Protective Heart: A Friends to Lovers Small Town Romance (Starlight Cove Book 2), page 4
“While you were at the clinic.”
“Huh.” That must’ve been what his texts had been all about. But it was weird that he’d dropped by, obviously run into my brother, and then he just…hadn’t said anything. Though, we hadn’t exactly had a lot of time—or any, really—to chat since I’d gotten in late last night—or rather, very early this morning—and he’d already been at the resort meeting when I’d woken up. I hadn’t even had a chance to let him know Ash was in town, and since Addison had cracked the whip the entire time we were in the diner, this morning wasn’t the meet-and-greet I’d hoped.
“As for what,” he said, “my guess is his intention was to piss a circle around your house since you were unavailable and have a dick-measuring contest, never mind that I’m your brother.” He shuddered. “Doesn’t take much to make him feel threatened, does it? I’m surprised he didn’t get out a tape measure and drop trou.”
I snorted. It wasn’t hard to imagine Beck coming off like that to a newcomer, and he tended to be extra protective of me around other men. Apparently that bled over to my family, too. That was just part of his charm and not something he employed often, considering how few prospects I had…or even wanted.
After breaking things off with Jeremy shortly after moving here, I hadn’t wanted the added pressure and stress of making a new relationship work on top of everything else. It’d already been enough of an adjustment to make the transition smooth at the clinic—not to mention my moving clear across the country. I hadn’t needed to add navigating a new relationship onto my plate, too. I didn’t need to. I was perfectly satisfied with the companionship I had in the form of a growly best friend who loved stuffing me with delicious food and offering cuddles whenever I bullied him into giving them.
I shook my head. “It’s not like that with us.”
“Does he know that?”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know for certain, but I think he’s probably aware we’ve never slept together, yes.”
Ash shot me a blank stare—his you are such an idiot look that he’d perfected over his twenty-nine years. “I don’t understand your brain sometimes. How are you so naive?”
I gasped. “I am not naive.”
Okay, so my romantic life was fairly vanilla—and, like, imitation vanilla. Not even vanilla bean over here. I certainly wasn’t setting records with three lovers in thirty years. But even if I hadn’t lived out any adventures in real life, my ever-trusty romances broadened my horizons in ways that would’ve horrified my brother. And had, actually. When I was in college, I’d accidentally sent him a text meant for my roommate—also named Ash—that may or may not have been a link to a particularly steamy book. And I may or may not have gone into detail about which scenes I loved and why she should read.
After reaming me a new asshole, he’d demanded I either lose his number or change his contact info to his real name, despite the fact that I’d never called him Sebastian a day in my life.
“Fine,” he conceded. “Not naive. Oblivious.”
I huffed as I pulled into my driveway and shut off the car. “That’s not any better.”
“I’m just saying, there was something there.”
“Yeah, friendship. You remember what that’s like, right?”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I cringed, immediately wanting to snatch them back before they reached his ears. Considering he was currently escaping his recent breakup from the woman who’d started out as his best friend, that was a low blow on my part—even if unintended—and I should’ve known better. Maybe he was onto something with the whole oblivious thing.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“Whatever. You have a point,” he said. “And, yes, I remember what friendship is like. I also remember what it’s like to want to fuck my friend. And Beck’s there, Evie.”
“No, he’s not. You’re totally misreading it. He barely tolerates me!” I slid the key into the back door’s dead bolt, only to find I’d forgotten to lock up when we’d left. Whoops. Definitely would not be mentioning that to Beck—his grumbly face turned downright murderous when I did that. But between Chuckanut’s incessant barks that would hopefully scare off any robbers and the fact that this was Starlight Cove, I wasn’t too worried about intruders popping in before 8 a.m.
“What was with the cringe?” he asked.
“What? Oh, nothing. Beck just hates when I don’t lock up, and I’m always forgetting. If it’s not that, it’s leaving my curling iron or stove on, or all my windows open when it’s about to rain, or forgetting to close the gate. Just me and my obliviousness, apparently.” I gripped the doorknob and turned my head toward him. “Prepare yourself.”
“For wh—”
He didn’t get the words out before I opened the door, and a blur of black and gray dashed toward us. Ash froze as I squatted to give my dog all kinds of love. She was one of the best things to fall into my lap since arriving in this town, and I was so grateful for her company. It didn’t matter if I was gone for five minutes or five hours, she responded the same way—like my walking through the door was the best minute of her life.
Ash sidestepped Chuckanut, nose crinkling as he did so, and settled himself across the room, as far away as he could get while still in my line of vision. With his arms folded over his chest, he leaned back against the counter, ankles crossed and eyebrow raised. “So let me get this straight. Beck knows how you take your coffee and the exact minute you’ll be there in the mornings, has a key to your place, lets himself in at any time for any reason, even when you’re not here, so he can fix whatever you need taken care of, cooks you breakfast, lunch, and dinner, has an attitude with any other male in your life, and gets upset when you’re not being safe. Have I got that about right?”
“Um…” When he laid it all out like that, it did sound a little over the top. “It’s not always breakfast, lunch, and dinner…”
“Hate to tell you this, sis, but you’re in a relationship. You’re just not having sex.”
