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17
Jenner
“Jenner, man, are you alive?”
On instinct, I reached for Doe, ready to shield her from Luca’s eyes as his voice called out. When I came up empty, my eyes snapped open, and I sat upright in bed. The alarm clock on the nightstand said it was after ten. I hadn’t slept that late into the day since before boot camp.
Scrubbing a hand over my face, I pulled the covers over my bottom half just as the bedroom door opened and Luca stuck his head inside. “Hey. Pixie called Violet to make sure you were okay. She couldn’t reach you.”
Suddenly everything hit me, and I groaned. “Is she okay?”
“I’m not sure. Vi just asked me to come check on you. I knocked for ten minutes and started to get worried when no one answered. Thought maybe you were sick or something.”
“I must have crashed hard last night. Yesterday was rough, man.”
“I can’t imagine,” the baller said with sincere sympathy in his voice. “You need anything?”
“Nah. Thanks, though.” I grabbed my phone and saw that I had missed texts and calls from Pixie. Worried, I scrolled up to the first missed message, praying she was okay. But as my eyes scanned over the words, I realized I had bigger problems.
“Fuck.” My gaze went around the room, hoping Doe would magically materialize. When I saw the closet door was open, my stomach dropped. I could see the empty hangers. “Have you seen Doe?”
“Saw her driving off about an hour or so ago. She seemed in a hurry.” He shrugged. “Let Vi know how Pixie is. If either of you needs anything, just say the word. I’ll make it happen, bro.”
All I could do was nod as I hurriedly tried to call Doe, but it went straight to voice mail. Cursing, I hit Pixie’s number while Luca shut the door on his way out.
“Jenner, thank God!” she cried. “I’ve been worried sick all morning. I thought for sure you got murdered, and that girl—”
I cut her off. “What did you say to her, Pixie?”
“I can’t honestly remember the conversation, but I let her know she was full of shit.” She gave an amused snort, and that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach only got worse. “I mean, really, did she actually think she was your girlfriend? You have never had a—”
“I do now, Pix.”
The silence that greeted my announcement was more dramatic than it needed to be. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded after a moment, sounding hurt.
Groaning, I dropped back onto the pillows. “I don’t know. You’ve had a lot going on, and…” I clenched my eyes closed, guilt swamping me. “You’re all I have, and this thing with Doe is brand-new. When I was with her, I was able to turn off all the chaos of your illness and forget for a little while. I’m sorry, Pixie.”
“No, I’m sorry. Ugh!” she grunted. “I probably scared her off. She no doubt thinks I’m a heinous bitch right now.” She gasped, and my eyes snapped open.
“What?” I asked cautiously.
“I’m pretty sure she hung up on me before I told her I’m your sister.”
My gaze drifted back over to the open closet and the empty hangers. “Yeah, I got that loud and clear. She took all her clothes with her.”
“I’m so sorry, Jenner.”
Grimacing, I forced myself out of bed. “How are you feeling?”
“The nurses are wonderful. They have been taking such good care of me. I even ate a little breakfast.” She sighed. “I’m about to start my chemo for the day, though, so I wanted to talk to you before I was too sick to function.”
“I’ll be over as soon as I shower and talk to Doe.” I paused at the bathroom door. “Is it okay if I bring her with me?”
She hesitated for a moment. “Is she really that important to you, Jenn?”
“She’s the one, Pixie,” I told her honestly, my throat tight with suppressed emotion. “I love her.”
“Okay then, yeah, bring her with you,” she encouraged softly. “I would like to meet the girl who stole your heart. And who knows, it might be nice to grow our little family of two.”
“You’ll love her, Pix. I swear you will. Let me clear all this up with her, and I’ll be over.” I knew it would cost her to let Doe see her so sick and vulnerable, so I was all too aware of what she was giving me. Promising myself I wouldn’t let her down, I ended the call and jumped in the shower.
Fifteen minutes later, I pulled up outside Doe’s house and jumped out of my car. As I walked up onto the porch, the front door opened. “Hi, sweetie,” Marissa Niall greeted with a frown. “Um, Doe isn’t here.”
