She releases her hold on my arms, but gently touches the bruises with her index finger. A tear trickles down her cheek as if she can actually feel these herself.
“Did Kohen do this to you?” she asks quietly.
“It was an accident, I didn’t even feel them. I still don’t feel them. It looks worse than it is. It doesn’t even hurt.”
“A lot of women say ‘it was an accident’ until they can’t say anything anymore.”
“This is not one of those times. I promise. If he was actually hurting me, do you really think I would be okay with this? That I wouldn’t immediately go to my brother?”
She leans against the wall. I follow suit. She doesn’t say anything at first. Her eyes keep bouncing back from my forearms to my face. I can tell she’s trying to determine if I’m lying or not. She kicks off the wall and stands in front of me.
“I’ll believe you, this time. I don’t know what happened and it won’t make a difference if you tell me. I won’t say anything to anyone because it’s not my place, and if you say this isn’t a big deal, fine, I’ll believe you.”
I sigh in relief, but she’s not done.
“If he EVER lays a finger on you again, I don’t care what you try to make me believe, I will make a big deal out of it and I will tell someone. I won’t just stand by while your boyfriend uses you as a punching bag, Addie.”
I know what she’s saying is fair, but at the same time, it’s not. It’s not like Kohen hit me. He didn’t even hurt me. I have been hurt a lot worse than this.
“Kohen isn’t the type to hit a woman.” I slip back into the jacket. “It isn’t what it looks like.”
“Every woman says that, you don’t know what you’ll do until you’re in that situation.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not in that situation,” I snap at her.
I immediately feel like crap. I just lashed out at a friend. A friend that wants to be here for me and make sure I’m okay. I won’t be getting the best friend of the week award.
“I’m sorry. I know you’re just trying to help, but I promise you nothing happened.” I engulf her into a huge bear hug. “Thank you for showing me how much you care, but I promise you, it’s not what it looks like. Kohen is a good guy.”
She squeezes me back tightly. “Fine, I’ll drop it. Just promise me you’ll be safe.”
“I’ll be safe, promise.”
She gives me one more hug before leaving. I turn on the T.V. to drown out Harper’s words that keep echoing in my ears. I switch it off when it doesn’t help. I don’t get why she would immediately assume the bruises were from Kohen. He’s the last person I would suspect. It could have been anyone, a random person on the street. It could have even been Jax.
Groaning, I rub my temples with my palms. I can’t believe I was stupid enough to take off my jacket. I don’t want Harper treating Kohen differently, that will put everyone on edge and I don’t want to deal with that drama. It’s unnecessary.
As I attempt to sleep, without a shower, all I can think about is Harper’s reaction. I dread them being in the same room together, and I hate that. I don’t want to worry about her berating him, or her believing the worst if he gets upset in front of her. I know she’s going to watch him, watch us, every chance she gets. I can’t blame her because I would do the same thing in her situation.
My stars swirl around and around on their string from the breeze drifting through the open window. I don’t remember opening it this morning, but my mind was elsewhere. I should close it, but I enjoy the fresh air. The city noise comforts me. It’s as if I’m not alone.
Chapter Twenty
Two weeks have passed by since Harper and I went running. Two weeks since I met Jax’s latest troll in a bathroom. It seems like Harper avoids going out if Kohen will be there. Which he always is. I need to intervene.
“I swear this better be the last one!” Harper says, jarring me out of my thoughts.
I send an apologetic look to the sales clerk. “You act like we are at the dentist. You’re trying on dresses, not getting a root canal. Calm down and put it on.”
“I’m going to strangle you if I see one more dress.”
I ignore her. One thing I learned about Harper, she can’t stand shopping. Okay, so that’s not entirely true, she can’t stand shopping with me. Can’t blame her, most people can’t.
Harper emerges from the dressing room and poses in front of me. Wow. This is the one. It’s spectacular! She fights her smile. I’m sure because she fears me forcing her into the dressing room to try on another endless pile of dresses. I wait before I tell her I love it. I keep my expression bored, not showing that I want to jump up and down.
