Page 45 of Wicked Ends (Hellions of Hade Harbor #4)

Arianna

Lips brushed across my forehead, and I struggled awake.

I felt heavy all over, like I had become part of the bed.

I couldn’t remember ever sleeping so deeply before.

I opened my eyes and immediately felt disoriented.

Where the hell was I? Everything was too confusing, so I shut my eyes again.

I was tired of waking up in different rooms, different towns and motels.

I’d had enough of that to last a lifetime.

“As much as I hate to leave you here like this, I need to get over to the rink. Coach isn’t happy with me for last night, and I need to be a good boy for a while,” Marcus said in my ear.

I snorted disbelievingly, eyes still closed.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever been a good boy in your entire life.” I cracked my eyes open once more to see his face above me.

He was already dressed in his training gear. Pale light ebbed in the window. The Hellions’ dorm. Marcus had carried me upstairs last night swathed in the blanket, with the mask on, no less. God knew what passersby had thought of it.

“What time is it anyway?” I yawned.

“Before six,” he told me.

I groaned and pushed myself up. “Damn. I meant to leave as early as possible, before it got light out.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you didn’t. Creeping out on me again while I was sleeping wouldn’t end well for you. I still haven’t gotten over the first time.” He studied me and the rumpled hockey jersey I’d slept in.

“Maybe I should stay after all. Like you said… I suck at being good.”

I shook my head firmly. “You need to go. After that shit show at the game last night, go and show Coach Williams that you’re sorry.”

His mouth tilted in a heart-stopping grin. “Yes, Professor, as you command.” He grabbed his heavy bag from the ground. “You want a ride home?”

“The motel is the opposite way from the rink,” I pointed out.

He shrugged. “For you, I can be late. And to be clear… last night was a shit show, but that fucker Sinclair offended me, and I don’t let that crap slide.”

“He offended you? It’s just trash talk; you can’t let it get in your head.”

He nodded. “I know, and I never have before. But he found a topic that can turn my award-winning chill to ash.” He reached out and stroked a thumb down my cheek.

“It’s you, Ari. Anyone can say anything they want about me…

my father, brother, whatever. We’re fair game.

But you?” He shook his head. “No.” His tone was deadly.

“No? Just no?” I prodded.

He nodded. “Just no. Not on my watch. Go back to sleep. If you’re still out when I come back, I promise to fuck you nice and gently and wake you up coming.”

I squirmed. God, that sounded good.

“Someone will see. I have to go. My car is here. I’ll drive myself home.”

Marcus studied me and then sighed heavily.

“Why is it that the first and only woman I want to take care of won’t let me?” he grumbled.

I laughed. “Some kind of karma?”

He grabbed his bag, making for the door.

“Is this what it is to love someone more than they love you?” he continued, opening the door and pausing in the doorway.

“Marcus!” I exclaimed softly.

He looked back at me. “If it is, I don’t fucking care for it one bit… but I’ll stand it, for you.”

With a grin, he left, taking my heart with him.

I stopped in town on the way back to the motel to grab some fruit and snacks I could keep in the tiny mini fridge. My stomach protested at the very idea of having stale muffins and instant coffee for breakfast for another week.

I couldn’t go on like this.

“I’ve fallen in love with you, birthday girl.” Those words from last night wouldn’t stop circulating in my head. It was too much for someone like me. I felt like Icarus, about to be struck down for daring to fly too close to the sun.

Main Street was gorgeous in the early morning sunlight.

Summer was coming to Maine slowly, and the entire town was blossoming.

Soon, school would finish, and I’d have to decide whether to stay or move on.

It would be hard moneywise over the summer, but I could supplement with giving piano lessons.

My first paycheck was pocketed away, as well as the remaining savings I’d had when I’d arrived in Hade Harbor.

Did I want to stay? That was the real question, the one that kept popping into my head.

HHU had offered to extend my contract. The person I was covering for was considering taking retirement.

I wandered down Main Street, looking in the little independent shops and grabbing a French vanilla latte from my favorite place.

People said hi and waved to me. In the short time I’d been here, I’d started to build a community here.

I’d been accepted into one. It had become too clear to deny.

I didn’t want to leave. Not at all. A sign in the window of a hockey supply store announced that they were proud supporters of the Hellions.

Marcus.

I couldn’t pretend he wasn’t a big part of why I wanted to stay. A huge part.

“I’ve fallen in love with you.”

The next shop along was a real estate office. As I was walking past, someone put a new listing in the window. It was a rental outside of town, near the beach. It was small and a little run-down, but as soon as I saw it, I wanted it.

I eyed the price. It wasn’t crazy. Acting impulsively, I opened the door of the office and walked in.

“I’d like to find out more about the rental place you just put in the window.”

“Oh!” The agent smiled at me, surprised. “I was just heading over there to put up the sign. Do you want to come?”

I paused, surprised by the offer. I checked my watch. I had time.

“Okay, sure. I’m Anna.” I held my hand out to the woman.

“Pippa. Nice to meet you. Let me grab my keys,” she said and bustled around, getting her things.

Excitement brewed in my belly as I followed her to her car. This felt wild and impulsive, and probably unlikely, seeing as I didn’t exactly have any references, but I was going to try anyway. Maybe it was finally time to want something again. Maybe it was time to let myself.

The house wasn’t new, but it was perfect.

Clad in gray cedar shingles bleached silver by years of sun and sea spray, it sat like a tiny pearl nestled between a forest, a rocky beach, and the water.

Inside was all sanded-down wide wooden floorboards and white walls.

A sagging old couch was lined up before glass double doors that overlooked the shining water.

The kitchen cabinets were prettily trimmed, with chipped blue and white paint, and the counter was the same polished wood color as the floors.

Upstairs, there was a small double bed facing the window over the bay.

The only other piece of furniture was a small dresser across from the bed.

Despite all that, it felt like home as soon as I stepped inside. I followed Pippa around, and I was sure she could tell I’d fallen in love with it. I didn’t have much of a poker face.

“The owner is pretty flexible, but they’d need at least one reference from a previous place.”

“I’ve never rented before. I’ve always lived with family,” I told her.

“Hmm, in that case, a previous employer or character reference would be the best you could do, but it’s not guaranteed. It would depend on who else applied and if their references were better.”

“Of course,” I murmured, painfully disappointed. Sure, it wasn’t a no, but it was far from a yes. “Thanks so much for bringing me by to see the place. I’ll walk back,” I told her. I didn’t want to leave the beautiful, quiet area just yet.

Pippa waved goodbye before driving off in a spray of gravel.

I walked down to the stretch of beach and sat on a rock, staring out at the water.

It had been months since I’d been to the water.

Growing up, I’d gone down there often. We’d lived not far from the ocean, and going down to the beach had been a refuge for me, until Dale and his friends had figured out where I liked to go.

Then it was ruined. Now, while I gazed out over the clear, calm water, hope stirred that I could feel like that again one day…

painful, crystal-like hope, so precious and fragile, one wrong move could shatter it.