Romance: Wanted by the Alpha Lion (A BBW Paranormal Suspense Romance) (Heroes of Shifter Creek Book 2) (43 page)

Jimmy

I have loved my stepsister, Daisy, since the first moment I met her. She had strawberry blonde ringlets and looked like an absolute vision. I was just a kid, about thirteen, but I knew I’d never see anyone or anything more beautiful. And I was right; I haven’t.

“Are you daydreaming about Daisy again, Jimmy?” Orion, my best friend, asked as he leaned back in his plane seat.

“Kind of,” I answered. “Why do you care what I’m doing?”

“I ultimately don’t,” he replied. “I only care about your sanity.”

“I’m plenty sane, thank you. As sane as a Navy SEAL coming back from a bloody mission can be.”

“Oh, you barely did anything. You like hung out with mobsters, got information on them, and sent them away. You didn’t kill anyone.”

“And you did?”

“My mission was much more dangerous than yours.”

“Then why are you here and Nina’s not?”

“Shut up man. I don’t want to talk about it.”

My other stepsister, Nina, went into the SEALs with us, but she decided to sign up for another tour. Orion took it pretty hard – they’d been on their leg of the mission together, but she wanted to go on. I figured she just wasn’t ready to return to real life yet. Orion doesn’t seem ready to deal with real life without her.

We watched the plane round the bend of the airway and turn into its port. He sighed, now looking out into the darkness of the gate. I think he thought he’d be happier when he came home. I’m not sure why – it’s not like any of his family members will be here to greet him. He hasn’t talked to his parents in years, and who knows where his brother, Cassius, is. Cassius went into the SEALs with us too, but disappeared after the first mission completed.

“Do you think Daisy will be here?” I asked him hopefully.

He shrugged, “I doubt it. Why would she be here to welcome you home?”

“I wrote her several letters telling her I’m coming home.”

“That sounds more like being creepy than a call to action.”

“Shut up. You don’t know anything about true love.”

People started to stand around us and filter out the door. We brought no carry-on baggage, so we just slid out of the plane seats. He didn’t speak to me until we got into the tunnel leading into the airport.

“I think I know enough about love to know when someone is just infatuated and obsessed,” he said. “Has she sent any letters back?”

“I don’t think that matters. Sometimes we can’t get mail.”

“You’re delusional.”

“I am not delusional. You’re just jealous.”

“Jealous of what? I see nothing to be jealous of here. You’re in love with your stepsister, which is weird in itself, and she never answers your letters. She does not care about you.”

“I know she does care about me. Just watch. She’ll be here.”

We walked through the airport with Orion insisting I’m crazy and me insisting I’m not.

“Jimmy! Orion!” my mom’s voice called.

My mom and stepdad, Patrick, rushed to us with smiles on their faces .They hugged me tight, showing their happiness from my return.

“Where’s Daisy?” I asked as they switched to hugging Orion, who didn’t seem altogether happy about the human contact.

“I think she’s at home,” Patrick said.

“Why didn’t she come?”

“She’s busy with work and that. Planning the wedding.”

“Wait what?” My blood ran cold. “What wedding?”

“Didn’t you hear, sweetie?” Mom asked, touching my shoulder. “Daisy got engaged some time ago. They think they’re finally going to set the date soon.”

“If Jaden ever gets back from D.C. anyway,” Patrick said under his breath.

Orion raised an eyebrow and smirked. He gave me that look that spoke his perceived superiority over me in the situation.

“She was disappointed too that Nina decided not to come home,” Mom mentioned. “So, I don’t think she wanted to come.”

Orion’s face dropped, but he said nothing. We moved to baggage claim, my parents rambling about what had happened while we’d been gone. My heart hurt – how could my Daisy be engaged? Hadn’t she gotten my letters? Didn’t she know how dearly I loved her? This “Jaden” with the stupid name couldn’t possibly love her as much.

“Will you be coming home with us, Orion?” Mom asked.

“No, I have a place set up.”

“Do you want a ride?”

“No, no. I’ll take a taxi.”

My parents shared a look. Orion grabbed his bags and said his goodbyes outside as he waved a taxi. He didn’t tell me he found a place to live. I wonder why. It’s not like I’d keep him from getting a place on his own. I thought maybe we’d get a place together, actually. But maybe he is going to bring that up after we’re home a little bit longer.