I make a turn signal with my index finger. Her figure looks amazing! Men are going to have a hard time keeping their eyes off her. Mission accomplished. Her shoulders sag a little when she faces me again.
“Well?” she asks impatiently.
“That’s the one!”
“Thank God! I thought I’d have to sneak out of here. I was afraid we would never leave!”
I grip my chest as if she wounded me. “And here I assumed you were dying to go shopping with me.”
“Yeah, that was before I knew you had to try on everything in each store.”
I shrug, not caring. “I’m not that bad. We didn’t even get to that section yet.” I nod to the left, proving my point.
“Okay, okay, you’re right. We’re done though, right?”
I nod.
“I’m starving!” she says dramatically as we leave the boutique.
Now here comes the hard part. I thought that I would sneak-attack a lunch between her and Kohen. What surprised me was when I heard Connor in the background. I have no idea why they’re together. Kohen usually only hangs out with the guys if I’m there. I wonder if it was Connor’s doing. It has to be, I don’t see Kohen calling up Connor. Sometimes I think he’s jealous of Connor. Gross.
“How about meeting Kohen and Connor for lunch? I told Kohen where we are and one thing led to another and we have a lunch date with them.”
I chew on my lip when she doesn’t answer. She hasn’t brought Kohen up, and neither have I. It has kind of been an unspoken rule between us. And now I’m breaking it by making her go to lunch with him.
She turns away. “Sounds great.”
She’s still on the fence about Kohen. As much as she hides it, I can tell. I link our arms together and steer us toward the little cafe down the street. We spot the guys at the same time. It’s pretty easy when every woman on the patio is doing her best to capture their attention. I’m not surprised Kohen ignores them; what surprises me is Connor does too.
“You sick?” I ask him.
“No. Why?”
I drop my bags down alongside Harper’s, then I give Connor a hug, and Kohen a chaste kiss on the lips. Kohen pulls out a chair for me, always the gentleman. He and Harper exchange tight smiles. Interesting, does he sense her hostility?
“Oh, I just assumed you were sick,” I say once everyone has sat down again.
“Again, why?”
“You know, because of all the women out here dying for the attention you’re not giving them.”
Both Kohen and Connor look like I started speaking a different language. Do I need to spell it out for them?
“She means she’s surprised that you don’t have your tongue down one of their throats yet,” Harper says with a wave towards the surrounding women.
Now they understand my earlier comment. Connor, gives Harper his panty-dropper smile, complete with running the tip of his tongue over his top lip. Here’s the Connor I was expecting.
“Don’t be jealous, Elizabeth, you know I save it all for you,” he says in a voice that should be reserved for the bedroom.
“I’d rather swallow my own tongue than have yours anywhere near my throat.”
Connor leans in so that his lips are inches from her face. “I promise you wouldn’t be saying that after I run my tongue up
and down your throat.”
I shake my head. This guy is asking for trouble. You don’t mess with the devil, and she can be heartless when she wants. I’ve seen it, plenty of times on the opposite sex. It’s never pretty, but always funny.
Harper swallows loudly. “Sorry I just threw up in my mouth.” She sits back in her chair. “It’s Harper, by the way.”
“Not Elizabeth?”
And he wonders why she dumped water on him. What a mystery.
Lunch runs smoothly, at least until everyone has finished. Harper watches everything Kohen does, hanging onto his every word. And not in a good way. She’s studying him, waiting for him to mess up. I’ve been trying to steer the conversation away from the two of them, but she has other plans.
“I saw a documentary on abusive partners last night,” she says casually, but directs her eyes to Kohen.
I can’t believe she just said that! Kohen surprises me by remaining calm. I can tell that he’s nervous by the way his hand trembles slightly as he reaches for his glass of water.
“Any reason why you would bring that up, Harper? Is there a guy in your life that we should know about?” Kohen feigns concern.
