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After another vicious lightning crack, I end up telling my brothers, “You should let him in. He has nowhere else to go.” Why do I feel badly?
He literally broke into my apartment.
He was just trying to look out for me. Right? He’s not some serial killer. He’s an ass in the rain, and he should definitely apologize. But not while he’s standing out there soaked and wet.
I’m a little less freaked out. Rationalizing is good.
I’m rationalizing this.
Colt glares at me. “You want us to let him in? After what you just told us?”
“It’s storming outside,” I say, my chest tightening. “He wouldn’t hurt anyone. Just…only let him in if it’s okay with Kenobi.” I turn to October. “Is it?”
Her brows arch. “You’re asking me?”
I wouldn’t be jumping for joy seeing any of October’s exes, even if they’re just hookups or flings. “Yeah, I’m asking.”
Her lip twitches like she wants to smile. “Yes, it’s fine. Let the boring ex in, so he doesn’t die.”
Brian hesitates.
“It’s thunder storming,” I emphasize. “Have a heart, Brian.”
“I don’t trust this guy, Zoey,” he retorts.
“ZOEY?!” My ex bangs his fist repeatedly.
I picture a drenched, bedraggled twenty-four-year-old. He’s a harmless wet noodle whose only flaw is probably caring about me too much. Right? Right. “I’m vouching for him,” I tell Brian. “Can’t that be enough?”
Reluctantly, after Parry conveys his readiness, Brian unlatches the door with Colt, and they let my ex-boyfriend inside the bar and slam the door closed behind him.
Boots pad across the floor, leaving muddied prints. Boots I recognize. Skinny legs I remember. Lean muscles hidden behind a faded jean jacket—soaked and suctioned to his tall, lanky frame. White, fair skin. Curly windswept brown hair is tucked underneath a wet beanie.
He doesn’t take his hazel eyes off me. “Zoey.” He exhales a deep breath like he finally found me.
I guess he did.
Seeing him again, I really want to feel less unsettled, and I shift my weight like I’m trying to balance on a rocking boat.
“Ashton,” I reply curtly and come up to October’s side. She edges closer to me. Mark your territory all you want, Kenobi.
He adjusts his Tumi rucksack backpack that must cost at least five-hundred bucks. He’s not loaded, but he likes to blow cash on the finer things. I wouldn’t be surprised if he rented a luxury car for his drive here.
Ashton notices the glass shard in Colt’s grasp. He lets out a shrill laugh, his lip curling like he’s disgusted with…me? “You think I’m here to cause fucking trouble or something?”
“I never said that.”
“What’s that then?” He motions to the glass, then zeroes in on Brian’s baseball bat.
Colt scowls harder. “We didn’t know who you were, man.”
“We still don’t,” Brian snaps in threat.
Ashton glowers at me like I put my brothers up to this shit. I didn’t do anything. Sharp breath leaving my lungs like knives, I throw up my hands. “What are you even doing here, Ashton?”
“Making sure you’re fucking alive,” he almost shouts. “You didn’t show up to work, and then you didn’t answer anyone’s calls. Fuck—no one has been able to get ahold of you in days, Zoey. This place was the only one I could think you’d run off to.”
Lies. Those are definite lies.
Why would he misconstrue the truth like that?
I shake my head dramatically back and forth. “Just because I didn’t answer your calls doesn’t mean I haven’t checked in with other people. I’ve talked to Georgia and to my boss. And I don’t need you checking in on me.”
Ashton glares. “Seriously?” He takes a step forward. “Did you miss the part where I flew over three-hundred miles just to make sure you weren’t dead?”
Why is he putting that on me? My whole body goes cold. Should I feel guilty for worrying him? I don’t know.
Brian glowers. “You obviously missed the part where no one here fucking cares.”
“I definitely don’t,” October says coldly. At this, she extends an arm across me and begins pushing me backwards.
Brian sidesteps in front of October.
Tension in the bar escalates, and I feel more than unsettled now. A tickle at my brain is trying to tell me to listen to my instincts. Trying to tell me that I might be in danger. But I’m trying to reason with that feeling. Trying to make sense of the person I know from Chicago and the person that’s standing here.
Ashton tilts his head to look past Brian’s shoulder at her. He sizes October up with a quick up-down with his eyes. Contempt rages for some reason. “No one asked you.” He glares harder. “October.”
Ashton has never been this intense. He’s been docile. Chill. He is very far from chill right now.
She peeks over at me. “He knows who I am?”
“Um…” Yeah. The word is stuck. I don’t need to say yes anyway. Her lips part in surprise, already realizing that I didn’t lock her existence away from my friends in Chicago. Ashton wouldn’t even be here if I never mentioned Mistpoint Harbor.
