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I suspected that was only part of the reason Jake had made the move to Haven. Despite how isolated his life had become, I knew in my heart that wasn’t who he really was. I’d seen glimpses of that myself these past few weeks. He hadn’t just needed a place to hide out, he’d needed a friend. And he’d found it in Xander.
Then the people of Haven had given him a new purpose through his work at the clinic.
And I’d ruined it all.
Because I hadn’t been honest about who I was. If he’d known how recognizable I was, he could have avoided me or moved on. Hell, if I’d known about the danger I’d be putting him in, I would have gotten the hell out of Haven.
“Fuck, Jake, I’m sorry. I never should have come here. I ruined your shot at a new life.”
Jake’s fingers drifted along my cheek, then cupped my chin. “Oz, how can you not see it? You didn’t ruin my shot at a new life. You are my shot at a new life.”
Chapter 30
Jake
“Just a little longer, baby,” I said softly as I gave Oz’s fingers a squeeze. “The cabins are on the other side of these trees,” I added as I motioned to the tree line ahead of us. He smiled and nodded, but I knew he was putting on a brave face. He had to be in a good deal of pain, not to mention freezing cold. But I had no doubt the exhaustion was the worst of it. Even though we’d only left the weather station a few hours earlier, to Oz it would have felt like we’d been walking for days. Even I was feeling the strain of trudging through the knee-deep snow, and I was both uninjured and used to surviving the extreme elements.
My thoughts drifted to what it had been like to wake up with Oz in my arms this morning. Despite all the times we’d woken up in the exact same position, with him tucked up against my chest, his nose pressed against my neck, it’d felt so very different this time.
I’d felt different.
And I knew why.
Because I’d finally told someone the truth about my past. No, he hadn’t been able to do much more than listen, but that had been enough. Admitting to Oz how scared and lonely I’d felt all these years and having him hold me and tell me everything would be okay had been exactly what I’d needed. But when he’d started spouting that bullshit about ruining my chance at a new life, that was when I’d really known what I needed to do.
I might have come to Haven to try to find some semblance of normal, but the town and its people, even my friendship with Xander, hadn’t been enough.
Oz was enough.
Oz was more than enough.
He was my home now. He was my new normal. He was the reason I was going to figure out how to get out of this mess. The only running I was going to do after I brought Barton down was following Oz all over the world as he took the fashion industry by storm and proved to them he was so much more than a pretty face.
I nearly laughed when I realized those people had no idea what they were in for.
Yeah, I definitely wanted to go along for that ride when Oz kicked Laird to the curb for good and showed his true colors.
“What?” Oz asked.
I turned to see him looking at me.
I shook my head and said, “Just thinking.”
“About what?” he asked with a little smile. No doubt because I’d been smiling.
God knew we could both use any reason to smile right about now.
Before I could answer, I heard the whir of an engine.
Multiple engines.
I didn’t need to look behind us to know what they were. “Run!” I yelled at Oz. “The trees!”
Oz knew better than to question me. He curled his arm across his chest, presumably to support Boo, who was tucked in his parka, and then he took off. I pulled my gun from my waistband and hurried after Oz, but as the engines grew louder, I knew we were fucked.
But they weren’t after Oz.
Which meant I had a chance.
Before we reached the trees, I grabbed Oz’s arm. “Look at me!” I demanded. Oz’s wild eyes swung from looking behind us to latch onto my face. I pointed at the trees. “You run in a straight line through these trees. It’s half a mile to the cabins. There’s a key for the one closest to the woods in the firewood box by the back door. Get inside and bar the door, then call for help. You run as fast as you can and you don’t look back, do you hear?”
“What? No! I’m not leaving—”
“If we don’t split up, we have no chance! No chance, do you understand? I can hold them off while you call for help,” I lied. While I hadn’t been able to get an exact count of the number of assailants at the cabin during the shootout, I knew there had to be at least three. I didn’t stand a chance with just one gun and the single bullet in its chamber. But I could buy Oz enough time to escape, and once they had me, they hopefully wouldn’t give two shits about Oz. Since they hadn’t identified themselves as DEA back at the cabin before opening fire, and hadn’t been wearing any kind of identifying clothing, I had to assume they weren’t actual agents, or if they were, they were corrupt ones like Barton. More than likely, they were just thugs he’d hired to do his dirty work for him.
