Chapter 12 #2
Yara follows Tyler out of the kitchen holding another tray, hers filled with cut vegetables and bowls of the dip I prepared earlier.
She catches my eye and shakes her head in a universal these guys gesture.
The shadows I’ve noticed in her eyes when she doesn’t think anyone’s looking are gone. “They’re obsessed with this game.”
“And you’re not?” Indy shoots back. “I seem to recall one night when you refused to stop playing until you won.”
She sets the tray of vegetables on the coffee table. “That was because someone was cheating. I had to prove I was the rightful winner.”
Indy grins. “You call it cheating. I call it strategic diversion.”
Yara snorts. “Strategic diversion my ass. You threw a pillow at my head. While I was trying to place the top piece. How is that not cheating?”
“You should have been paying better attention,” he retorts. “And you know the rules when it comes to Extreme Jenga.”
Tyler chuckles. “There are no rules,” he tells me. “That’s the fun of it.”
“And coming up with new and crazier ways to play,” Ace says. His gaze drifts to Indy and my entwined hands before raising to meet mine. “You’ll have to come up with something too, Bea. The harder the better.”
A soft chime sounds through the room, and even though I know it shouldn’t, my muscles still tense.
Yara scoops her phone off one of the end tables. “It’s Rhi and Hawk. Indy—” she glances at him. “Since you’re closest, can you let them in?”
Indy casts a quick side glance at me, his brows raised in silent question.
My heart swells.
Even now, he’s concerned about how I feel.
“Of course,” I answer for him. “I can’t wait to meet them.”
And this time, when I say it, a fizz of excitement fills my chest.
No more worrying.
I trust Indy. And if he thinks it’s okay, it is.
So we head to the door, hands still intertwined. Indy unfastens the three additional locks, which bear a striking resemblance to the ones on my door at Blade and Arrow. Then he pulls the door open to reveal a striking couple waiting on the other side.
He gives the dark-haired woman, who I’m assuming is Rhiannon, a quick one-armed hug. Then he does the same to the tattooed man—Hawk, I presume—standing beside her. “Hey, guys. Nice to see you.”
“Indy.” Rhiannon beams at him. Her attention flickers to his prosthetic hand still wrapped around mine. A beat later, she smiles brightly at me. “Hi. I’m Rhiannon. And you must be Beatrix. It’s so nice to meet you.”
Hawk’s angular features soften with a small smile. “Hey, Jones. And Beatrix.” He holds his hand out to me. “I’m Hawk. These guys treating you okay?”
I clasp his hand and give it a quick shake. “They’ve all been great.” To Hawk and Rhiannon, I add, “You can call me Bea. My parents call me Beatrix, but—” I shrug. “Bea’s good.”
“I just figured it out,” announces Yara. “Beatrix Potter, right? That’s where your name came from.”
Ace tosses a Jenga piece at Yara—more like whips it at her, really—and she catches it effortlessly. “No shit, Yar. Of course, it’s from Beatrix Potter. How many other Beatrix’s do you know?”
Rhiannon and Hawk walk inside and Hawk immediately locks the door behind him. “There could be other Beatrix’s,” Rhiannon offers. “Or maybe Bea’s mom just liked the name.”
As we all head towards the couches, I reply, “She did pick the name because of Beatrix Potter. And when I was younger, I was so mad at her for it. I wanted a cool name, like Annabelle or Eloise.”
Or at least, my thirteen-year-old self thought those names were cool.
Yara nods. “Tell me about it. I got the whole gamut of terrible nicknames. Yarr she blows. Yarr, shiver me timbers.” She sighs. “They loved all the pirate talk back in middle school.”
Indy waits for me to sit, then settles down beside me. He lets go of my hand to reach for a paper plate, filling it with an assortment of chips and dip and vegetables. “Here you go,” he says as he hands it to me. “Do you want anything to drink?”
“I can get drinks,” Yara offers. “What does everyone want? I’ve got soda, water, beer, hard seltzer…”
After everyone rattles off their requests—water or soda for all the guys, and hard seltzers for Yara, me, and Rhiannon—Yara drags Tyler off into the kitchen to help her.
Ace finishes his Jenga prep and joins us at the other end of the couch, while Hawk plops into an armchair and pulls Rhiannon onto his lap.
“So.” Rhiannon turns her attention to Indy. “How’s everything going?”
It’s an innocuous enough question on the surface. But there’s a weight to it that tells me it’s not really that simple.
Indy meets her gaze steadily. “It’s good. HQ is nearly finished. And we’ve been keeping busy with new cases.”
“Eden?” she asks. “How’s she doing?”
Indy brightens. “Really good. Even if she did pick Rafe—” He shakes his head, and everyone chuckles. “He’s good for her. And she’s good for him.”
