Besotted by Rebecca Sharp

Eve

“Can’t wait for class tomorrow!” Kenzie hollered as she jogged past me up the stairs inside Blooms.

Work—both Roasters and the Pub—had been super busy lately and, between that and apartment hunting and Miles, I hadn’t had the chance to stop in and see the progress Mick and Miles had made with the renovations. I also hadn’t had the chance to stop in and see Addy after her interview I saw regularly replayed on the TVs in the Pub.

“Me too!” I smiled as I made my way back down.

Miles said that they’d been working on the second and third floors of the building getting the new rooms ready, so that was where I’d headed as soon as I walked in the door.

It was strange to see floorboards and studs, painted with dust and dirt, in the spot that had once held my room. I hadn’t searched out my sister or brother because I wasn’t sure how I would react, so I figured it was safer to process the sight on my own.

There’d been a twinge of nostalgia—okay, more than a twinge. But it was like looking at a high school yearbook—what I saw was something that had been filled with happy memories but also a place I couldn’t—and didn’t want to—stay forever.

Even though I knew the apartment was temporary, I felt like I was building something permanent there. If not with him, then at least for my dream to purchase the house on Sunflower Lane.

“Hey, Eve.” I spun to see Jo walking in the front door, Cammie beside her.

“Hey, guys.” I smiled and hugged them both. “What’s up?”

“Oh, not much.” She eyed me with a prying smile and a wink. “How are things with Mr. Aquaman?”

My half-laugh, half-groan was no match for Jo’s vibrant insistence.

Carmel Cove might be a tourist destination, but behind the curtain, it was still a small town that only projected a very big image. And that meant most of our close circle knew there was something unofficially official going on between Miles and me.

Of course, they’d seen crumbs of it before, but now that we’d been temporarily living together for the last two weeks, I think everyone except us was sure where it was headed.

“Was it that obvious?” I bit my lip but couldn’t hold back my grin.

“What? The ‘does he love me, does he love me not’ doe-eyes you have on all the time? Or maybe it’s the perpetual blush you have in your cheeks now that you’ve been getting some good lovin—”

“Jo!” I hissed, my eyes whipping around to make sure it was still just the three of us.

Of course, I didn’t care if they knew. But I doubted my brother wanted to hear about his little sister’s sex life when he was already struggling enough with our other sibling.

She threw her head back and laughed. “Don’t worry. We just passed Zeke on our way to the drugstore.”

And with that I breathed a little calmer, though I looked to Cammie for her corroboration, jokingly planting my hands on my hips. “Is she joshin’ me?”

She gave a shy shake of her head, pressing a hand to her stomach. “I forgot to pick up my prescription earlier and my mom is still at the bakery, so I asked Jo if she would go with me,” she confirmed.

My head tipped and the lightness of the conversation dimmed slightly. I hadn’t realized she was on any medications.

I cleared my throat, turning back to Jo. “Well, I’m glad you’re fine just blurting out about my… you know…”

“Sex life?” she snorted.

My cheeks burned. “Yeah. That. Thanks.”

Her grin grew. “We’re all excited for you, Eve. You deserve every happiness.”

“Thanks,” I said again even as I hoped it wouldn’t all vanish tomorrow.

“Alright, we’re goin’ up. See you tomorrow?”

I nodded and watched as they disappeared up the staircase while I spun and continued my trek toward the back of the building.

Even now, my body tingled knowing it would be going home to him tonight. It had done the same thing every night for the last thirteen days and I knew it would do the same for the next thirteen-thousand if he’d just ask.

I’d loved every moment about the last two weeks.

I loved the way he picked up dinner the nights that I worked at Roasters and how he sat and had coffee with me there every morning. Of course, he said it was just because it would be rude for him to grab himself dinner and not bring me anything, or that he only sat with his coffee because they were working at Blooms so there was no drive to drink it on.

I loved the way I caught him cleaning my glasses at night if he thought they looked dirty. I loved the way he came to the Pub, ordered one drink, and just sat and hung out for my whole shift so he could drive me home.

