Cursed Love: Cursed Love (Cursed, #1) (14 page)

I get up from the table to clear the empty boxes and bottles. I watch as she scoops up all the bottle caps and places them in a cup.

“What are you doing?” I ask. “You planning on saving those?”

She looks up at me with her bright eyes and smiles.

“Yep. I have a little game that I want you guys to play next time we all get together.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“Promise you won’t laugh?” she asks, hiding her face in her hands.

I reach to pull her hands away from her face and she’s smiling.

“I promise, what is it?”

“It’s bottle cap bingo. Don’t let the name fool you, it’s actually pretty fun when you make it into a drinking game.”

“I’ll take your word for it, little lady.”

Dault comes up between us and wraps his arms around our shoulders.

“Who would’ve thought this chick would be so good at cards? Next time I’m going to screen you before we hand over our money. Nicely played, Etty,” he says while giving her a kiss on her forehead.

He let’s go of us and walks the guys out to the front door.

“Thanks for letting me come over tonight, I had fun.”

“Good, I’m glad. We’re not much for entertainment, but when you get us all together we have a pretty good time.”

“The four of you seem pretty close.”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

She rests her back against the counter and crosses her arms in front of her chest.

“Have you known them all long? It seems like you guys have been friends forever.”

I finish putting the last of the trash in the garbage and hop up onto the counter across from Etty.

“Dault and I have known each other our whole lives. We’ve been through a lot together. As for Steve and Cliff, they kind of came with the shop.”

“Oh, so it was like a package deal,” she says with a smirk.

“In a way, I guess you could say that. When I took over Cursed Magic, they were the most experienced artists. I gave them the choice to stay or go and they chose to stay. Without them, I don’t know if I could’ve made it through our first year of business. Between the four of us, we’ve restored that place. Soon it’ll be finished and I’m sure Cricket will be proud.”

I look up to see Etty’s smile fall from her face. She looks to be deep in thought, staring down to the floor.

“Hey, you okay?” I ask, hopping down off the counter.

She looks up at me and lets out a sigh.

“I’m good. It’s inspiring to see how passionate you are about the shop. I want to have something like that to look forward to—something to call my own and be proud of.”

“You can do anything you put your mind to; you just have to want it bad enough.”

“Easy for you to say, you knew what you wanted and you got it. I have no clue what I want yet.”

“Give yourself time, Etty. You just moved to a new place. Once you travel around and get a sense for what’s important to you, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

Daulton walks into the kitchen and lets out a loud burp.

“Nice, man,” I say, slapping him on the back.

He pushes me out of the way and moves toward Etty.

“Good game tonight, pretty lady. Who knew you’d school us all in a few hands of poker.”

“Yeah, that’s one thing I’m good at I guess,” she says as her cheeks turn red.

Is she blushing?

There’s no way she could be affected by Daulton. God, the guy really
can
get anyone he wants. He needs to stay the hell away from Etty. I can’t, no I
won’t,
let him hurt her.

I watch as he moves in closer to her and she begins to squirm against the counter top.

“Oh, I’m sure there are a
lot
of other things you’re good at. How about I show you the
real
magic of the Cursed team?”

“Hell no, Dault, Etty is off limits!” I shout, causing both of them to turn my way.

“She’s a big girl, Linc, back off.”

I’m not in the mood to battle him over our new neighbor, but I sure as hell know I don’t want his hands anywhere near her. She’s not a possession he can just fuck and toss to the side.

I don’t know why, but I feel very protective of her. It’s as though I need to keep her safe. Even though I’ve only known her less than twenty-four hours, there’s just something about her that clings to me.

No matter what happens, this girl is in my life and I need to make sure she’s safe. She wants something to call her own and to be passionate about, and I’m going to help her find it. It’s now my personal mission to watch over her and make sure she finds exactly what it is that she needs to make a life here in Birmingham.

Chapter 17

Throughout the entire night, I watch as the four guys interact. The conversations and banter amongst the group is both entertaining and refreshing.

They make me feel as though I’m a part of them and it truly makes me happy.

I can see that Linc is the ring leader of the Fantastic Four; even though it’s evident Daulton tries his hardest to claim control. Between the two of them, there’s so much more than a friendship; they have a solid bond that doesn’t seem to have a fault. No matter how much shit they give one another, I can see that they’ll always have one another’s back.

My eyes cross paths with a certain someone a few more times than I’d like to admit. There’s something about him that intrigues me, but I can tell Linc wants to keep me as far away from him as possible.

I don’t know either one of them enough to understand why, but in time I’m certain I’ll find out.

Linc is insistent that Daulton stay away from me. I’m in no position to look into a hook-up, or anything else for that matter, but if the opportunity presents itself I may have a hard time saying no.

After Linc voices his opinion of Daulton’s flirtatious ways with me, he heads outside for a smoke.

Daulton takes this as a cue to back off, at least for now, and I’m left alone to ponder my thoughts in the kitchen.

As I sit in the kitchen, I stare at the wall for a few minutes before deciding to head outside and go back over to my place.

Opening the front door, I see Linc pacing up and down the sidewalk. I’m not sure what’s gotten into him all of a sudden, but something doesn’t feel right.

I walk down the porch steps toward him and stop.

“Hey,” I say, trying to grab his attention.

“Hey, yourself,” he replies.

“You okay?”

He stops in his tracks for a second and looks down at me.

“Yeah, I’m good. I just got a lot on my mind tonight.”

I give him a smirk and rest my hands on my hips.