On the way home, I thought of all the betrayals going on, all the knives stuck deep in my back. Nina decided not to come back; Orion decided to move somewhere and not tell me; Daisy decided to marry some dumb idiot. This won’t do. I can’t take this lying down.

“Mom, can I visit Daisy? I hoped to see her,” I asked, leaning forward in the back seat.

“That should be fine,” Mom answered. “Right, Patrick?”

“Yes, probably fine,” he replied, his eyes darting to me in the rearview mirror. “I think she was doing some work from home today.”

They parked and let me know where she lived – a small house nearby. I grabbed my old bike out of the garage and took off. I’m sure once she sees me, she’ll change her mind on me. The bike moved slower than it should have – the tires are probably flat. I should have checked before I went.

But love makes you crazy, and you don’t notice things you should.

Daisy

Work is the bane of my existence. Why I thought I could work from home, I don’t know. I thought I’d scout for locations and edit photos, but I just watched terrible reality TV and read wedding magazines. To be fair, I am
supposed
to be getting married at some point, so the wedding magazine makes sense. Of course, the prospect of actual marriage seems slim now.

A knock came at the door. I turned down the TV and waited for whoever it was to just go away. Another, stronger knock came; I sighed, getting up to peer through the peephole.

“What are you doing here, Jimmy?” I asked as I opened the door.

“I just wanted to say hello,” he answered, his face sweaty and his bicycle leaning against the front of his body. “You didn’t come to the airport.”

“No, I didn’t. I have work to do.”

“Are you watching one of those Housewives shows?”

“What do you want?”

“Did you get my letters?”

“I did. You sent a lot of them.”

“Oh.” He looked down, pausing. He certainly has grown up in looks since he left. “So, why did you get engaged?”

“Well, I met Jaden in college, we fell in love, and then he proposed. So I said yes.”

“But I told you how I felt about you. I told you many times!”

“That doesn’t mean anything. You were overseas, and I never gave you any indication I returned your feelings. I never wrote you back.”

“I thought your letters had a hard time coming to me.”

“They do have a hard time when they’re never written.”

He paused, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Do you want to go to lunch?”

“No, Jimmy, I don’t. I’m busy right now.”

“I can make you lunch.”

“I don’t have a lot of food.”

“I can order something.”

“I can order something myself.”

“I would like to spend time with you.”

“I would not like to spend time with you.”

His face fell with his eyes looking shockingly hurt. My heart weakened with my resolve.

“Okay, if you get me groceries, then you can cook for me,” I said curmudgeonly. “I’ll give you my list. Stay here.”

He smiled wide and nodded. I turned back in and grabbed my purse. Folded in my wallet sat the grocery list I’d been using since college. I always eat the same things, no matter what. I like the routine of it.

“Here.” I handed him the list. “These are the things I need, okay?”

He nodded and leaned his head in as if to kiss me. I reared back, putting my hands on his chest to keep him away.

“I shall return, fair lady,” he grinned before riding away. He waved as he went, reminding me of a happy child out on a mission for his mother.

I closed the door, shaking my head at the ridiculousness of him. I may have said work was the bane of my existence, but it might actually be Jimmy. We met when I was eleven when my dad remarried to Jimmy’s mom. My sister, Nina, had been living with Dad since the divorce, and I lived with Mom, so she knew all about Jimmy beforehand.

“He’s really nice,” she said. “You’ll love him.”

Jimmy and Nina were the same age, two years older than me. When I met him, he gazed at me like I was the Venus incarnate. He mooned over me even then, and never left me alone. It got worse once we got to high school. Then we went to the same school once I was a freshman, and he bothered me any time he could. He asked me to every dance, including prom, and I always declined.

He and his friends moved around school like the big dogs on campus. They teased others; they played practical jokes on everyone; they caused trouble. I liked their friend Leo – he usually kept out of it. But they tortured their other friend Peter, and Orion dated every pretty girl in school only to throw her away. Nina hung out with them sometimes, but with me most of the time. She mostly protected me from Jimmy’s advances.

