Page 47 of Wicked Ends (Hellions of Hade Harbor #4)

Marcus

Practice that day felt like it would never fucking end.

By the time I got back to my room, Ari was gone, of course, leaving only the scent of her skin and rumpled sheets.

I wanted to strip naked and climb in and fuck the mattress with her smell stuck in my nose; that’s how intoxicating her scent was to me.

I was absolutely fucked in the head over a woman who could take me or leave me. It was a disconcerting and pretty fucking annoying fact… she had all the power and held all the cards… it was a position I’d never let myself be in before.

Considering how much my father had fucked me over in my life, not to mention my uncaring, absent mother, giving someone the power to hurt me wasn’t on the top of my to-do list, but Ari hadn’t asked for permission.

She’d just fucking taken it.

The day went slowly. Coach was pissed at me, and so was the rest of HHU.

The thing about hockey fans in a town like Hade Harbor, where everyone rooted for the Hellions, was that you had the potential to disappoint so many strangers in a one- hundred-and-twenty-minute game.

I usually didn’t care, but then I usually didn’t get a game stopped by losing my cool.

The goalie has a responsibility that no one else on the team has: to keep their cool.

Since meeting Ari, that cool was eluding me more and more.

I checked her location on my phone after grabbing dinner at The Clutch with Cole.

She was at the Night Owl. Probably sleeping.

I fought the urge to go over there and see her.

She’d issued me a challenge… I wasn’t going to fail at it.

I wanted her to see that I could wait for her.

I wanted her to understand what she meant to me.

“I heard that your pretty little teacher went to see a rental property today,” Cole said.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “And you know that because?”

“It’s my property. Pippa called.”

“Which property?”

“Run-down shithole near the beach. Pippa said she liked it a lot.”

I nodded. I could see my birthday girl in a quiet beach cottage, composing her songs and walking along the rocks. Watching the colors of the sounds of the sea.

“Doubt she’ll get it, though. No references…” He slid me a glance. “You know where your girl was and what she was doing before she got here?”

“Don’t know, don’t care. That’s her business.” I took a swallow of beer. My body was aching all over from training this morning, and my damn hand was throbbing. I’d pulled some stitches already.

“Well, all I can see is the fancy music conservatory she studied at and her hometown… nothing much of anything else. No socials. That’s weird.”

“You looked her up?”

Cole nodded, staring down at the bar top. “I figured I should know something about the woman my brother seems to think is trustworthy enough to bring around our house. The Clutch, your dorm. You don’t seem to be keeping Hounds business secret from her, which is new.”

I shrugged. “I trust her.”

Cole chuckled. “Looks like my brother is lovestruck, or is it dick-struck? I’d be more likely to believe that than any love bullshit.”

I clapped him on the shoulder. “Come on, now. Don’t give up on love, Cole. It could always be just around the corner.”

Cole rolled his eyes. “Sure. Sign me up for two kids and a runaway wife anytime. Sounds fucking perfect.”

I studied my brother’s profile. Last year, I’d have thought the exact same way as him.

Repeating my parents’ mistakes had been the last thing on my mind.

But lately, that had been changing. I’d seen my best friends fall fast and hard and never look back.

Sure, I’d thought they were insane when it was happening, but now, since meeting Ari, I was starting to get it.

“I’m not sure our parents ever loved each other. Honestly, I don’t think love is anything like we’ve been taught it is. It’s something else. It feels different,” I added.

Cole shot me a sideways glance. “Is that a fucking confession?”

I chuckled. “An observation, from one cynic to another.”

Cole shook his head. “You’re no cynic, Marcus. You’ve got dreams and talent and fucking plans… true cynics don’t because, what’s the point? You’re no cynic, and if I achieved anything good by taking you out of the group home and playing house at the age of twenty-five with you… it’s that.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. There didn’t seem to be anything at all. So, I simply raised my bottle and clinked it against his.

“What’s the address of the property?” I wondered.

Cole fished around in his pocket and withdrew a key.

“I fucking knew you were going to ask me that.” He grunted. “What about her mysterious past and lack of references?”