“Do you know where she is?” I asked, already backing down the steps. I needed to find her as soon as possible so I could clear everything up and get over to Pixie.
“Well…” She twisted her hands together and glanced over her shoulder into the house. Muttering something under her breath, she took a step toward me and lowered her voice. “She told me she was going to Nashville to stay with Aspen for a few days.”
“Aspen?” The name sounded vaguely familiar, and then it clicked. The friend Doe had been with on Monday.
Marissa grimaced. “Aspen Williams. He’s a friend from school.”
“He?” I repeated, jealousy turning my voice hard. I didn’t know Aspen was a fucking guy. I’d assumed it was a girl, and Doe hadn’t elaborated on her friendship with Aspen. We were going to have a long conversation about that, but first, I needed to straighten out her misconception about Pixie. “What do you mean, he?”
She smiled. “It’s not like that. Doe and Aspen could never be anything more than friends, although I’m hoping he becomes a part of our family sooner than later. If Jackson ever gets his head out of his ass,” she grumbled to herself.
“Where does Aspen live?” I gritted out.
“I’m not supposed to tell anyone where she is, but she didn’t say why. Did you two argue?”
“No, my sister called this morning, and she and Doe got their wires crossed.” There was no use in lying about it. I’d made a mistake, but I’d amend it as soon as I got my hands on Doe. “I hadn’t told either of them about the other yet. My sister has been going through some health issues, and I didn’t want to freak her out about my relationship. And I guess I had my head up my ass with not telling Doe about Pixie. I’m not sure what is going through Doe’s mind right now, but it will be better for everyone if I find her and clear this up.”
“Ah, I see,” Marissa said with a shake of her head, a smile teasing at her lips. “Well, I’ll text you the address.”
“Thank you.” I walked back to her and kissed her cheek. “You’re a lifesaver… I want you to know, I love Doe.”
Her smile grew as she looked up at me. “Sweetie, I think I knew that long before you did. Now you go talk to my stubborn girl. Good luck. She’s so much like her father, you’re going to need it.”
I tried not to speed on my way up to Vanderbilt, but every time I thought of this Aspen guy, my foot would press a little harder on the gas. Whoever the fuck he was, Doe was alone with him in his apartment. If he touched her, he was a dead man.
As soon as I pulled into the apartment parking lot, I spotted Doe’s truck and pulled up behind it so she was blocked in. Getting out of my car, I jogged toward the apartment building while trying to call her again. But it went straight to voice mail like all the other times I’d tried to reach her.
As I punched the elevator call button, something finally went right for me when the doors immediately slid open. Moments later, I stepped off onto Aspen’s floor and pounded on his door. When I heard movement inside, I covered the peephole and pounded again.
“Yeah?” a deep voice called from the other side of the door. “Who is it?”
In answer, I knocked again, harder this time.
The door was jerked open, and a guy stood in front of me. He was a good-looking dude, blond hair and blue eyes. He looked like the all-American heartthrob boyfriend type. His gaze narrowed on me as soon as he looked at me, and I instantly wanted to punch him in the face.
“She doesn’t want to see you, dickhead,” he informed me, putting his arm on the doorframe to block my entrance. He wasn’t a small guy by normal standards, but if he thought he was man enough to keep me from my girl, he would find himself through the fucking floor.
“You Aspen?” I gritted out.
He smirked. “The one and only.”
“Doe, if you care about your friend, you better come talk to me,” I called out. “If you’re not out here by the time I count to five, I’m going to—”
She appeared behind Aspen before I could even finish the threat. The moment I spotted her red, swollen eyes, my knees went weak. “Baby.”
Glaring at me, she nudged Aspen out of the way. “It’s fine,” she told him in a hoarse voice. “I’ll talk to him.”
