Chapter 11: Home Sweet Home

On the way back to my truck, I timed my steps to hers, mostly so she wouldn’t get winded again, but honestly, I hadn’t even realized that’s what I was doing. Made sense, though, because I was already so incredibly attuned to everything about her. I was even figuring out what her various sighs and smiles meant.

A faint rustling sound to my right snapped me from my thoughts. My enhanced senses kicked into overdrive, and I listened closely. Other than Chloe’s, I couldn’t detect any human heartbeats, nor did I smell blood. I relaxed a little knowing there wasn’t a vampire nearby. Chloe inched closer to me, and a moment later, something fat and furry ambled across the path in front of us. She yelped with surprise and grabbed hold of my arm.

A raccoon. I rolled my eyes, fully intending to keep going on our way, but then the animal stopped and turned toward us. Its beady eyes glowed eerily. Tail thrashing violently, the animal raised its fur and let out a guttural growl, teeth bared. Of course the stupid thing would have to cause a scene. Sometimes, being an apex predator was the worst.

I protectively guided Chloe behind me and stepped forward. She clutched my hand, fear swirling around her.

“Get out of here,” I said in a menacing tone. I took another step toward the crazed animal, and Chloe squeezed my hand. Even though I knew her reactions were fear-based, I let myself believe part of it was concern for me, too. “Go on.” I stomped my foot a little too forcefully, and the ground shook slightly.

The animal moved forward, its growl turning to a hiss. Chloe buried her face against my back, which meant she was no longer watching. Good. I could get rid of this troublesome animal quicker. I tensed, bent over slightly, and let out a throaty hiss. My face contorted, and my fangs protruded. The racoon froze, then scurried back into the woods.

I straightened. “It’s gone.”

“What?” She peeked around me. “Hissing at it actually worked?”

I shrugged. “He felt threatened, so he was defending himself. When he realized we weren’t going to harm him, he left.”

Dumbest reasoning I could’ve come up with, but Chloe didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. We continued on, and when my truck came into view, Chloe let out a relieved sigh.

Once we were safely inside and headed away from the falls, she asked, “Where are we going to get lunch? We can’t exactly go home, and I’m sure if we go to the diner in town, someone will recognize us.”

“My dad is out of town until tomorrow. We can go to my house and grab something.”

One of my worst ideas, I was sure, but Chloe was right. If we went anywhere in town, someone would see us, and I didn’t want her to get in trouble for skipping school today. But her stomach was still rumbling, so she needed to eat.

“I figured we could use my laptop to start doing some research,” I said. Maybe focusing on that would distract me from the fact that we’d be alone in my house, mere feet from my bed.

“Yeah, okay,” she said. “But I’m not sure what good it will do. I spent a lot of time online this past weekend and didn’t find much.”

Shit. I’d forgotten she found a picture of Sean. Maybe she wouldn’t bring it up again. Then again, this was Chloe, and she loved to ask questions. I’d have to come up with a believable lie.

“Maybe you weren’t looking in the right places.” I chuckled.

Silence filled the cab of the truck as I drove toward the outskirts of town and then took a winding road that steadily climbed up into the mountains.

“Here we are,” I announced as I pulled into the driveway.

Of course, Old Man Moore was outside, standing on his porch. He wore an angry scowl, and his thin lips were pursed. He watched us through narrowed, accusatory eyes. He’d better not cause any trouble today.

“Who’s that?” Chloe asked.

“Mr. Moore, but we call him Old Man Moore. He’s a nosy grump. Ignore him. We do.”

“Okay,” she said, her gaze wandering toward my house.

The house had been Sean’s for centuries, and he loved it. Carved from the side of the mountain, the house offered privacy and much needed shade during the summer months. The view from the living room window was pretty incredible, too.

We got out of the truck, and I took her hand to lead her inside the massive brick structure. We entered through a spacious foyer that had coat rack hooks along the right wall. A few coats hung there, and below them were shoes and boots neatly lined up with the toes tucked against the wall. Despite Dad’s office being a mess on a good day, he thrived in an orderly house.

“This place is amazing,” she said with awe.

“It used to be an inn or some sort of bed and breakfast. It has nine bedrooms.”

“Nine?” she asked, her voice loud.

“Crazy, right?”

“Uh, yeah.” She laughed. “The house definitely looks big, but not big enough for nine rooms.”

“Five of them are in the basement.” I nodded for her to have a seat on one of the stools at the island counter.

She sat. “The basement?”

