, well, your lip is still swollen, and I know it hurts whenever you kiss me. Okay?”
I smiled at him, trying to look reassuring, but instead, I just winced. His eyes narrowed, and I went on with a sigh. “I’ll be good. I’ll either be in your office or surrounded by people that we know and love the entire time. I promise. I’m not going to let any one of us get hurt, okay?
“Okay.”
He kissed the other side of my mouth where the cut didn’t hurt, and we both ignored the wolf-whistling before he went off to help one of his staff, and I went to Bodhi’s side. The fact that Bodhi was here at all surprised me.
Another true crime documentary podcast had come out, and Bodhi’s name had been thrown into the muck again. Now, people were remembering what they had thought about him all those years ago, and even strangers would come to town, knowing his name.
But it was Bodhi, and I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt him either.
“Okay, where do you need me?” I asked.
Bodhi raised a brow. “Preferably behind some caged wall, so Callum stops freaking the fuck out.”
I rolled my eyes. “Did you guys plan on saying nearly the same thing?”
“Maybe. He’s just worried about you.” Bodhi let out a breath. “Watching someone you love get hurt? Knowing you can’t do anything about it and—”
He cut himself off, and I reached out without thinking and gripped his arm. The burn scars underneath my palm startled me for a moment, but I didn’t let go. Instead, I just squeezed him reassuringly and looked up at the line forming.
“Let’s get these beers out. People are going to love the red ale.”
“Because it’s yours,” he mumbled. And I was grateful he seemed okay with my touch, even if for just that instant.
We sold out of the seasonal packs within an hour, apparently hitting a new record for Ashford Brews. I couldn’t help but grin at how wonderful the company was doing. Callum was making a name for himself, and it had nothing to do with him being an NFL player. I was so damn proud of him.
By the time we went to work on the rest of the inventory, my feet hurt, and I was grinning so widely that the cut in my lip ached, not that I would tell anybody that. I just relished the fact that Callum was great at what he did.
Everybody seemed happy. Even if they didn’t get exactly what they wanted, nobody left empty-handed. That just told me how organized the whole staff had been. Even with the unexpected issues, thanks to the break-in, they had fixed everything up, and it was as if nothing had happened.
Though if you had asked Callum, no one would ever forget what had happened. I wouldn’t. I was still just excited to be here.
“Hey, Teagan, do you know where the extra boxes are?” Rune asked, a frown on his face.
Teagan looked up from her phone, where she had been texting rapidly, her eyes wide, and shook her head.
“What?”
“The boxes?
“Oh, they’re in the back. I’m dealing with a stupid distributor issue. I’m sorry.”
“I’ve got it,” I said, since my hands were empty. “That corner, right?”
“Yes, but are you sure you should be going alone?” Teagan asked, and I narrowed my gaze.
“Not you, too.”
“Just stay in sight of people, okay?”
“I will. I promise. I don’t want that to happen again.”
“Because it won’t,” Rune growled.
However, I was the only one with my hands free to actually go get the boxes. So I made my way down the hall, in clear view of everyone, and walked into the storage area.
I went to my tiptoes, angling for the boxes, wishing I knew where the damn step stool was, when the door snicked closed behind me.
Crap.
I leaned back down, looked at the closed door, and really hoped it would open from the inside. If it didn’t, I was going to have to deal with the razzing from the rest of the group for far too long.
I moved forward, only a little worried that the door wouldn’t open when I accidentally stepped on a piece of glass.
Frowning, I looked down and realized there was far more glass than I had thought.
And I looked up and realized the window had been broken. Again.
I opened my mouth to shout and ran towards the door.
But when a large body slammed into me, my head hit the concrete.
And then there was nothing.