“What?” I huffed out a laugh and stood, Chuckanut following on my heels. “No. We’re not. We’re in a friendship without the sex. Didn’t you do things like that for Mandy before you guys hooked up?”
He raised his brows and looked at me like I was an idiot. “I don’t understand how you can be so fucking smart and so fucking dumb at the same time.”
I scowled and elbowed him in the gut as I passed. “Don’t be a jerk, or I’ll let Chuckanut sleep next to you tonight.”
“I’m not trying to be a jerk. I’m trying to get you to open your eyes. And to answer your question, yes, I did things like that for Mandy before we hooked up.”
“Great, so you—”
“And then we hooked up,” he interrupted, enunciating each word far too loudly for the small kitchen.
I shook my head. “Well, that’s you. That’s not us.”
“That might not be you, but I’d bet good money it’s him.”
“Hey, I have an idea,” I said with overexaggerated enthusiasm. “How about instead of microanalyzing my life, you figure out your own shit? I don’t even know what you’re doing here.”
“I’m visiting my sister. Thought that was pretty obvious.”
“You’re acting like a troll.”
“Well, excuse the fuck out of me. I just ended my six-year relationship, so I’m sorry I’m not all sunshine and rainbows.”
I blew out a sigh and braced myself against the counter next to him, bumping my shoulder into his. “You don’t have to be all sunshine and rainbows, but I’m just not sure what sleeping on my couch is doing for you.”
“Well, I was supposed to have some desperately needed sister time.”
“Nice try, but considering you’ve spent your ‘desperately needed’ sister time scrolling Mandy’s social media on a burner account just so you can see if she’s as miserable as you, I’m not buying it.”
“She’s not, by the way.”
“You don’t have to be, either, you know. You already paid for that trip to Jamaica you guys were supposed to go on, so my question is, why aren’t you taking advantage of it?”
“It’s an all-inclusive vacation for two.”
“Double the drinks and dessert. I don’t see the problem.”
“It’s going to suck ass. Everyone’s going to look at me with sad eyes.”
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “Or maybe they’ll comp you a room upgrade and a nice massage because you look so pitiful. And you do, you know. You look incredibly pitiful.”
He huffed out a laugh and shook his head. “Speaking of pitiful…does she need something?” Ash pointed to Chuckanut, who sat in front of her bowl, shifting her gaze from her very empty food dish to me and back again.
“Nice try,” I said to her with a laugh, “but I already fed you this morning.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, she bounded off into the living room, probably to go toy hunting since her ploy hadn’t worked.
I twisted to face my brother, hip resting against the counter. “Look, all I’m saying is I’d rather be wallowing in paradise than couching it with my sister while popping the max dose of Benadryl every day just so I could stay vertical.”
“If you wanted to get rid of me, you could’ve just said so.”
“I don’t want to get rid of you.” I gripped his forearm and gave it a shake. “I love you and want you to be happy. And I don’t think that’s going to happen here.”
He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Yeah, well, that makes two of us.”
“So, you’ll go?”
“I wasn’t talking about me. I was talking about you.”
“Um…I don’t have a trip to Jamaica on the books.”
“I mean I want you to be happy, and I don’t think you are here.”
At that, I jerked back, furrowing my brow as I stared at him. “What? I am. I love Starlight Cove.”
He lifted a single shoulder and stared at me with those all-knowing eyes that always managed to see through everything. “So you say. But then I get here, and your closest friend is a Grade A dickbag, your evenings are interrupted by emergency appointments, you’re working so much you barely have time to breathe, let alone eat, your fridge is empty—your home is empty, and I’m not just talking about the food.” He blew out a long breath and knocked my shoulder with his. “Me, Mom, and Dad…we’re not here. Your entire support system is in Washington. Why aren’t you?”
CHAPTER SIX
BECK
“This is my first night in days without Addison riding my ass,” I grumbled as I wiped down the last table before turning the sign to Closed and locking the diner door. “She won’t quit.”
Ford sat on a stool, elbows braced on the counter. “Tell me about it. If I don’t have a shift at the firehouse, she’s got me running all over the damn place. Yeah, the extra bookings at the resort are nice, but I need a fucking break. If this keeps up, we’re going to have to hire some actual help that isn’t us.”
“So we’re agreed we need to haul ass—”
“Before she finds us? Yep.” He stood, grabbing his portable radio from its place on the counter. He’d been on call, which meant the low hum of mostly static from the radio had been our background noise for the evening.
As soon as we were upstairs at my place, Ford headed straight for the fridge and pulled out a beer for himself before passing a water bottle to me. He set the radio on the table and dropped into one of my two loungers. “What’s Everly been up to? Is the new guy still on the scene?”
A spike of jealousy shot through me at the mention of the asshole she’d been spending time with. I hated to think about him, and I hated my brother for bringing it up, especially when I’d been doing everything in my power to ignore it. “Don’t know.”
He froze with his beer halfway to his mouth, his brows lifted. “You don’t know?”
“That’s what I said.”
“So, what, you just haven’t asked?”