I loved our hikes and picnics after work with Kona. And I loved how he’d taken one look at my dream and spouted off ideas with vigor as though it were his own.

The truth was I loved every moment with him. Everything from the moment I fell asleep in his arms to the moment I woke up wrapped in them, and definitely all the moments in between.

But all those moments had been ticking down to tomorrow when the official two-week notice was up, and I still had no place to live lined up since Miles had vetoed all but the two I had scheduled to tour tomorrow. Two that I was sure he’d still find obscene objections with.

“Hey, Addy—” I broke off when I walked in right in the middle of a stare-down between my sister and Ace.

Addy sat in her chair, her elbows planted on the desk and her hands cupped over her mouth. She had on a loose navy tee and the black jacket she always wore when around anyone. And Ace continued to look every inch the modern Viking that he was, with half of his skull buzzed and home to a series of tribal tattoos easy to examine since he was also seated, though his back was angled away from the door.

This was the third time in just as many weeks that I’d seen him here and that fact made me nervous and uncomfortable. Not that he was here, I knew everyone was safer with him in the building, but I was uncomfortable with why he was here.

There was a tension in Addy’s office that hadn’t been there before—that had never been there before. Even when she argued with our brother or Ace. It was like a fine dust in the air, too light to settle but too heavy to be easily blown away.

“What’s going on?” I asked, every other thought of what I’d come in to talk to her about vanishing. “Are you okay? Is this about the interview?”

He didn’t move, but I caught the subtle twitch of his eyelid as Ace glanced at my sister, wondering just how much she’d told me.

“No.” Addy’s hands moved from her face as she folded her arms on the desk. And the dust thickened. “Nothing to do with the interview.”

Ace cleared his throat and set a stare on me that made me want to confess to crimes I’d never committed, that was how intense it was. “Two weeks ago, a young girl, Barbara Holland, went missing on Cove Lane. She was out jogging and her parents called when she didn’t come home. So far neither the police nor Dex have been able to find anything.”

I swallowed hard and felt my eyes burn with tears.

“O-Okay…” Still, I didn’t understand what that had to do with Addy.

“Earlier this week, two more girls went missing from a house party. A third, who was going to go with them but, at the last minute, wasn’t feeling well, said they were all approached by a good-looking guy and invited to some beach party at one of the mansions. She couldn’t really describe him but could tell us that it wasn’t the owner of the house.”

“What did the owner say?”

Ace’s jaw flexed, and I could see how the muscle vibrated all the way up his temple and under his tattoos making it appear like there were snakes shifting under the black streaks that were bled onto his skin. “He was having a house party and had almost a hundred people, many of whom were invited by friends of friends. Basically, he has no idea.”

I crossed my arms and chewed on my lip for a second. “That’s horrible… but what does it have to do with us?”

“They think the Crown Cartel is involved,” Addy spoke, offering the first link to our own lives. “That the cartel didn’t just bring their drug trade to Rock Beach, but that they are also trafficking women from the coast.”

“Oh God…” My hands flew to my chest.

“It could be unrelated. We haven’t found any links or anything to corroborate that theory except my gut. But I know there are a lot of girls here, and I know that they’re all working toward something better. So, I just want to give you a heads-up to keep your eyes out. Have the girls keep their eyes out.”

I nodded as my sister managed to say, “Thank you.”

Ace stood and towered over me, giving me his standard stoic goodbye before turning to my sister with a different look that suggested they’d talk later… about something else that wouldn’t be shared with me.

“You sure this doesn’t have to do with the interview?” I couldn’t help but ask again as I sunk into the now-vacant chair and pulled one knee up to my chest.

“No.” She brushed me off. “It started before that.”

“You okay?”

Addy looked like she’d crossed over the line where she was taking care of too much else to take care of herself.

My sister’s collected smile returned and she nodded. “Of course. What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” I shrugged. “I just stopped in to see how things were going and congratulate you on the interview.”

“You weren’t coming in to tell me about how you’re living with Miles?” she drawled, leaning back in her chair, her blue hair piled like an angry thundercloud on top of her head.

