Finding Ever After (11 page)

           
“And your father,
for ever
letting him within a
hundred feet of you.” Yeah, it was no secret he was never going to win any
father of the year awards. “You sure you’re okay?” She was eyeing the same red
marks Kyden had. I slid my jacket back on.

           
“I’m fine, just a few bruises that will heal in a couple of days. You guys were
here and everything turned out alright. I’d really like to forget tonight even
happened.”

           
“Yeah, well I’m never letting you go anywhere by yourself again. I don’t even
want to consider what would have happened if he had gotten you outside before
anyone noticed.”

           
“Me neither.” Just the thought of it sent a chill over me.

           
“Wouldn’t have happened Princess.”
The low voice
sounded softly from behind me and provided comfort. I didn’t understand why he
made me feel so safe. There was nothing safe about him. In fact the word
‘Danger’ should be stamped on his forehead and probably other places too. I
turned around and even a warning label wouldn’t have done me any good with him
so close and looking at me so intently. I was completely disarmed.

           
“I saw him put his hands on you, but I didn’t realize it was unwanted, until
you turned around and I saw the look on your face. You were scared. Then you
tried to knee him and I was already moving. I just couldn’t get to you before
he slammed you into that wall.” His eyes darkened again into angry black pools.
The rest of his face remained impassive, but his eyes were so expressive. Then
Chris came to stand next to us, and just as quickly the anger appeared it was
gone and the look he wore was unreadable.

           
“You came to my rescue and got him off of me. Thank you for that. I should’ve
said that earlier.”

           
“Don’t thank me Princess. I’m not your hero.” I was taken aback. It felt like
he was warning me. Before I could tell him not to bother, I knew exactly what
he was, Chris interrupted.

           
“What do you want to do now Tink?”

           
“I just want to go home and sleep off this crazy night.” I sighed.

           
“Bas texted and told me to make sure you didn’t go home by yourself.”

           
“I’ll stay with her tonight.”
Vi
offered, and I was
grateful. As much as I wanted to be strong, I didn’t want to be alone tonight.

           
“I’m not sure if I like the idea of it being just the two of you there.”

           
“It will be fine Chris. We’ll lock up, and your Dad is right next door.”

           
“Let me call him and make sure he’s not on call tonight, and he should know to
keep an eye on you.” Chris stepped away to make the call.
Vi
wrapped her hand around mine and leaned her head on my shoulder. Kyden moved to
my other side and reached his hand into my jacket pocket. I was startled at
first until I saw him pull my cell phone out. He slid his fingers over the
screen for a minute, before returning it to my pocket.

           
“You’ve got my number
now,
use it if you need to
Princess.” He reached up and brushed a lock of hair out of my face. His fingers
lingered on my cheek a second longer than necessary, just long enough to cause
goose bumps to spread over my skin.

           
Chris returned, having spoken to his dad, and confirmed it was okay for us to
go back to my place. After hugging Chris and saying goodnight to him and Kyden,
Vi
turned to get the bartenders attention so she could
close out her tab. I stood and watched the two guys move through the thinning
crowd toward the back entrance. I presumed the rest of the band was already
waiting outside.

           
Halfway there, a gorgeous girl with a red pixie cut attached herself to Kyden’s
side. She had on tiniest dress I’d ever seen. It hugged her ample curves like
it was nothing but spandex. Kyden wrapped an arm around her waist and led her
out the back with them.

           
I had to tell myself that I wasn’t jealous, that it didn’t matter who he took
home because I wasn’t interested. Not even a little bit.

Sunday was spent hanging around
the house with
Vi
. We vegged out and watched romantic
comedies all day. I was frustrated with myself at how many times my thoughts went
to Kyden and the night before. Nothing like watching love stories to keep your
mind on the guy you’re trying not to think about. It had been way too long
since we’d had a girly day though, so I sat through chick flick after chick
flick, feeling better with each happily ever after. Deep down I’ll always be
that little girl in love with the idea of true love, who can’t resist a good
fairytale, even though I was starting to doubt that I’d ever find it myself.

Mr. Cross checked in on us a
couple times and Bas called to apologize for bailing the night before and to
make sure I wasn’t upset. I reassured him that I understood he had to take care
of his relationship with Lissa and he finally let it go and stopped
apologizing. I had to make him the same promises I did Chris and their dad. I
had to keep the doors and windows locked, my cell phone on me and not go
anywhere by myself. I felt like I did the first time my mom and Bas’ dad let us
stay home by ourselves while they went to the store when we were ten. I was
waiting for them to remind me not to answer the door for strangers.

           
The rest of the week passed uneventfully. Vi spent most afternoons with me,
watching movies, finishing the scrapbook, talking about every little detail of
our lives that we hadn’t shared for the last few years, and her personal
favorite pastime; shopping. It’s her form of exercise and after a day of trying
to keep up with her I remembered just how exhausting it could be.