I nodded again. “Those rooms have been closed off. We don’t use them.” My tone held a warning.

Other than the room that housed Sean’s office, the others were mostly unused, and one of them we refused to enter—too many horrific memories. Though, someday, I knew I’d have to show Chloe.

“I bet it’s great, though. If you and your brother are fighting and you want to get away, there’s plenty of room for that.”

I laughed. “We used to love playing hide and seek when we were kids. Colt was horrible at it, and it would take him hours to find me and Jax.”

She tilted her head. “Who’s Colt?”

Could I not keep my mouth shut around her? If I thought being close to her was dangerous, that was nothing compared to simply talking to her. Things flew out of my mouth without effort, and then I had to cover my ass.

Pretending not to hear her question, I went to the fridge and began pulling out various deli meats, condiments, and sliced cheese. Too bad I didn’t possess Jax’s cooking skills. I could impress Chloe with something a hell of a lot better than cold sandwiches.

“There was this one time, we were seven or eight, I think, and Colt was having a terrible time trying to find us. He went to Dad and told him that we’d run away.” I shook my head, smiling, and grabbed a loaf of bread from the counter behind me. “We got into so much trouble.”

“Who’s Colt?” she asked again.

And I’d done it again. What the hell? “My oldest brother. He died an extremely long time ago.” Hopefully, that would be enough of an explanation. She hadn’t pried when I told her about my mother, so with any luck, she wouldn’t pry into this, either.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” She leaned forward, propping her elbow on the counter and dropping her chin into her hand.

I busied myself with gathering the rest of the food for lunch, each breath nervous as I waited for her to say something that would cause me to have to lie again. Our very existence hinged on being able to lie, and I was good at it, but I hated lying to Chloe. I wanted her to know everything so that I could be myself around her, but the fear of losing her was my constant companion.

“When I was younger, every birthday, I used to wish for a brother or sister. Obviously, that never came true, but I hated being an only child.” Chloe’s tone was wistful.

Relief settled over me. She wasn’t going to ask a million questions about Colt. Thank God. “Really? Seems like that would be the best. No one to fight with, no one to get you into trouble, blame things on you, no one to compete with.” I handed her two slices of bread.

She straightened and took them. “No one to play with or talk to or to blame when you did something wrong and didn’t want to take the punishment for it.” She gave me a mischievous grin.

Laughing, I nodded. Jax and I did love to blame things on each other. Though Sean was smart enough to see through us, and usually we both ended up in trouble.

“You have Abby now, though,” I said.

“Yeah, Abby’s been great.”

We fell silent for a few moments, each of us making a sandwich. Chloe chose turkey with cheese, no mayo, and I loaded mine with roast beef, double cheese, mayo, and mustard. As I piled everything back in the fridge, Chloe picked at her sandwich, almost as if she were nervous to eat in front of me.

I grabbed two cans of soda and handed one to her. “Is that okay? Or would you prefer water?” I asked as I took the seat next to her. Maybe sitting next to her as opposed to directly in front of her would make her a little more comfortable.

“Soda is fine.” She popped the tab and took a sip. “In case I forget to say it later, thanks.”

“For what?” I finished my sandwich in a few large bites, then took a long drink of my soda.

“For turning me into a juvenile delinquent.” She tried—and failed—to hide her smile behind a bite of her sandwich.

My jaw dropped, and my eyes widened. If not for her smile, I wouldn’t have known she was teasing. “A juvenile delinquent?” I asked around a laugh. “Guess someone should’ve warned you about me, huh?”

“Oh, they have.”

“They?” My voice dipped low, accusatory.

Who had she been talking to? Marc. What the hell had he been telling her about me? If I hadn’t wanted to kill him before, I sure as hell did now. The last thing I needed was for him to fill Chloe’s head full of lies about me.

“Chloe?” I said her name slowly, hoping she could pick up on the underlying warning in my tone without frightening her. But now more than ever, I needed to know everything Marc had ever said to her.

“Look, it’s not a big deal. I was only joking, but clearly you didn’t find it funny.” She tentatively placed her hand on my arm, and fire erupted in my veins. “I’m sorry.”

Some of the unease—and the strong desire to murder Marc—vanished, and I relaxed enough to let the subject drop, but I’d be more vigilant. Maybe Jax and I needed to have a little chat with Marc, remind him that we were here first. Minding our own business, no less, so he had no reason to be stirring up trouble. But obviously, he was, and I was going to stop him—before he had the chance to ruin whatever relationship I was building with Chloe.