8. Josh
8
JOSH
Nia runs away from me for the second time. But calling it "running away" might be a stretch. She doesn’t sprint or even offer a hasty retreat.
Instead, she does something infinitely more frustrating—she says nothing. Not a word in response to my accusation, no witty retort or defensive denial.
Her silence cuts deeper than anything she could have said.
Before I can even process the blank look she gives me, she’s whisked away by none other than Chloe, Kevin’s sister, who swoops in with perfect timing, as if she’s been waiting in the wings just for this moment. Chloe’s arrival is like a well-rehearsed act, and Nia plays her part flawlessly, slipping into the crowd without so much as a backward glance. The ease with which she escapes me is maddening.
“Guess I’m chopped liver now,” Kevin mutters from behind me, his tone carrying that familiar blend of sarcasm and resignation. I can hear the faintest trace of a smile in his voice, but there’s something else there too. A hint of frustration, maybe even disappointment. It’s no secret that Kevin doesn’t get out much these days, and when he does, it’s usually because someone has dragged him along to some event or party, like I did tonight to get him out of the house. I turn to see him standing there, hands shoved deep into his pockets, a wry smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he watches his sister and Nia disappear into the crowd. He’s trying to play it off like it doesn’t bother him, but I know better. I know him.
I don’t say anything because my eyes are glued to Nia’s ass in a pair of leggings that hug every single curve of the body I haven’t gotten a chance to know as well as I want to.
Before he can make himself known, however, his sister is right back at my side with a wide smile. “Thanks for dragging Kevin out, Josh. I didn’t think I’d get to see him this month. We’re having a party for Nia, the woman who was just standing here. You guys should join us.”
Then she is off again, dragging her brother in her wake, refusing to let him give her anything but what she wants, and what she wants is for us to join their party. The tortured plea in his eyes as he looks back over his shoulder has me smiling even more.
I do the only possible thing I can. I follow her.
After all, Nia can’t very well run away when we are all sitting at the same table, can she? I also don’t miss the fact that her shoulders tense as she watches me approach hot on Chloe’s heels.
“Kevin and his roommate, Josh, are gonna sit with us.” Chloe sits down next to her husband, yanking on Kevin’s arm until he takes the seat right next to her like the doting brother he’s pretending not to be.
I’m certainly not complaining about the seating arrangement, especially since the only empty seat left at the table is directly across from Nia. As I slide into the chair, I catch the brief flash of surprise in her eyes before she quickly masks it with a facade of nonchalance.
But it’s too late.
I’ve seen the momentary crack in her composure, and it only fuels my determination to keep her off-balance. Dinner is shaping up to be more interesting than I thought it would be, and I have no intention of letting her off the hook that easily. If she thinks she can brush me aside without addressing what happened between us, she’s in for a rude awakening.
And maybe I’ll use handcuffs this time. I’m sure I’ve got a pair in storage somewhere.
Hell, the only reason I don’t bring up our one-night stand to the entire table is the fact that she left me high and dry… and wanting more of her than any man has a right to want a woman.
“Save me.” Kevin catches my attention with his whispered plea. “Just switch seats with me. I can’t take my little sister hounding me about going back to the fire department again. She won’t let it go.”
“No,” I hiss back, eyeing Nia out of my peripheral vision. “You’re her big brother, and she wants you to live again.”
“I am living,” Kevin declares, his voice louder than intended. The sudden outburst earns us a few curious glances, but he doesn’t seem to care. His expression hardens as he continues, the frustration and exhaustion evident in his tone. “It’s not my fault I don’t want to walk into burning buildings anymore. I’ve done my time. I’ve seen more than enough flames for one lifetime. Now, I just have to find something I can tolerate, something that doesn’t make me want to crawl out of my skin. And it’s not like I actually need the money. I’m rich now.” Even if he mutters the last part, the raw honesty in his words silences any further objections I might have had, and I find myself nodding in agreement. He’s right. It’s his life, his decision, and he’s earned the right to choose a path that doesn’t lead back into the fire. Especially if the fire is going to do more harm than good.
“Hey.” Nia’s voice cuts through the thick silence that has settled over our table. The tone is softer than usual, more vulnerable, as she stares at Kevin with a look of understanding that catches me off guard. “There’s nothing wrong with making the choice to save yourself,” she says, her words deliberate and weighted with meaning.
For a moment, she seems to realize that everyone is watching her, waiting for her to continue. A slight flush colors her cheeks, but she doesn’t back down. Instead, she clears her throat and looks down at her hands, which I can imagine are clenched tightly in her lap.
