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Plenty of people do double takes. Interest comes with the territory of having a famous father, and—as Auden pointed out—I’m not exactly a social pariah. My peers care where I go. What I do. Who I do it with. And I’ve shown up somewhere with a girl a grand total of…never.
They usually come up to me, and I indulge in the opposite sex plenty. I’m a straight guy, and I’d be lying if the fact that most girls I encounter are interested in me isn’t flattering. But I don’t have the time or the emotional capacity for a girlfriend, and I’ll be living in Canmore for at least two more years. I’ve seen how pissing off a significant portion of the female portion has worked out for some of my teammates, and I’ve got zero interest in getting involved in that drama.
I tug Auden to the left, toward the Hawleys’ private dock. Keeping a hold of her hand is convenient for steering purposes. It also sends a clear signal to every guy here. That’s one thing my status is good for, I guess. No one will flirt with her if they know she’s here with me.
“Auden?” Annabel Grant stands and takes a step away from the Adirondack chair she was just leaning against.
Two of my teammates, Johnny and Corey, are sitting with her and a bunch of other girls in our year. Corey’s eyes are glued to Auden. He makes the mistake of looking away and meeting my gaze, and I give my head a sharp shake.Off limits.He nods in acknowledgement, leaving me to suffocate in confusion.What. The. Hell?I’ve never laid any sort of claim to any girl, let alone one I just met.
I shake off the strange inclination and shift to looking at Annabel. Her eyes are bouncing between me and Auden, obviously trying to assess the dynamic between us.
“What areyoudoing here?” She crosses her arms, adopting a confrontational stance.
“I got sick of sitting around an empty house by myself,” Auden replies. Annoyance fills her tone as I put it together.
Annabel is Auden’s cousin?
“You—how—you know Elliot?” Annabel looks at me.
Annabel and I have run in the same social circle for years, but I wouldn’t call us friends. I feel more loyalty toward the girl next to me than the one with her arms crossed.
“Oh yeah. Me and Denny goway back,” I reply before Auden can. Auden glances at me, surprise obvious on her face. “See you guys later.” I nod an acknowledgment to my teammates, then pull her away. “Annabel Grant is your cousin?” I ask once we’re out of earshot.
“Yeah. Do you know her?”
“Not really. We run with some of the same crowd.” She’s also flirted shamelessly with me for years, but I’ve never gone there with her. Now I’m especially glad since that’s not something I’d want to have to admit to Auden. Based on that interaction, she wasn’t exaggerating about her lack of relationship with her cousin.
“So we goway back, huh? All the way tothis afternoon?”
I smirk at her. “You ashamed of our friendship, Denny?”
“If you keep calling me Denny, absolutely.”
That makes me laugh again. Definitely some sort of record. “It’s catchy.”
She rolls her eyes as we reach the dock. Josh is leaning against his parents’ boat, talking to Lucas, and his eyes widen when he spots me and Auden. His lips curl upward and expand, forming a wide smirk. I shoot him a warning glance as we approach.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t coffee shop girl.”
“Auden.” She corrects him before I can.
“Yeah, I remember,” Josh replies. More like he spent ten minutes after we left the coffee shop debating if he should have asked for her number. I was glad he didn’t then, and I’ll be pissed if he does now. I’ve seen the way he treats girls. She deserves better. Hell, for all I know she has a boyfriend. It didn’t come up during our “get to know you” game.
“What brings you to Canmore, Auden?” Lucas asks. He’s always been the friendliest and most easygoing of my friends. He’s also eyeing her with interest.
Auden glances over at me. She holds my gaze for a minute before she answers. “Just visiting some family I haven’t seen in a while.”
Lucas smiles, accepting her answer. “Well, lucky us.” He leans down to grab another drink.
Those blue eyes meet mine. I don’t drop eye contact. She shrugs. It’s a subtle motion, and infinitely more helpless.
She lied to Lucas. Withheld some truth, at least.
And that’s the moment I decide I’ll do everything in my power to shield this girl from anything—anyone—that might hurt her.
Especially me.
Auden