Hawk gives an approving nod. “I’m happy for him.”
“And you?” Rhiannon asks.
“Rhi,” Hawk warns. “Maybe not when we just got here.”
Pink stains her cheeks. “Sorry, Indy. I’m being nosy. Forget I said anything.”
“It’s fine.” Indy moves our entwined hands so they’re resting on my leg. “I’m good.” He glances at me. “Really good, actually.”
My heart erupts into a frenzy of wingbeats at the look in his eyes.
Rhiannon studies Indy’s face. Something in his expression must reassure her, because she smiles at him, the biggest one yet. “Yeah. I can see that.”
“Okay. I’ve got drinks.” Yara comes back into the living room and starts handing out drinks. “Did I miss anything? Any good gossip? Did Nolan finally find a woman? Levi?”
“Not yet.” Rhiannon flicks a side-eyed glance at me. “But you never know. Something we’ve discovered about Blade and Arrow relationships—they come when you’re least expecting it.”
“Not me,” Ace replies. “I’ve got enough going on already.”
“Same,” Yara agrees. “But you’re right. You B and A guys seem to find love in the most unusual circumstances.”
Tyler doesn’t join in. He just attacks his pile of celery with single-minded determination.
And it makes me wonder about the pale band on his ring finger, nearly the same shade as his skin, but not quite.
It makes me wonder if the sad look in his eyes is just because of his prosthetic, or something else.
Then I look at Indy, wondering what his response will be.
An immediate denial, like Ace and Yara?
Maybe an admission of the possibility?
But it’s neither.
Instead, he shifts closer to me. His features soften. “You’re right,” he tells Rhiannon. “Sometimes it does come along when you least expect it.”
“Did you have a good time?”
As we approach my bedroom door, disappointment creeps in. I had a great time, in fact, and I’m not eager for the night to end. Turning to Indy, I answer, “Yes. I really did. And I don’t know why I was so nervous. Rhi and Hawk are great. Plus, I got to know Yara better, and Ace and Tyler…”
“I’m glad.” We stop outside the closed door, and Indy turns to face me. “I know you’ve been under a lot of stress, and I just thought it might be a good distraction.”
“It was. Especially Extreme Jenga.”
Indy chuckles. “Extreme Jenga is always good for taking your mind off things. That’s one of the reasons everyone liked it so much. Even when things seem like they’re going to shit—” He stops. “Anyway. I’m glad you had fun.”
“I really enjoyed hearing some of the stories about you,” I say. “I can’t believe some of the dares you took, though. Rappelling down a five-story building? Jumping off a waterfall?”
“Shhh.” Indy casts a furtive look up and down the empty hallway. “Eden still doesn’t know about that one. She’ll be pissed if she finds out.”
“What waterfall?” I give him an innocent look. “I never heard anything about a waterfall.”
He flashes me a conspiratorial smile. “Exactly.”
“It sounds like you had some good times, though.”
“I did.” A wistful expression moves across his face. “Not all good, of course. There were a lot of times when things were pretty dire. When we didn’t have time to do anything but focus on the mission. But during the in-between times, yeah. I really loved it.”
Suddenly this doesn’t feel like a conversation I want to be having in the hallway, with Yara asleep at the other end of it, and Ace and Tyler getting ready for bed downstairs.
“Do you want to come in?” I ask as I twist open the bedroom doorknob.
“I’m not really ready to go to sleep yet.
Maybe we could talk? Watch a movie? Or…”
“Sure.” Indy holds the door open for me, then follows me inside and shuts the door after us. “I’m not tired either.”
Since the only place to sit is the bed, we both head over to it. I hop up onto one side, pushing the pillows up against the headboard, watching Indy as he does the same on his.
But on the queen-sized bed, that leaves us too far apart. So I scoot closer, and he wraps his arm around my shoulder and hugs me against him.
Instead of speaking, he’s carefully silent. Like he’s debating whether to tell me something. And rather than push, I just rest my head on his shoulder and wait.
Finally, he says quietly, “I’m not the same person I used to be. The guy they served with? That guy was funny. Easy-going. Never one to turn down a dare.”
He goes silent again before adding, “The guy you met in the hospital—he wasn’t anything like how I was. Back then… I was angry. Depressed. I lashed out at people for no reason. I had so much support—Eden, you, Rafe, all my old teammates, really—and I didn’t appreciate any of it.”
“I don’t think that’s true.” I lift my head to meet his gaze. “You were hurting. Which was understandable. And at the time, nothing anyone said could make things feel better. Only time could do that.”
He stares at me, his eyes darkening with emotion. “I guess. But… I still hate that I put the people I care about through that. Eden… And you…”