“Why don’t I believe you?”

He takes step toward me and reaches his arm to touch my shoulder.

“Look, Etty, I’m not the one to tell you what to do with your life, but as a friend I want you to be careful with Daulton. I love the guy like a brother, but he’s not good enough for you.”

His words slap me in the face. I’m taken aback by his rude remark and slightly offended.

I step away from him as his hand falls to his side.

“How do you know
who
or
what
is good for me, Linc? You’ve known me for less than a day and you’re already deciding things for me.”

The anger in my voice is apparent to him. He removes his ball cap and runs his fingers through his hair.

“I’m just looking out for you, Etty. I
don’t
know you, you’re right. But for some reason I feel like it’s my job to make sure you’re taken care of now that you’re living here.”

Where the hell does he get off deciding who I can be with, or better yet, that he’s my new protector?

“Look, Linc, I think it’s time you step off your high horse and take a good look at reality. I’m a big girl. I don’t need you or anyone else telling me who I can hook up with. Plus, no one granted you the title of my security entourage,” I reply with a bitter tone.

I turn my back to him and start walking toward my side of the house. He grabs my arm and swings me around to face him.

“I have nothing more to say to you, Linc,” I say with anger in my voice.

“Etty, I’m not the dick here. I’m trying to be your friend and keep you safe.”

“Why? You don’t even know me.”

He lets go of my arm and shoves his hands in his pockets.

“I know that, but for some unknown fucking reason I feel the need to be here for you. I’ve dealt with a lot of shit in my life, Etty. It’s just been me and Dault for a long time.”

I take a moment to digest his words. He’s only trying to be a friend. What gives me the right to take that away from him? At this point in my life, I could use all the friends I can make. I get it, I really do. It’s just not something I’m used to; no one has ever wanted to watch out for me before.

“I’m sorry for being a bitch just now. I appreciate you wanting to be here for me, but you have to let me make my own choices. If Daulton is bad for me, then let me find that out for myself.”

“Fine,” he says, walking up onto the porch.

I follow him and pull the two chairs together so that we can sit and talk.

“Sit,” I say in a commanding tone.

I watch as he takes a seat in one of the rocking chairs before I sit down beside him.

“You’re not going to lecture me now, are you?” he says with a subtle laugh.

“Nope!” I reply. “But I
am
going to get to the bottom of this.”

He looks to me and pouts his lips.

“This doesn’t sound good.”

“You know, from the moment I fell into you on this porch, I knew there was something about you that I’d need to uncover. You have this darkness hiding behind your eyes. I don’t know your past, and it’s not really my place to ask, but I’m sensing that it has a lot to do with the reason you want to protect me.”

“Maybe,” he says.

“You don’t have to bare your soul to me tonight, Linc, but I have a feeling that the two of us are more alike than we think.”

“I’m sure of it.”

“I’m not going to deny that I feel a strong connection to you. It seems like I’ve known you my whole life. Now, it may just be the beers talking, but I honestly trust you and appreciate all that you’ve done for me today.”

“You’re not alone in this, Etty. I feel it, too. I’ve never been close to a female. Well, with the exception of one, and she’s walked out of my life for good.”

“It seems as though we have a lot more in common than we know. I haven’t been close to anyone since I left home and moved to Oregon. The past few years of my life have been a complete shit show.”

“I hear that,” he says, raising his hand for a fist bump.

I tap his fist with my own and lean back into the rocking chair. We both stare out at the street for a few minutes.

Collecting my thoughts, I try to decide how deep to go with this conversation. If it were up to me, I’d bare my soul to him. I feel one hundred percent comfortable with Linc—more than I’ve ever been with another human being.

Is it possible to have such a tight bond in only a short amount of time?

“You feel like staying up for a while longer?” he asks.

“Yeah sure, what do you have in mind?

“Stay put, I’ll be right back.”

Linc gets up from his chair and walks back into the house. A few minutes later he comes out with two opened beer bottles and hands one to me.

“We’re going to play a little game.”

“Okay?” I reply as a question more than a statement.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fun. It’s Truth or Pass. The object of the game is to get to know each other better. I’ll start by asking a question. Once you answer then I’ll answer the same question. If you choose to pass, then you have to answer the next question I ask without being able to pass on it. Sound fair?”

I swallow hard, scared that the questions he may ask could be too difficult for me to answer.

I nod my head and signal for him to start by raising my hand in his direction.

“Cool. Now, for every question you answer you get to take a sip of beer. Think of it as your reward.”

“Great,” I reply with a smirk.

He nestles himself back against the rocking chair and extends both arms, rubbing his hands together.

Rolling my eyes at him, I laugh at how corny he’s making this whole game.

“First question, Etty, you ready?”

“Yep, fire away.”

“What’s your middle name?”

I raise my beer to my mouth to take a sip and he stops me by pushing down on my arm.

“Not yet, sweet cheeks, you have to answer the question first.”

“You’re insane.”

“Yes, we know this. Now either answer the question or pass.”

“Ugh, fine, it’s Helen.”

“See, that wasn’t so hard. Mine is David.”

I smile at him as I raise my beer to my lips.

Allowing the amber liquid to flow past my lips, I swallow hard. The first question may have been easy, but I’m sure there are more difficult ones to come.

“Now it’s your turn to ask a question.”

“Okay, hmm, let me think.”

I drum my fingers on the arm of the chair.

“What happened to the girl that used to work at the shop?”

“Shit, Etty, I gave you an easy one to start off with.”