She shrugs, but challenges him with her eyes. Harper stares him down until he turns away, to me. I shake my head, trying to convey my confusion. I can tell when his jaw tightens that he doesn’t buy it. Time slows down in an awkward silence that doesn’t break until Connor peers up from his phone, oblivious to the tension. At least I think he’s oblivious until he engages Harper in conversation. I beam gratefully at him. He nods.
Kohen drags my chair closer to him and lays his arm on my shoulder. Harper gives a slight shake of her head in disapproval. I rub my forehead, feeling the pangs of a headache. Maybe lunch with them wasn’t the brightest idea. When the bill arrives, both guys reach for it, but Harper intercepts it with her dainty hands.
“Have to be quicker than that, Evans.”
Harper hands the bill over with her credit card to our waiter. Not bothering to even look at the price. She drinks the rest of her iced tea, happy as can be. She loves messing with Connor. She knows he hates anyone paying for him. I once made the mistake of telling her how he flipped out when I paid for lunch one time. Since then she has taken every chance to pay for him. I love it.
“Thanks for lunch, Harper,” Kohen says through gritted teeth.
Letting her accent drip through her voice, Harper says, “You’re most welcome,” while she picks up her iced-tea.
Clearly these two don’t mix well together. Hopefully that will change when she sees that he isn’t a bad guy after all.
When the waiter returns, Connor smirks. The waiter casts his gaze to Connor when he speaks. “I’m sorry, Ms. Harrison, but your meal has already been paid for.” He hands over her credit card without another word.
“Have to be smarter than that, Harrison,” Connor says smugly.
“Well-played.” Harper winks at Connor before putting away her credit card.
Connor gets up and bows. Actually bows. I groan as everyone watches the show.
“Thank you, thank you,” Connor says.
“Okay, let’s go before he really makes a scene,” Harper says.
I pick up my bags as I get up and take Kohen’s extended hand. Kohen and I start walking away from the table. We say good-bye after he reminds me to keep my phone on me while at the movies with Harper. I join Harper and Connor, who are in a heated conversation by his car. They’re arguing about who’s going to drive.
“Harper, we’ll miss our movie, just get in the back. He doesn’t let anyone drive his car,” I inform her.
“Then why was Logan driving the other day?” Harper asks.
“What? When?” I turn towards Connor. “What the hell?”
“Yes, I let your brother drive my car. It’s not a big deal, Addie.”
I yank open the passenger door and slam it shut. Harper settles into the back without a word. I wait until Connor is situated until I drill into him.
“How many times? Has Jax?”
Connor shrugs. I can tell he is trying to decide if he should attempt lying, or tell the truth.
“Okay, so you’re the only one I don’t let drive my car.”
“WHAT!” I scream.
“Come on, Addie, it’s not that hard to believe. You’re a nervous driver. Besides, it’s not like you have a current license.”
I tell myself to shut up. My voice has other plans, though.
“I haven’t driven a car since I moved to New York. I’ve never been in a car accident!”
The minute the last sentence leaves my mouth, I clamp it shut. I have been in a car accident. I just wasn’t the driver. That’s what I meant, but that’s not what came out. Luckily, Connor knows what I mean.
Connor seems lost. I know he is thinking the same thing. He remembers the last time I drove a car. I panicked and almost veered off the road because I couldn’t stop picturing the accident. I haven’t driven one since. I have never had the urge to get behind the wheel until now. Which means I have no right to be upset. But I am, I blame the stress of lunch.
“Adalynn, you haven’t been behind a wheel in over five years. If you really want to drive, you can drive.”
I hear Harper’s gasp, but I don’t look at her. I don’t want to tell her about my fear of cars. At least not right now. Once there was a time when I couldn’t ride in a car without having a panic attack. More times than I can count I ended up blacking out. I was able to conquer that fear. One day soon, I will drive a car again.
“Next time.”
Connor sounds as surprised as I feel. “Really?”