“You sure? I can get rid of this jerk-off if you don’t want to deal with him.” Aspen stroked her hair back from her face. I couldn’t contain my growl at seeing him touch her and took a step inside the apartment, but one glare from her had me stopping midstep. Clenching my teeth, I shoved my hands into my pockets to keep from wrapping them around the fucker’s throat.
Turning her gaze back to him, Doe gave him a trembly smile. “Thanks, Asp, but I’ve got this.”
Shooting me a cold glare over his shoulder, the other man walked back into the apartment, and Doe stepped into the doorway. “What?” she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.
Unable to keep my hands to myself a second longer, I grabbed hold of her hips and pulled her against me. She fit so perfectly in my arms—her body, even as stiff as she was, clicking into place like the missing piece of a puzzle. Inhaling deeply, I took in the scent of her hair and touched my lips to the top of her head.
“Don’t,” she choked out, jerking away from me.
Swallowing a curse, I balled my hands into fists to keep from reaching for her again. “About Pixie—”
She looked up at me with wounded eyes, making my throat close up. “I thought that you were different, that I could trust you. I gave you parts of myself I have never willingly allowed anyone outside of my family to even come close to. And the entire time, you were just like everyone else. Was it fun, making me fall for you? Did you laugh with Pixie when I so easily gave you my heart?”
“Stop!” Covering her mouth with my palm, I fought against the sting of tears.
How had I not seen how fragile she was? She’d given me a small glimpse, but she’d hidden her broken pieces so well that I’d missed how much damage had already been done. I didn’t know who had destroyed her like this, but I wanted to put her back together.
“Pixie is my sister.”
She went still against me. “Wh-what?”
Blowing out a frustrated breath, I quickly explained. “She’s my honorary sister, not actually related to me by blood, but she’s all the family I have that actually cares about me. We met right after our brother Tyler died. Tyler and I shared the same dad, and he shared the same mom with Pixie. We met after his passing and became each other’s family.”
Her teeth sank into her plump bottom lip, but she kept her eyes downcast as she listened to me. “You never mentioned her name. Not once when we talked about your brothers and sisters.”
“I know. It’s complicated, but I swear, I wasn’t trying to keep her a secret on purpose. She’s just going through some stuff right now, and it’s hard for me to talk about it.” I cupped the side of her face, tilting her chin up so I could see her pretty blue eyes. When I saw that she believed me, I began to relax a little. But I still had to tell her the worst part. “Pixie is sick.”
My throat grew tighter just speaking the words, and I had to clear it before I could go on. Pixie’s illness had shown me that I was emotionally weak. That the possibility of losing the people I loved the most could and would destroy me. Doe had that same power over me. Between her and Pixie, they could annihilate me with just a few words. Pixie knew that, but Doe had no clue yet.
“She’s all the family I have, Doe. She was there for me from the day we met. I’d never had someone care about me before like her. A person who actually worried about my well-being. When I enlisted and got deployed, she sent me care packages every other day even though she didn’t really have the money to send them. Then I came home, and not long after that, she found out she was sick. I took the job with Barrick as Violet’s bodyguard just to get the benefits she needed for treatments.”
“But she didn’t even know who I was,” she whispered, unable to mask the lingering hurt in her voice.
“I know.” I groaned in regret. “She’s been through so much lately, and I didn’t want to freak her out by telling her about us. She’s just as protective of me as your brothers are over you, and I knew she would worry about me and us, so I didn’t tell her. I swear to you, I was going to explain everything soon. This week, actually. It’s what I wanted to talk to you about last night. But after everything that happened yesterday, I was so emotionally exhausted that I pussied out and distracted us both instead.”
Concern darkened her eyes as they flickered over my face. “What happened yesterday?”
“She started the first dose of her week-long chemo treatments to prepare her for the bone marrow transplant she will have at the end of next week. This is her last chance. If it doesn’t work, it’s over.”
Doe gasped and stepped back. “I-is your sister…Hazel Darby?”
I blinked at her question. “How did you know that? No one even calls her Hazel. She only goes by Pixie.”
Doe took a step back, swaying slightly. “Y-you should come in. I-I have something to tell you.”