“No, I haven’t. We’ve had other shit to talk about.” Or, more accurately, we hadn’t had time to talk much at all, save for a literal minute in the mornings when she dropped by for her coffee before having to bail almost immediately and a handful of texts throughout the day.
I didn’t know what was worse—not knowing who that guy was to her, or having my fears confirmed that he was someone to her. Even though there was nothing romantic going on between Everly and me, I knew throwing an outside relationship into the mix would put an end to what we had. Maybe not immediately, and maybe not intentionally, but eventually, it would. And I knew that because if I were her boyfriend, there was no fucking way I’d be okay with her having the kind of relationship we shared with another man. Not even a little.
But I sure as fuck wasn’t going to mention that to Ford. He’d twist it around to be all about me—namely, that I was jealous because I wanted Everly for myself—instead of what he should be focusing on—namely, that this new guy was a complete spunktrumpet who wasn’t good enough for her.
“Oh yeah?” he said. “Wonder what’s been the holdup on her end. Maybe that guy’s been keeping her busy, if you know what I mean.” My idiot of a brother grinned and waggled his eyebrows, and I had to stop myself from punching him in the throat.
I pointed the top of my water bottle toward him and narrowed my eyes. “Keep that shit up, and you’re cut off.”
“Look, all I’m saying is—”
“It’s only been a couple days, and we’ve both just been busy, all right? If it’s not a ridiculously overbooked schedule on her end, it’s our dictator of a sister orchestrating every goddamn second of my day on mine.”
Ford hummed in acknowledgment and relaxed back in the chair. “Addison has been a little dictatory lately, hasn’t she? She’s been working me to the bone. My lists have lists, for fuck’s sake.”
“She doesn’t trust me with a list,” I said. “She just points and barks orders and expects me to follow.”
“Sounds on-brand for her. What’s on the docket this week?”
“These stupid welcome baskets for all the guests. Since when do we do welcome baskets? It’s fucking ridiculous. They’ve got a whole goddamn ocean to welcome them. My blueberry oatmeal bars aren’t going to push the experience over the top.”
“I don’t know. Those bars are fucking delicious. You got any leftovers?”
I rolled my eyes but reached into the cupboard and grabbed one of the wrapped bars I’d stashed for him before tossing it his way.
“Nice.” He grinned. “Be glad that’s all she’s had you working on. For the past three days, she’s had me sanding decks. By hand.” He shook his head, face drawn. “She’s becoming too powerful. We should probably do something about that.”
We stared at each other, both taking a sip of our respective drinks, then shrugged at the same time.
“Not worth the fight,” I said.
“Nope. So I guess it’s a lifetime of servitude to our baby sister.”
“Beats a lifetime of payback from her.”
“That’s the truth. So…” he said, drawing out the word. “You think maybe Everly’s purposely keeping this guy from you?”
“How’d we go from talking about Addison to talking about that guy again?” I thought we were done discussing the shithead.
He shrugged. “Just wondering.”
“She brought him to the diner, so your theory’s flawed.”
“She brought him, yes, but she never mentioned him. Didn’t set anything up with you to meet him or hang out. And she’s weirdly been busy this week…”
I didn’t want to talk about this. Mostly because I didn’t want to face the war going on inside me over the fact that I couldn’t decide if I hated or loved that she hadn’t told me anything about him. While I had no desire to find out any more about that guy, it was odd not knowing absolutely everything that was going on in Everly’s life. She told me everything big or small—if Chuckanut kept her up an hour later than usual or when she got her IUD replaced or if she stubbed her toe—hell, I knew her damn cycle—but she couldn’t tell me she was dating someone? That shit hurt, whether or not I’d admit it aloud.
“But it’s probably better that way,” he said.
I snapped my head in his direction. “What? Why?”
He lifted a shoulder. “So you don’t go all jealous caveman on him and ruin her new relationship.”
Those last two words in reference to Everly made something dark twist in my gut. I hated the thought of her with someone… No, not with someone. With that guy. If it’d been anyone else, I would’ve been okay with it if it made her happy because she, more than anyone, deserved that. But that she’d picked such a jackass who didn’t pay her an ounce of attention didn’t sit well with me. She deserved a hell of a lot better than what he was giving her.
“I don’t know why no one else can see that he’s not the right one for her,” I snapped. “He’s a dick. You think she belongs with a dick?”
Ford stared at me, one brow raised, and for once, I had no idea what he was thinking. “Well…you’ve been called a dick a time or two.”
“What the hell does that have to do with—”
But before I could finish my question, the radio crackled to life, the disembodied voice on the other end calling for all available units to an address I knew by heart, and my whole fucking world stopped.
The drive to Everly’s house was the longest six minutes of my life, especially because Ford had taken my keys and shoved me in the passenger’s seat so I couldn’t control the speed or the route. I’d never felt fear like I had when he’d confirmed that I’d heard what I thought I had—a possible structure fire with unknown occupancy at Everly’s home. Well, maybe once… Almost a decade ago, during the storm when Mom went missing and then the subsequent hours until the boat was found. Empty.
I couldn’t handle another outcome like that. Not now. Not with Everly.