I hated him, and I hate him still, for convincing Nina to join the Navy. I now it was he and Orion’s bright idea, saying they then could get money for college. But we all know they won’t go back to college now – why would they? And Nina decided to just not come back. I worry about her every day, dreading the call that she died or is missing. It is his fault she’s gone.

We should’ve gone to school together. We wanted to go to Berkeley, but I ended up going to Dartmouth as Mom wanted. I hated it, and I wanted my sister, but at least I met Jaden. The future politician Mom wanted plus a decent guy with a handsome face. It seemed perfect. But now he’s in D.C. pursuing his career and coming home only every so often. He was disappointed when I decided to follow my photography dreams instead of my major of public relations.

I’m not sure he’s gotten over it, and I have no one to talk to about it.

Another knock came at the door, and I answered it. Jimmy stumbled in, carrying more bags than I thought could fit on his bike.

“I didn’t know you had to pay for bags now,” he chirped. “So, I bought a bunch of reusable ones.”

“You’ll need them since you’re back anyway,” I said, closing the door and following him into the kitchen.

“I got them for you,” he answered. “They’re yours to keep, just like these groceries.”

“How kind of you. This is actually quite a lot. How did you carry it all on your bike?”

“Pure willpower. I got a military discount, so I went a little crazy.”

“I didn’t know that was a thing.”

“The lady gave it to me, so apparently it is.”

“She probably only gave it to you because you’re attractive and charming.”

“Probably. The important thing there is that you think I’m attractive.”

“I’ve never said you’re not attractive. It’s your personality I don’t like.”

“You just said I’m charming.”

“But you’re also a bully and a troublemaker.”

“Oh, come now.”

“My mom wants me to marry a politician, and I have that with Jaden.”

“Why are you living by what your mom wants?”

“Because she’s the one who stuck around.”

He readjusted his body with his hand on the open cupboard and his eyes looking deep into my soul. “Your dad didn’t abandon you.”

“No, but I didn’t get to visit him either. He replaced me with you.”

“That’s not true. Your mom wouldn’t let him see you. She kept you from him.”

“I don’t need to discuss this with you.” I lost my nerve and turned away.

“I know your mom made it difficult. Just ask Nina.”

“How can I? She’s not here.”

He gave a slight smile. “I’ll make you lunch, and then I’ll get out of your hair. Don’t worry.”

I sighed and sat down at the table my grandmother had passed down to me. Nina and I used to sit at it as kids and play Scrabble with her. Grandma always won, but Nina also put in a grand effort. I thought my sister was the smartest person I’d ever know. Now I don’t know her at all. I watched Jimmy move as he started some kind of pasta. He didn’t speak anymore; he just cooked.

I noticed how tall he’d gotten. Perhaps I just never noticed back in high school since I hated him so much. His face had become manlier, his jawline so sharp it could cut a person. When he was younger, he just looked too pretty for his own good. Now he looked sexy, not just a pretty boy. His once overly pouty lips now fit his face. His wiry hair had more of a style – back in high school it sometimes looked moppish, but the girls loved it. But he ever noticed them. He only had eyes for me.

“What are you making?” I asked, trying to cool the atmosphere.

“Just some pasta,” he answered, not looking at me. “Something quick.”

“I like pasta.”

“I’m mostly trying to get out of your hair quickly. And pasta is quick, as I said.”

“Look, I’m sorry to be so mean. I’m just kind of in a bad mood today.”

“It’s okay.” He smiled at me, but paid close attention to his noodles and sauce. “You don’t have to say anything to me.”

I quieted, just watching him. Somehow, he’s made me feel bad. I guess maybe I had been mean to him, but he did pretty much force himself in here. And he had sent me so, so, so many letters, which is kind of crazy. I think I should be able to do whatever I want, even if part of it is being unfair to him.

“Here you go,” he said, giving me a bowl of pasta. “It might be a little spicy.”

“That’s okay,” I responded, giving him a smile.

He smiled back, his eyes shining behind his glasses. It felt natural to sit with him, but we didn’t speak much, if at all. After he put away the leftovers and did the dishes, he gave me a kiss on the forehead and left the house. I stood to lead him out, but he didn’t say another word. I locked the door behind him, feeling the spot on my forehead where his lips had been.

I wish I could talk to my sister.