I shrugged and took the key. “She doesn’t need references. She’s got me.”

“Is there a reason you’ve dragged me here at the crack of dawn?” Asher yawned as we walked across the stone path toward the cabin by the water.

“Because I can’t be late for practice right now, and I want your opinion on what we could do inside here.

You’re the only person I know who’s worked construction before.

” I slapped him on the shoulder. “Plus, you have a great eye for interior design, you know. A backup career if this hockey thing doesn’t work out. ”

“Fuck off.” Ash shrugged my hand off his shoulder and eyed the front of the cabin. “It’s pretty run-down. Is your brother a slumlord?”

I unlocked the door and pushed it open. “He just bought it. He was going to fix it up, but Pippa talked him into renting it right away for a low price, seeing as there isn’t much in town available for that price. He can still do it up, but at least someone can live here in the meantime.”

We stepped inside.

Ash gazed around and nodded. “Actually, I take it back. It’s only the outside that looks like shit. It’s all right.”

“But what can we do to make it better?”

Ash glanced at the walls. “I don’t know. Paint it?”

I sighed. “Wow, your expert opinion is really valuable. What else?”

“Check the plumbing. Long, hot showers where the heat doesn’t cut out are nice. The appliances in the kitchen. The heating for winter, the chimney flue… you know, general maintenance.”

“Okay. Let’s make a list,” I said and pulled my phone out.

Ash stared at me like I was an alien and then burst out laughing.

“What?” I protested.

“Fuck, man… what’s happened to you? A list? Did you forget your clipboard?”

“Yeah, maybe, so what?” I turned away from him, irritated by his laughter.

“I’ve never seen you like this.” Ash continued to chuckle, tempting me to smack him in the nose.

“Like what? Organized? It’s not a crime.”

“Trying,” Asher clarified. “I’ve never seen you try before… at anything, really. Hockey comes to you naturally, music you find easy, people like you without any effort on your part… you seem to drift through the world, blessed by the heavens to have good luck in whatever you do.”

I stared at him, so surprised my mouth was open. What he’d said couldn’t have been more different than my own version of my life.

“Yeah, I know you’ve got shit going on with your dad, and that sucks, but it won’t bring you down. You’re too much of a force of nature to let it.”

“I wish I was as confident as you are about that,” I said.

Asher shrugged. “I know you. I believe in you. But this here,” he waved a hand around the cabin, “it’s a new side of you. It’s Marcus trying, and fuck, I’d love to know who you’re trying for.”

I rolled my eyes. “Like you don’t already know.”

Ash shrugged. “I’d like you to tell me anyway.”

“Professor Moore. She’s not like anyone I’ve ever met before,” I admitted, and an unconscious smile snuck over my face. “She’s something else, and I found her first.”

Ash blinked at me and then whistled. “Fuck. It’s happened. It’s actually happened. The most popular guy on campus is off the market, isn’t he?”

I grinned at him. “What market? I only see her.”

Ash shook his head. “Fuck. I can’t believe it.”

“Believe it. Now, let’s plan how we’re going to fix up this place, starting tonight.”

“I’ve got plans,” Asher said.

“Yeah, with me. Every single time I’ve covered for you, or done absolutely insane shit for you, like drugging and kidnapping your girlfriend, I’m calling in those favors now. You, Beck, and Cayden can get your asses here and help. For once, I’m the one who needs help. It’s my turn.”

Asher nodded slowly and clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Then, we’re there. What does Professor Moore think about all this?”

“She doesn’t get to know any of it. It’s a surprise.”

“You suck at keeping secrets,” Asher pointed out.

I nodded. “But this one, I’ll keep.”

I wanted to see the look on my birthday girl’s face when she saw the cabin all fixed up, a home just for her. For us.

I had the perfect excuse to avoid her and get this done anyway.

She wanted me to be good and stay away. I’d show her I was capable of that, while I fixed up her future home.

Just the thought of having Ari in my brother’s house, safe and sound, and under my watchful eye, made me feel calm and centered, like it was the right thing…

like it was always going to end up this way.

And I’d make sure it would.