“You’re okay?” I question, body numb.
“Just a little scratch. Riley hit her head when Hunt and Evan …” She trails off. “They saved us, Liv.”
“Are they okay?”
Zeke nods, and for the first time, I notice the phone pressed against his too pale face.
“Yes. We’re all okay.”
“You promise she’s okay?”
“God, Liv. She’s so brave. She’s fine, just the bump. She’s more worried about her, and I quote, ‘giant’s friends.’”
I close my eyes and drop my head to rest against his strong chest. I can feel the wild beat of his heart.
“I’ll call the airlines now and get the next flight out. You really are okay?”
I can hear it in her voice. She’s not okay. Hell, I’m not okay.
“I will be, Liv. I will be.”
I lift my head to wipe my eyes, seeing the makeup that was left behind on Zeke’s black shirt. I just stare at it.
“Who did this, El?”
She’s quiet, and I pull the phone away to see if we’re still connected, only to have it pulled from my hand. I watch with my jaw slack at Zeke places the phone to his ear.
“I’ll make sure she’s on the next flight out. Just got a call from Saint. I’ll fill her in.”
He hangs up, then tosses my phone on the bed and reaches out.
I step back. I don’t know why, but I need answers, and I feel like I’m about to come out of my skin. My girl is hurt, my friend is hurt, and I’m hundreds of miles away. The urge to run to her is so strong, I feel like I’m going to puke.
“Baby,” Zeke softly says, reaching out again.
I hold up my hand.
“Tell me why you have that look on your face,” I whisper. He looks worried, of course, but he also looks … terrified.
“Let me hold you,” he responds.
“No. Tell me.” I back up again and stop when I feel the bed at the back of my legs. “Tell me what has you looking scared.”
“Liv,” he utters with a hint of desperation to his voice.
“This is it, isn’t it?”
He stops advancing, dropping his arms to his side and his gaze to the floor.
“This is the why to you sticking close to us, isn’t it?”
“It’s not the only why, baby, but yes … it’s part of it.”
Rage like I have never felt ignites, and the feel of it rushing through my veins steals my breath. I feel weak with it. I want to scream. I want to fling my arms around and hit anything in my way. I want to cry with the fear that wars with my rage, making me anxious with the need to rush back home and see for myself that Riley is okay.
“I’m going to call the airline and get the flight switched.” His words do nothing to ease the way I’m feeling right now. If anything, I just want to lash out even more.
Don’t let your anger lead without thought.
Words long since forgotten come rushing to the forefront of my mind. Words that I used to say to my sister when her temper would fire, and she’d be ready to fight a battle she had no chance at winning. It doesn’t douse all the rage, but it makes it so I can take a little bit bigger of a breath.
“She could have died.” The words are out of my mouth before I have a chance to stop them. Seeing them hit their mark only makes me feel worse. Regardless of the reasons, I know he wouldn’t have done anything to intentionally hurt her. He cares about Riley just as much as I do. “I didn’t say that to hurt you, Zeke. It’s the truth. She could have died, and you were the only one who knew there was something—someone—out there who could hurt us. I asked you when we first started why you were there so many times, and not once did you tell me something was out there that could hurt her.”
“I wasn’t the only one,” he whispers so softly I almost didn’t hear him.
But I did.
“What do you mean, you weren’t the only one?”
“That’s why Evan and Hunt were there.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’ll tell you everything, baby. Let me call the airlines and get this sorted first so we can get back to our girl.”
Our girl.
My God. Like a cold shower, his words slam into me and shock the anger right out of my body. I can see it clear as day in his beautiful blue eyes that he’s just as upset as I am. Because he loves her like I do. Like she is his own.
I just don’t know if I can trust him anymore.
The thought alone is like ripping out my own heart.
My fight with him can wait. My girl needs me.
No, I think … my girl needs us both.
After one last look toward Zeke, I see his pained eyes on me and nod. With one last wipe to the tears streaming down my face, I turn to pack.
“Here, Right Now” by Joshua Radin
I shift in my seat, trying to find some space where there is none to be found.
Everywhere I try to shift, a large body blocks my movements.
“Sorry,” the large, unfamiliar body to my left grumbles.
I shift to my right as the arm around my shoulders flexes and pulls me even closer.
Zeke.
He knows I’m upset with him. Hell, I haven’t so much as spoken one word to him since he informed me we were leaving in an hour and, I quote, “would have company.” Had I been in the right frame of mind, I would have questioned how he had sorted everything so quickly and had us leaving in an hour. Having flown into the airport only once was all I needed to know that Hartsfield-Jackson Airport is a hot damn mess, and no one gets anywhere in just an hour.
Imagine my shock when we were picked up by Asher, Beck, and Maddox. All of them coming to our hotel door with silent and stoic expressions. They pulled Zeke aside, talked to him in hushed words, and then announced it was time to go.
I didn’t ask any questions.
If it gets me to my girl, I would do anything.
When we get down to the lobby, the three men move to surround me. One Cooper brother on each side, with Beck trailing us. It’s been bothering me since, seeing them move into a protective stance the moment we were in public. I didn’t ask. I kept my silence and prayed that Ella wasn’t underselling how Riley was.
“We’re here,” Asher says from the front. I look up and catch his gaze in the rearview mirror. Eyes so similar to his brother’s.
The doors start opening, and the men start filing out. Zeke grabs my hand, and I let him help me climb down from the SUV.
“Where are we?”
“Private airport. Seems a few talents were picked up over the years. Maddox is flying us up.”
I glance over at the dark eyes of the large silent man. Man, he’s intimidating. How sweet little Emmy can handle all that silent brooding, I don’t understand. In the limited interactions I’ve had with him, he’s hardly spoken.
“Just leave your bags there, sir. I’ll get it all loaded up for you, and you guys can head up into the cabin.”
Zeke and the guys place our luggage on the cart the man indicated and walk up the plane’s stairs. Without a choice, I follow their lead. I don’t pay much attention to the very opulent surroundings. Instead, I take the first seat I pass and settle in to look out the window. My thoughts are too turbulent for me to do much more. Beck and Asher pass by me, taking seats farther back in the cabin but close enough that I can hear their low conversation about football. Maddox goes to the front, and I see him take the pilot seat. A man I don’t know next to him.