Chapter 29
CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE
ELODIE
I’m not really sure what to say here. Alex and Coast are chatting in the kitchen like besties, which is weird as hell because Alex looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in the same room with Coast not too long ago.
But they decided we’re going down to Fat Boys for Sunday afternoon drinks and snacks. I’m mainly going for the snacks, and I have a sneaky suspicion that Alex and Coast are going for the drinks part.
Staring at my reflection, I press my lips together and roll them a few times, trying to decide what the hell I’m even doing.
I’m not sure whatever this is with Coast is the right choice, but when I think about the way he feels, touching me, kissing me…
inside me, I can’t imagine anything or anyone else.
He’s erased the concept of someone else… ever. I understand it now, how people say they fall for someone and the rest of the world just… vanishes. Shifting my attention back to my reflection, I release my lips and really look at myself.
The lip gloss I'm wearing is perfectly applied, and my makeup is light and airy. My clothes are laid back and chill. I’m trying to be comfortable and appear put together, or maybe even stylish and attractive? I don’t know. I have no idea what I’m doing.
I’m wearing a pair of wide-leg jeans and a loose tank top, tucked in so that I don’t seem sloppy. I bought them because they’re comfortable, and I like to think they’re in fashion, but the reality is that I have no clue.
Maren is the one who’s into fashion. I’ve always just bought what fits at the secondhand store and what I could afford. Clothes haven’t been anything important, and even less so now that I have such a dirty job. There’s no sense in spending good money on anything expensive and nice.
But now I’m wondering if maybe I should have bought a few nicer things, because this man is waiting to take me out. Granted, it’s to a sketchy neighborhood bar where I’ll probably be considered dressed up, but still.
Walking out of the bathroom, I pause when I see the both of them with their heads bent toward one another and their backs to me. They’re chatting, though I can’t hear any of the words, and I don’t know why, but it’s cute. I didn’t expect to see them like this.
Clearing my throat, I wait for them to look over to me, but they don’t. They’re focused and continue murmuring to one another, and I clear my throat a second time. Only then do they lift their heads, swinging their gazes over to meet mine.
“You guys ready?” I ask.
“We’re ready,” Coast murmurs as he closes the distance between us.
He wraps his arm around my waist and wrenches me closer to him. I’m taken a bit off balance and lift my hands between us, placing my palms on his chest as I tip my head back to look up into his eyes.
He bends slightly, his mouth touching mine. “And then I’ll be ready,” he murmurs against my mouth just loud enough for me to hear, but hopefully Alex didn’t.
Though I don’t know why I would care, or he would care. He’s made it a point to go over all his escapades in detail—details I never wanted to know.
I don’t bother even trying to hide the thrill of desire that slides down my spine. I don’t think I could even if I wanted to. I want him again. Already. I need to rest a bit before we go again. A few drinks and some snacks sound like the perfect way to rest.
“And everything is good?” I ask.
I don’t know why, but I feel like I need to know that it is. That they’re okay. That I’m okay. I just need everything to be good—the best, especially between the two of them.
I’m not deeply in love with Coast by any means, at least not yet, but I think it would be very easy to confess that I’m falling, still falling. Or maybe I’m just denying it all to myself, denying the fact that I’ve fallen.
But if Alex doesn’t like the man I love, which he has not liked Coast so far, that’s going to be a big problem. The biggest, because Alex is not just my business partner and my cousin, he’s my best and only friend.
Shifting my gaze from Coast to Alex, I arch a brow, waiting for one of them to answer. Coast is the first to speak, and I don’t know why, but that surprises me. I expected it to be Alex because I was mostly worried about him being pissed about me and Coast still.
“We’re good. At least I am,” Coast states.
Alex’s gaze finds mine. He presses his lips together in a straight line, and I brace myself, but then he jerks his chin toward me. “I’m good, babe. Let’s get something to drink.”
I don’t ask what they were talking about. It doesn’t matter. It could have even been about me, who knows. But I don’t ask any more questions. I’m just glad they aren’t looking at one another like they’d rather kill each other or be anywhere else other than together, with me.
Together, the three of us make our way downstairs and then walk toward the bar. As we approach the front door, Alex walks in first, but Coast takes my hand, gently tugging me back slightly.
Shifting, I face him and tilt my head back so I can see into his face. He smiles down at me, then clears his throat before he speaks. I don’t know what I expect him to say, but what he does kind of surprises me, although I’m not sure it should.
“It’s hard for me to believe that you’ve been coming here, that you’ve been so close.”
“Why?” I ask.
Boulder City isn’t a thriving metropolis. I would probably do better to move to Henderson or even Vegas, but even with the small population, it’s still easy enough to get lost in the shuffle.
It’s not like we have ever frequented the same places.
I’m fairly certain Coast doesn’t go to the grocery store, secondhand stores, or anything like that.
If he did, no doubt we would have run into one another at some point in our lives.
But the way he says so close causes me to pause and wait for him to continue before I add anything.
“I’ve been to this bar more times than I can count, babe,” he states.
My head jerks back slightly at his words. I’m a bit confused, unsure of why he would be here when he has a full bar down at their little clubhouse, and from what I can tell, they don’t have to pay for drinks.
“It’s where I have meetings that aren’t for the clubhouse,” he answers my unasked question.
“Do I even want to ask what those entail?” I don’t think I want to know anything about that, and thankfully, he doesn’t tell me anything.
He grins before he gives me a wink. It’s the only answer he’s willing to give me, and I can tell there won’t be anything further. I think I’m pretty okay with that. I’m not sure if I should try to push it, but he doesn’t let me.
Coast shifts around me, reaches for the door, opens it, then steps to the side and lets me pass. The conversation is finished. He’s dictated that without saying a single word. And personally, I forget the conversation completely.
It shouldn’t make my heart melt, the chivalry of him holding the door open for me, but it does.
Not many men in my life have been kind to me, Alex being the only exception.
He’s always been the best man in the whole world, but we’re cousins, and it’s not the same as when someone who wants you sees you.
Most of the men I’ve been around have either been perverts, abusers of some kind, druggies like my mom, or pretended I didn’t exist. I always preferred the ones who pretended I never existed, but then again, some have been all three.
Another of the one million reasons why I wanted to leave my mother’s house as soon as humanly possible: the men.
The monsters that darkened the hallways, that hid in the shadows and also in plain sight.
I hated it. Still do. It’s probably why I’ve never really put myself out there for a relationship.
Not that I’m necessarily traumatized, or maybe I am subconsciously. But maybe beyond all of that, I’ve just always wanted to feel safe, and it’s never felt that way before. It shouldn’t feel that way with Coast, yet it does.
The bar is loud when we walk in, which isn’t surprising for a Sunday evening. People are getting in the last bits of freedom before Monday morning begins. They’re continuing their unwinding before they have to start their whole week over and get back into the grind.
Alex is already at our normal table, waiting for us, appearing a bit perturbed that we took too long. I walk ahead of Coast, heading straight for Alex.
“No wonder,” Coast grunts. Looking over my shoulder, I arch a brow in question, but I don’t stop walking. “I assume that’s your normal spot. I would never fucking see you in the back corner like that. We’ve probably been in here at the same time, and I wouldn’t even fuckin’ know it.”
We haven’t been. But I don’t tell him that. And I know that for a fact because I would have noticed him. Instantly. I would have felt the absolute presence of him.
I noticed it the moment we first met.
You know Coast, Wrath, whatever he wants to be called in the moment he enters a space, you just know when that man is anywhere within your zone. There is a commanding presence about him that not only surrounds him but fills every single place he enters.
I would have felt it—wholly.