Page 11 of Guarded Knight

He laughs like that’s a joke I told. “This is going to be interesting.”

I pop a piece of gum in my mouth. “Why’s that?”

“Because I haven’t seen this Gabriel in a long time.” His brow lifts. “She always brought out a caring side of you.”

Penelope walks past with a fishbowl and a smirk. “You have a caring side, G? Shame. This is morally gray territory tonight.”

I don’t respond because just then, I hear it. A soft thump of a truck door. And then her laugh, sharp, dry, like it slipped past her defenses.

I shift to the large front window and catch her through the glass.

Blonde bun. Purple tank top. Jeans that hug curves that look new to me every time I see them. Lara struggled to keep on weight when we were kids, but since she’s been taking these miracle meds, there’s a vibrancy not only in her smile and cheeks but in her fuller breasts and ass. Goddamn it, she gets under my skin. She stretches her arms overhead, neck tilting with that fluid, unthinking grace that used to undo me.

She walks up Grenvista Trail with her friend, and I melt into the wall to hide myself. I’ll let her have a little space. At least see the apartment. And the note…

Should I have left the note? Or at least made it clearer?Call if you need anything.Even if you don’t?Now that I’ve put it out there, I’m not sure it was the best idea. Maybe whatever wall she put up between us is better for us both.

I peek out the window again, feeling less like a bodyguard and more like a lovesick loser who didn’t get the girl. I mock myself internally.That’s exactly what you are.

I saw her not too long ago. It was only four months ago we were both at Xander’s little Poppy’s eighth birthday party. Lara avoided me as usual. I begged my brain to stay present, focus on my surrogate nieces and simply catch up with my buddy and his parents.

Now will be harder because she’s not leaving after cake, and neither am I.

Out on the street, she moves like she always has, as if gravity’s just a suggestion. She shines as bright as the sun, but she’s more lively, more unpredictable and far more magical.

That’s how I started calling her Firefly. Her childhood was shrouded by a dark future, the possibility of dying young, and yet she danced in that shadow with her subtle brilliant glow. Her light is a big fuck you to fate itself.

I shift behind a display, watching through slivers. Penelope blows past me outside.

The women talk. I quickly fake interest in the local bulletin board when Pen slips back in.

Another glance.

Lara checks her phone. They head for the alley. She pauses. Scans the street while Freya walks ahead.

Doorways. Cars. Windshields. Shadows. Her whole body braces.

My fists curl. Cameron didn’t just scare her. He rewired her.

She used to leap first, laugh on the way down. Now she looks both ways.

I crack my neck. Roll the tension off.

She’s here, Gabriel. She’s safe.

The question is when do I go up to the apartment? I’ll obviously sort the boxes in the U-Haul…

Just then, Penelope sidles up next to me. “I saw two hotties out on the street, and one of them seems to know your dad. Expecting anyone?”

She doesn’t give me time to answer.

“They’re coming to the book club tonight.” She winks and walks off but throws me a smug grin over her shoulder. “You’re welcome.”

I expectedLara to walk into the shop fifteen minutes ago. Now the bookstore’s full, including my brother, Enzo, his fiancée, Ava, Santi’s girlfriend, Kat, and Anton, who I suspect is here to read my reaction to Lara more than the smut.

Dad sits up front with Penelope. Ava slides in beside me, where I stand in the back.

I wear my sunglasses like a douche because I don’t trust myself not to give away how much Lara affects me, and Ava, like her “big brother” Anton, is highly perceptive.