           
Nights she traded off staying with me and Jake since I insisted she not give up
all of her time with him. Thursday night He was actually free from intern
duties and hung out with the two of us at my place. After four hours of being
ganged up on at board games by the two of us, he crashed on the couch and
Vi
slept upstairs with me like she had been doing on nights
that she stayed.

           
When she wasn’t there Chris or his dad was. Things were still tense with Lissa,
so even though Bas called every day and was constantly texting me, he stayed away.
I hoped everything with her would blow over soon. I could take a guess at some
of her issues with me but she wasn’t giving me the chance to show her just how
far off she was. I worried if she and Bas didn’t work it out soon, their
relationship would be in trouble. It would hurt him to have to choose between
the two of us, but he would if we forced him to. I didn’t want it to come to
that.

           
On Friday
Vi
had a sorority commitment and on Saturday
some function she was expected to attend with her parents. I was invited to
join her but it sounded about as appealing to me as having oral surgery. I’ve
never been a social butterfly, unlike
Vi
, who could
work a crowd and make everyone fall in love with her charming and vivacious
personality. I didn’t feel like partying with her sorority sisters and a bunch
of frat guys, and as much as I loved her parents, the idea of spending an
evening with their stuffy politician friends wasn’t one I relished so I
declined her invites.

  
        I tried convincing them that I
didn’t need twenty four hour supervision, but they wouldn’t listen. A part of
me was thankful they didn’t. If I was being honest with myself, I was still
shaken up. Connor was obsessive and psychotic; three years and he still hadn’t
let me go. He wasn’t going to just walk away now that I was back. I was glad
that when Friday evening came around Mr. Cross cooked a family dinner and I
found myself seated around his dining room table with Bas and Chris, just like
old times. Lissa was unable to be there so it was just the four of us. I didn’t
know whether to be relieved or disappointed. I think I was a little of both.

           
It felt really good to be part of a family again and joke and laugh over a
great meal. The connection we all shared was something that had never been
present in my father’s house. It was more real than anything between my dad and
brothers and sister. Even though they shared my blood, they would never be as
much my family as the people in this room. I wondered if Shane and I would ever
get to this place. I’d talked to him several times since being back, but I
hadn’t seen him yet.

           
Just as we finished eating, Mr. Cross got called in to operate on an eight year
old girl who had fallen out of a two story window. He was one of the best
pediatric surgeons in the state, and that often meant he was called away for
emergencies.

           
After the three of us cleaned up and put away leftovers we sat out on the front
porch to enjoy a few more minutes together before we split for the night. Lissa
was throwing a party for her sister’s birthday, and of course I hadn’t snagged
an invite, which was fine with me. Bas said I could tag along regardless, but
showing up uninvited wouldn’t help my cause with her. I just didn’t feel up to
going out after the catastrophe of last weekend anyway. Danny had a family
thing in Connecticut, so the band wasn’t playing over the weekend but Chris had
managed to find himself a date. Ace had offered to be my chaperone tonight, so
we were just waiting on him to show up.

           
It seemed that ‘Operation Bodyguard’ included everyone now. Pretty soon they
would have charts and be handing out duty assignments. They were going a little
overboard and I felt like I didn’t have any time to myself. I put my foot down
when Bas had tried to accompany me to the mailbox earlier. I was certain I
could manage to make it the fifty feet from my front door to the box and back
without getting attacked.

           
“Are you sure you don’t mind? I don’t have to go tonight, Liss and her sister
will be so busy getting drunk they probably wouldn’t even notice if I was
missing.”

           
“You and I both know that’s not true. She would definitely notice.” And hate me
more than she already does.

           
“So what if she does? She’ll get over it. We can have a Tony
Jaa
marathon and pig out on junk food. It will be just like
old times when you were a lame teenager and I stayed home on the weekends
because I felt sorry for you.”

           
“You were just as lame as I was, and we can be lame together again.
But not tonight.
Tonight you’re going to party with your
girlfriend. Tony
Jaa
can wait until she doesn’t hate
me.” I had missed our movie nights but I wasn’t going to be the reason for any
more fighting between those two. Before I could argue with him any further, a
voice that definitely belong to Ace, spoke up behind us.

           
“I’ll have a movie night with you Princess. I love Tony
Jaa
.”
We snapped our heads around, surprised to see Kyden standing on the walkway leading
up to the porch. Well Chris didn’t seem all that surprised. I smelled a set-up.
Kyden grinned up at us, not at all discouraged by the daggers I was shooting at
him with my eyes. “So you guys can take off now I’ve got this handled. I even
come bearing gifts.” He held up a sack in his hand and opened it to reveal
Spicy Nacho Doritos and Nutter Butters.
My junk food
kryptonite.
Yep, this was definitely a set up.

           
Bas and I both turned to face a guilty looking Christian. “I thought you said
Ace was going to stay with her tonight?”

