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“Yeah, that much is obvious, but why?” Asher runs a hand through his hair.
Drew furrows his brows in thought. “He doesn’t like change. His focus has always been baseball. Not settling down, not family, nothing. Just baseball. Having Raelyn here is a huge change. And he just can’t deal with it.”
“So, he’s what, pushing her away so she will leave? Get tired of his shit and piss her off enough that she just vanishes?” I knock back the water, finishing off what was left in the bottle.
Drew lets out a sigh. “Yep. Pretty sure that’s exactly what he’s doing. Except I think despite her fragile state, Rae is a lot stronger than any of us realize.”
Let’s hope so. Because I don’t think Cam is going to go soft on her anytime soon.
“Wow.” Raelyn gasps as we walk past the bar on the outside of Vertigo, which is packed with people. The bar is decked out in wood planks. A huge tree sits in the center of the bar, where the tree grows and hangs over it all.
“Just wait. The inside of this place is a trip.” Drew holds out his arm and waits for her to cautiously wrap her arm around his.
The restaurant is shrouded in these large structures that explode out of the floor and loop over us, some turning intotables and a sushi bar for people to sit at. The orange color stands out from the wooden tables and chairs, a stark contrast to the dark floors. Blues and whites painted on the arcs add a splash of color.
“This place is… wow.” Raelyn looks up at Drew in awe.
He smiles at her. “Wait until you taste the food.”
Once we sit down, we order some oysters for the table and pick out several rolls to share between us all.
“How you doing. Rae?” Drew looks over at her. She is sitting between him and Tristan as Asher and I sit across from them.
“I… uh, I’m fine.” She looks around the restaurant, fiddling with the straw of her Coke Zero.
“What’s wrong?” Drew places a hand on hers.
She blows out a breath. “It’s hard to explain.”
“Try me,” he offers.
“I-I don’t know if it’s still the confusion I have or if it’s real, but I constantly feel like I’m being watched.” She takes a sip of her drink, her hand shaking slightly.
“Well, a lot of people stare at this sexiness, so theyarestaring. At me.” I give her a wide grin and waggle my eyebrows while flexing my muscles.
She snorts. “Well, you can think that, but I feel it even when I am at the house. And I know that may sound silly, but I just feel the eyes on me all the time. No matter where I go. And maybe it’s just all the stuff I have been through. Maybe it’s a bit of paranoia with the situation. I just still feel so uneasy with just… existing.”
Her lips turn down as she looks down at her hands in her lap.
“Rae, it’s kinda understandable that you are feeling that way.” My lips turn down as I watch her struggle with the everything she is feeling.
“I’ll kill whoever it is,” Tristan grunts out.
“No death is needed,” Drew deadpans at Tristan, then turns to Raelyn. “We won’t let anything happen to you,” he assures her.
She shakes her head. “You couldn’t stop the attack in the bathroom.”
He hasn’t told her yet. I look at Drew, and he purses his lips and shakes his head at me. I do everything I can to keep quiet. All I want to do is open my mouth. I should just tell her. Fuck this waiting bullshit.
Fucking asshole needs to tell her.
But of course, he’s not going to. The letters come for her, and we don’t have a clue as to who they are from. We can only speculate that they are from the guy who took her, but they give nothing away. We need to get them to John. We need to tell her that the monster who took her may be lurking in the shadows.
But instead, we sit here, not saying a word.
Instead, we sit here and just keep a closer eye on her, keeping her with one of us as much as possible.
Instead, we just pretend that all is hunky-dory. And it is far from honky-dory.