I weigh my response before answering him. I know he’s asking a lot more than if I’m ready to drive again. He’s asking if I can handle it after everything. Before, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it. Before when I would get behind the steering wheel, it would take me back to when I was trapped in the darkness. Cries unanswered.
“Yea I’m ready,” I say quietly.
The heaviness of the last five minutes seeps through the air. Harper and Connor can feel it, too. I catch her worried eyes in the visor mirror. I give her a small smile. She squeezes my shoulder from behind me.
Connor pulls up to the AMC theater to drop us off. Before I unbuckle, he breaks the silence.
“Call one of us when you’re ready to leave. I don’t want you two walking around the city at night. You can even call Jax.”
I know he’s just looking out for me, but it still gets on my nerves. They act like I’m a child. They don’t think I can take care of myself. Granted, I haven’t been known to take care of myself over the years, but that’s changed. I’ve changed.
“Fine,” I say, opening the door.
I meet Harper on the sidewalk. We watch Connor drive away before we stand in line to buy tickets. I’m not in the mood to sit through a movie. Harper must sense this because she suggests skipping the movie for drinks.
“Lead the way,” I tell her.
Harper and I are about four rounds in. When I say rounds, I don’t mean beer. Nope, straight tequila. Tequila and limes to be exact. It’s safe to say I’m buzzed. Digging into my purse, I grab my phone. I have four texts from Kohen and one from Connor and Logan in a group message. I hate group messages. Without responding to their reminders to be safe, I delete it.
I scan the area to see if Harper will be back anytime soon with our next round. We made a “no cell phone” rule earlier. I spot her at the bar flirting with two men. Because one is just not enough. Got to love her. I read Kohen’s text.
Kohen: Where are you?
Kohen: When you gonna be home babe?
Kohen: Please don’t ignore me again.
Kohen: Need me to pick you up?
Kohen: What did I say about ignoring me?
I peer up from my phone. Harper’s chatting at the bar, but she will be back soon. I can tell she’s bored. She’s no longer touching one of their arms, and she has put space between the
m that wasn’t there before. When she waves down the bartender, I begin to type out a message, then delete it. For some reason I don’t want to inform him about my change of venue. Instead of being honest, I ignore his first question.
Me: Hey sorry just checked my phone. Hour or two tops. Are you still working?
The phone buzzes as the bartender passes Harper two beers and a shot.
Kohen: Okay. No, I’m out at dinner with Claire and her husband. Keep your phone on you, babe!
Me: Will do.
I set down my phone as Harper returns. The small shake of her head tells me that she caught me. She hands me a shot.
“Consequences for breaking the rules. Bottoms up.”
I clink the shot with her beer. As I reach for the lime, she stretches across the table for my phone. I slap my hand on the table to stop her, but she’s too fast.
“Harper don’t, give it back.”
She shakes her head. “I think someone needs a reminder that if they have a penis, then they can’t interrupt girls’ night.”
My eyes widen in horror as her thumbs move over the screen. This is bad. I need to stop her. “Seriously, Harper, you made your point, now give me back my phone.”
She offers me the phone with a wicked grin. Not good. I glance down. Crap! Kohen will be furious.
Me: If I’m out having a few drinks, please refrain from contacting me unless it’s an emergency. I’m not going to check in every five minutes. If you have a problem with that, get over it. Enjoy your evening, I know I am.
I gasp. How could she do this? She knows this will create problems.
“You’re seriously getting bent out of shape for me sending a joke?”
“You had no right to text him. He has done nothing but be nice to you.” I stand up, ready to leave. “You need to get over your issue you with him, Harper. He’s a nice person, he treats me well.”
She rolls her eyes. “Last time I checked, bruises don’t scream nice person.”
I want to yell at her, but I can’t. Harper has a point, but she’s wrong. She doesn’t see the real Kohen. He has only shown his vulnerable side to me. He’s damaged like me, he has his problems, but so does everyone else. I can’t fault him for that. He loves me.
Beautifully Shattered (The Beautifully Series Book 1) Page 29