           
“Did I? I’m pretty certain I said Kyden. Ace had that family thing to go to
with Danny.” It’d been a long time since I witnessed a wrestling match between
the two brothers, but with the look Bas was giving Chris, there was a good
chance I was about to see one. “Okay, okay I might’ve said Ace but only because
I knew if I said Kyden you’d flip your shit.”

           
“Damn right I would. I’m not leaving her with him.”

           
“
Relax,
I’ll be on my best behavior. I promise I won’t
touch her . . . unless she begs me to.” Kyden winked at me. Bas moved to take a
step toward him, but Chris reached out and stopped him.

           
“Let it go. He’s just kidding. He really did promise not to pull anything.”

           
“
Right,
and you believe him?” I frowned. I didn’t like
the way Bas was implying that leaving me with Kyden practically guaranteed
something was going to happen between us.

           
“Hey, I’m standing right here and I’m perfectly capable of resisting him.”
Kyden snorted clearly finding the mere idea of that to be hilarious. Now I was
going to have to let him stay just to prove a point. He needed to be knocked
down a peg or twelve.

           
“That’s not what I meant Jazz. I don’t trust
him
.”

           
“Well then trust me when I say nothing, absolutely nothing will happen between
him and
I
. There will be snow in Africa before it
does.” Kyden snorted again and I narrowed my eyes at him. He was only making it
easier for me, but Bas still looked unsure. It was Chris who made the
convincing argument.

           
“Look man, you and I both know that if Connor showed up, he’s her best chance.”
Bas considered his words and regarded Kyden intently.

           
“I’d never let him touch her.” All trace of humor gone from his face and even I
believed the conviction behind his words. Bas nodded in resignation. Clearly
there was some truth to Kyden being able to handle himself in a fight.

           
“I still don’t like it.” Bas sighed, still torn.

           
“Just go. It will be fine. Have a good night, please. You can all text or call
me as many times as you want to check up on me.” This seemed to appease him,
but he remained hesitant even though I knew he’d already given in.

           
“Seriously Bas, if you don’t leave now I’m going to have to punch you for being
stupid and blowing it with the one girl who seems to want to put up with your
crap.”

           
“Yeah, yeah, I’m going. Just be careful.” He finally relented.

           
“I will.”

           
“Love you Jazz.”

           
“You too.”

           
He issued one more warning look at Kyden before he and Chris climbed in their
cars and pulled away from the house. I looked at Kyden, who was wearing a sly
smile, and I just sighed. “Follow me.”

           
I led him over through my driveway and up the steps to my front door, but
before I opened it to him I spun around and gave him my “you better listen up
buddy because I mean business face,” along with a warning.

           
“Don’t touch anything. No flirting or dirty jokes. In fact you should probably
just not say anything at all.” The infuriating grin on his face only got
bigger, but he kept his mouth shut. I unlocked the door and held it open to
allow him inside, but as he brushed past me I reached out and snatched the bag
he was still holding. “I’ll take these.”

           
“Hey, I bought them.” He protested.

           
“And you’ll get some.
Maybe.
If
you’re nice.”
I shut and locked the door behind us and moved into the
kitchen with my confiscated snacks. Kyden followed behind me slowly. I turned
to see him taking in his surroundings and stopping to look at all of the
pictures lining the walls.
“Just you and your mom Princess?”

           
“
Mmhmm
.”
I wasn’t sure how
much Sebastian or Chris told any of them about me so I wasn’t sure what was
going through his head as he looked around. I left him standing in the hallway
and set the bag down on the kitchen counter.

           
“Oh sweet baby ninja turtles you got spicy queso and strawberry milk!” He
leaned in the doorway of the kitchen and chuckled softly. “And peanut butter
M&M’s!” I knew what he was up to as I pulled all of my favorites from the
sack. He thought he could win me over with junk food, and damn it if it wasn’t
working. I might be in more trouble than I thought.
Stupid, stupid
backstabbing, traitorous Christian!

           
 “Wow you really weren’t kidding
about not sharing.” He muttered when I smacked his hand away from the bag of
M&M’s. He sprawled out on the couch in the living room and we spread the
junk food across the coffee table.

           
“You’re welcome the chips and Twizzlers. I might even let you have some of the
cookies, but the M&M’s are mine.” I told him as I walked over to my DVD
collection and selected one. After putting it in I joined him on the couch. I
peeled a
Twizzler
rope and popped a piece into my
mouth.

           
When the movie ended, Kyden got up and picked the next one. He’d been
surprisingly tolerable, even almost pleasant. It made me uneasy. I wondered how
long he could keep it up. Throughout the movie I kept sneaking glances at him
until he caught me. I looked away quickly but I knew he would be able to see
the pink spreading over my cheeks. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him
smiling. I kept my eyes on the screen for the rest of the movie, but there were
times when I felt him watching me.