“You know what?” she continues, a fire igniting behind her eyes that I haven’t seen before. “No. It’s okay that you don’t want to do it anymore. I don’t want to sound crass or out of line, but everyone knows that you were overseas, trapped in a hell that none of us can probably imagine. I think you should take as long as you want to be depressed, to grieve, to process what you’ve been through and decide if you want to do anything else. There are people who didn’t go through what you did that are beyond messed up. The fact that you’re sitting here, in a restaurant surrounded by people when you look like you’re crawling out of your skin, is amazing. And if you want to just stay at home in a blanket fort and avoid your sister, you should be able to do that, too.” The passion in her voice is undeniable, and as she speaks, I can see the tension slowly drain from Kevin’s shoulders. It’s as if her words have given him permission to feel what he’s been suppressing for so long.
Her chest heaves with the intensity of her words, and the fire in her eyes is impossible to ignore. It’s a passion that I find equally intoxicating and terrifying, a combination that makes it nearly impossible to keep my thoughts in check.
Ignoring the painfully obvious reaction my body is having to her fiery outburst, I glance over at Kevin, expecting to see the usual trepidation and fear that have become so familiar. But instead, what I see surprises me. His eyes are dancing with laughter, a lightness that hasn’t been there in a long time. It’s as if Nia’s words have lifted a weight off his shoulders, even if just for a moment, and it makes me see her in a whole new light.
“You’re a spitfire,” Kevin finally says, breaking the tense silence that has settled over the table. His voice carries a warmth that’s been absent for far too long, and I can tell that Nia’s words have struck a chord with him. “I like your friend, Chloe,” he adds, turning to his sister with a look that’s equal parts gratitude and amusement. The tension that had been building dissipates, replaced by a ripple of laughter that spreads through the group. The mood shifts, lightens, as if Nia’s impassioned speech has given everyone permission to relax, to let go of whatever burdens they’ve been carrying.
While the rest of the tables around us follow suit and laugh, returning to their conversations, tension still flows off Nia in waves. At least until she makes eye contact with Kevin. Then her face lights up with the kind of smile that men gladly go to war for, and all the air in the room vanishes. Except, the smile isn’t aimed at me.
She’s staring directly at Kevin, her gaze unwavering as a blush spreads from the roots of her almost platinum hair to the very tip of her nose. It’s a blush that transforms her from the confident, no-nonsense woman she presents to the world into someone softer, more vulnerable, and it’s a side of her I find myself inexplicably drawn to. There’s a teasing glint in her eyes as she finally speaks, her voice filled with playful defiance.
“You, sir, are a flirt,” she declares, raising her hand in the air to signal the waitress. There’s a challenge in her tone, one that dares Kevin to respond, to match her wit. “Someone better get us a round before I decide to flirt back, just for the fun of it.” The words are light, teasing, but there’s an underlying edge to them, a hint of something deeper that I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s as if she’s using humor to mask something she’s not ready to reveal, and it only makes me more intrigued by her.
The man sitting on her other side, Detective Eddie Stryker, groans loudly. “Come on, V. You don’t have to flirt with everyone.”
She freezes, and the heat that filled our table only a moment before evaporates into thin air, only to be replaced with ice that would have done the Titanic proud.
“Eddie,” she says so sweetly that honey wouldn’t have melted on her tongue. “If you have a problem with us having fun, you can go sit at one of the boring tables. This is the fun table, and I’m not going to let you shit on my last night with a lot of my friends from the PD. Do you understand? Or do I need to prove my point?” Like I thought, her voice is sickly sweet, but her words could have flayed the man alive.
Stryker doesn’t say another word, and I honestly feel bad for the guy. I’ve worked with him through our two agencies multiple times over the years. He is a solid cop and always volunteers to help when we need it.
Clearly, there is some sort of history between the two of them, and if I were a better man, I might walk away. Unfortunately for Eddie, I’m not going to. Not when it seems like fate is throwing Nia in my path.
Violet Ortiz, better known as Vi, comes up to our table and takes everyone’s order. When Nia gets a Bloody Mary, half the table groans and the other half laughs.
“What?” I ask Kevin. “Why’re they groaning?”
“Because Nia doesn’t drink,” he whispers back. “It’s one of those things that’s known around the department. And when she does, it’s hilarious and someone has to be the one to watch out for her because she’s likely to do something crazy like try to go swimming in the middle of the night.”
