8. Chapter 8
Chapter eight
Brooks
“Talk to me,” I said when we got back to my house. I’d locked up and ordered takeout. Now we were sitting on my sofa, the remnants of fish tacos and beer on my coffee table.
She let out a short, humorless breath. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“Pick a thought and pull on it.”
Aria sat up straight. “I’m pissed. And scared.
And I keep thinking if I had gotten here two days earlier, maybe none of this would be happening.
Like whatever she got wrapped up in I could have stopped.
Which is stupid because I don’t even know what she’s caught up in, or why or how.
Like maybe this clue is nothing, and she was just curious about the story. ”
I turned toward her, leaning against the arm of the sofa. The protective instinct that had kicked in on the boardwalk was still sitting under my ribs like a second heartbeat.
“We can go down to the Bluefin Marina tomorrow. You said she was building a clientele for her pet-sitting business. Let’s see if anyone’s seen her.”
Aria nodded, but her knee was bouncing and shaking the whole sofa. She caught me looking at it and forced it still.
“I’m not good at this,” she said. “I don’t sit and wait. I usually just… move. Leave. Start over somewhere else before things can get this tangled.”
“I noticed.”
That pulled a real, surprised huff of laughter out of her. “Yeah…about that. I’m sorry. Goodbyes aren’t my strong suit.”
“Why does it have to be goodbye?”
“Trust me, it’s better that way. I’m…a lot.”
“A handful maybe.”
“Yeah, okay.” She didn’t look convinced, and I didn’t push it.
“Bed?” she asked, picking up plates and empty bottles. She walked to the kitchen and tossed the bottles into the trash and then rinsed the dishes and placed them in the dishwasher. I brought the empty food boxes and tossed them.
“There’s a guestroom, but it’s small.” I led her down the hallway, passing my room and opening the door at the end. “I don’t have many visitors, so it’s rarely used.”
She stood in the doorway but didn’t enter. “Um, I forgot to grab clothes. From my car at Allie’s place.”
“I’ll see if someone can grab them and drop them off.” I bent down to meet her gaze full-on. “Okay?”
Aria nodded and entered the room, already reaching for the hem of her shirt. Fuck it was going to be a long night. I gripped the knob to pull the door shut, but before I could fully close it, she turned to me. “Thanks, Brooks. For everything.”
I nodded and finished shutting myself out before I broke my word and did the one thing she’d asked me not to do.
I strode into my room, pulling my phone out and tapping out a text to Rafi about her clothes.
Less than five seconds later he said they’d be to us within the hour.
I told him to leave them on the back deck.
It had been a long day, and it was going to be an even longer night.
A cold shower was in my immediate future.
Everywhere I went in my room, memories assaulted me. I almost gave in and stroked one off in the shower, but that wasn’t appealing. I wanted her.
Toweling off, I wrapped it around my waist and padded back into my room. Aria stood there in the doorway, arms wrapped around herself, face pale in the low light.
“I can’t sleep,” she said. “Every time I close my eyes I feel his hand on my arm again. Imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up—” She cut herself off. “I know it’s not helpful. I just can’t shut it off.”
I crossed the room and stopped a careful distance away. “I can sit with you. Just let me get dressed.”
She looked at me for a long second, then nodded once.
We ended up on opposite ends of the couch, not touching, while the house settled around us.
I opened the cabinet where the TV was hidden and grabbed the remote, picking an old comedy for some mindless television.
Most of the funny parts were cut out for commercials, but it still helped pass the time.
She fell asleep sometime in the early hours of the morning, and I carried her to her bed, tucked her in, and made myself a spot on the floor.