I winced. “You know?”

I’d told her I was staying at Mick and Jules’ old apartment. I’d left out that Miles was also staying there, too.

She bit into the cap on her pen that was already flattened from her chewing habit. “I know everything, little sis.”

“Are you mad?”

Her eyebrows shot up like they’d been fired from a rifle. “What? No. Of course not. I mean, unless you aren’t happy… unless he’s making you not happy. Then I’d be mad. More than mad.”

I chucked and frantically shook my head. “No. I’m happy. I just… I hope he’s happy… happy enough to want more.”

“Eve, from the time you were little, you knew exactly what you wanted from life. If you want to be with Miles, I don’t doubt that it’s because you think he’s the one for you. And you shouldn’t doubt it either. Just like your house, just like your studio… if Miles is the man of your dreams, I know that you have the patience and the persistence to make him see that whatever it is holding him back isn’t worth losing you.”

For someone who stayed away from relationships like oil pulls away from water, my sister sure knew what to say to put my mind at ease.

“Thank you,” I murmured, walking around the desk and wrapping her in a hug.

“Love you.”

I pulled back and dropped a kiss on her head. “Love you too.” I turned toward the door, hearing someone coming down the hall. “Alright, I’m going to head home. I’ll talk to you later.”

Her goodbye disappeared under the rustle of paper as I stepped out of her office and was jolted back as Jo barreled into me. “Shit! Sorry, Eve. Didn’t see you there.”

I laughed. “It’s okay. Are you okay?”

She let out a dramatic groan. “Yeah. I just got my period and, of course, I’m out of tampons, so I wanted to see if Addy had any hidden down here before I run up and ask the girls.”

“Ugh, the worst,” I empathized and stepped out of her way with a laugh. “Good luck!”

“Thanks!”

My smile lingered as I made for the front door, feeling a smidge more sure of the conversation I needed to have with Miles on Saturday. But I froze as my hand pulled open the door, my fingers gripping the cool bronze knob like it was the shiny idea that had opened Pandora’s box.

Tampons.

Period.

“Eve?” I jumped at the sound of my brother’s voice.

“Oh, hey!” A fake smile exploded over my face out of pure necessity. “I gotta go, but I’ll talk to you later. Make sure you ask Addy what Ace was here about!”

I added that last on the end to give his thoughts a place to go rather than follow me when I ran out and shut the door behind me.

My feet walked out of habit—out of knowing how to get anywhere in this town without ever really thinking about it. Meanwhile, my brain counted.

No… it turned back time.

There was no way…

I shook my head in disbelief as I climbed the stairs to the condo, acknowledging that by all calculations, I was late for my period. A fact I needed to confirm as soon as I got back to the apartment.

There’s nothing to worry about, Eve. Nothing.

First, sometimes this happened, especially since I started doing yoga regularly. The low body fat delayed things or shortened my cycle every once in a while.

Second, I was on the pill. Religiously.

I opened the door, grateful to hear the shower running as I scrambled into the kitchen and pulled out my birth control from the drawer.

I was over a week late.

My fingers traced the empty raised bumps where I’d taken the week of placebo-colored pills and, with everything going on between work and apartment hunting and Miles, I hadn’t even noticed.

It still didn’t mean anything, I repeated over and over again.

There was a lot going on, I reasoned. Plus, I’d only just started having sex—and lots of it—maybe my body was just confused that the pill now had a purpose for more than just regulating my cycle.

I closed my eyes.

There was nothing I could do about it tonight. Which meant there was no reason to freak out.

I could stop at the drugstore tomorrow, grab a test, and confirm that this was all just a fluke. But even as I tucked the pill packet back in the drawer, I knew.

Just like I knew that what Miles and I had was special…

Just like I knew that one night would change everything for the both of us…

I knew that it changed more than either of us had bargained for. More than either of us could’ve imagined.

I knew I was pregnant.

And out of all the things I could ever say to him—beyond telling him I thought we might get married after one dance and one kiss, accepting his offer of a place to stay like he’d asked me to move in—I knew this would be the one to drive him from me.