“I got it,” I say at the exact same time as Stryker.
“What?” He stares across the table at me with a grimace. “You don’t even know her.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I hedge. “I’m not drinking, and neither is Kevin. She can ride with us.”
Nia huffs, clearly not enjoying the way we are making plans for her. “I can take an Uber.”
“If you want.” With a shrug, I order a sweet tea. “Or you could ride with us and save a few bucks. Choice is up to you.”
She debates it for less than a second before nodding her head. “Thank you,” she says quietly. “But I don’t get wild or anything.”
“Trust me, we know.” Logan Pierce, another cop from BPD, walks up to our table and hands Vi a piece of paper. “Here. I got everyone else’s orders so that we can get this show on the road and not annoy the shit outta you. But if you get the top one done first, I’ll double your tip.” He points his thumb blindly at his wife over his shoulder. “Poppy’s hungry.”
“You have always been the sweetest,” Vi says with a laugh. “I got it.”
“He’s not sweet. He’s a cold-blooded Marine who’ll eat your bones for breakfast.” Kevin leans back and smiles broadly before winking. “Just kidding. I know better than to flirt with someone who could cut out my liver and feed it to me.”
Vi leans forward and knocks him out of his chair by pulling on the back of it. After the loud crash fills the dining hall, she holds out a hand and helps him up. “I wouldn’t need to,” she says as he sputters and gasps for air while taking her offered help. “I already know how to knock you on your ass. Why make it harder on myself or get caught up in a murder charge.”
With a wave, she walks off to put our order in with the bar, and within a few minutes, there are other servers bringing out drinks and appetizers.
During the course of eating and drinking, people get up and wander around, and eventually it’s just Nia, Kevin, and me at our table. At least for a minute.
Unable to help myself, I lean forward and spear Nia with my eyes. “You don’t seem like a lightweight.” I try to keep the fact that we know each other a secret. “I’d say you can handle your liquor pretty well.”
Nia, the minx, winks at me before downing the entire drink in her hand. “Sometimes,” she says almost conspiratorially. “It’s easier if people underestimate you. Especially when you have to work with them.” She watches the people around us dancing and laughing and having an amazing time, but she isn’t watching them with envy. “I like being able to, I dunno, have fun and not have to be responsible all the time.” She eyes Kevin warily, like she is trying to figure out if she can trust him or not. “You know what I mean?”
Kevin, in a surprising turn of events, at least to me, laughs. “You don’t have to say anything to me. You know what I went through. Everyone, including my sister, is acting like I’m going to break. This asshole is my roommate.” He nods toward me. “And he’s the only one who doesn’t treat me like I’m about to shatter. At least, not until I’m in the middle of an episode and trying to hold him hostage for the release of prisoners in the middle of the night while he’s trying to sleep.” He laughs dispassionately.
In the entire six months that he’s lived with me, Kevin hasn’t opened up once to anyone about what he is going through. At least not outside of his therapist or me. The fact that he does it, while laughing and in public, no matter how sarcastic or self-loathing he is, has me speechless.
Nia cocks her head to the side. “I like you,” she declares before burping loudly. “But you should know, I can’t like you too much. I slept with your roommate, and I don’t knowingly help anyone break the bro code.”
With that, she gets up and walks away with a small wave. “Don’t worry about giving me a ride home, guys. I’ll get my sister and her husband to drop me and my car off. I have to work tomorrow.” The crowd of people seem to swallow her whole, and I’m left with nothing but the image of her ass swaying in those leggings to keep me company.
Again.
“You slept with her?” Kevin snaps me out of my memory of the way her body felt under mine that night. “You slept with a goddess like Nia Davidson, and you never said a single word to me about it? I’m a little bit heartbroken, you know.” Despite his words, Kevin laughs.
I shake my head, wishing I had something a little stronger than tea to drink, and file away her last name so I can find her on social media and maybe send her a friend request. “It was right before you moved in, and honestly, I wouldn’t have said anything anyway. I was in Belfast for the weekend when I met her. She disappeared into thin air, and I didn’t even have a way of finding her.”
“And now that you know she lives here in Birch Harbor?” Kevin sips his soda like it is the most expensive bottle of champagne he’s ever encountered. “What are you going to do?”
I watch her dance around the restaurant, mingling with men and women that I’ve known for years, and think about his question.
What am I going to do?
Nia said she doesn’t date cops.
Well, then it is a damn good thing I’m not a cop anymore.