Page 36 of Stuck with my Frenemy
Chapter Fourteen
Cherry
Damn that Ebony and her long legs. No matter how hard I pumped mine, I couldn’t keep up with her. Like a thief in the night, she disappeared, cloaking herself in the darkness she loved so much.
Maybe that was why she wore black all the time. I kept myself hidden with my humor, and she used her darkness. And that made us more similar than either of us ever imagined, I supposed.
“Where do you think she went?” Bernie asked, his hand touching the small of my back. Goosebumps burst to life on the skin where his hand touched, even with my shirt providing a layer between us. Never in my life had I reacted to a man in this way, and with my bloodline, it said a bit too much about the situation.
But Loki had used the word “mates,” and that made everything a lot clearer. It was no wonder nervous energy exuded from me in waves anytime this guy was close. Men never made me uneasy, and it was true I could charm the socks right off of any of them—even though I never wanted to be like my mom—but still.
I didn’t know how to deal with the revelation.
Shrugging and inching away so it didn’t look like I wanted to get away from him, I turned to face him, still standing outside the casino at the edge of the sidewalk. “I don’t know. Could be anywhere. Her familiars went with her, too, or else I’d ask them. But we need to find her, Bernie. I’m really worried about her.”
Bernie’s gaze softened, and that gentle expression did things to me I didn’t want to admit were possible. Emotions flooded me, and my chest swelled. I even had to lock my knees so I didn’t move toward him. “It’s okay, Cherry. We’ll find her, I promise.”
Ash paced behind us like a caged tiger, his boots stomping the pavement as if it had offended him. “Okay,” he muttered, “if I was that infuriating woman, what would I consider a good place to lay low?”
I shook my head. “No such place exists in this realm for her. We don’t really belong here, if you remember. It’s not like they gave us an option to refuse, not that I would’ve, mind you. That’s why I’m worried.”
Nodding, he stopped moving, scratching his chin and scraping his fingers down either side in thought. He could think about it all he wanted, but there were only a few places Ebony had been since we’d arrived, and I didn’t think any of those would bring her the comfort she needed in that moment. Before she’d run off, I could feel how out of control her emotions were like a drum beating in my head. Unstable didn’t even begin to cover her in that moment.
But why? Loki was an ass for sure, and Cupid only knew why he would set us up for real because I wasn’t buying his whole explanation, but the only thing he’d said that had thrown me for a loop was the mates thing.
Maybe she didn’t really know how to handle that either?
Maybe she’d planned on being alone and pushed people away like she did for a reason.
There was a painful thud in my chest.
“I think our best bet is to split up and check the places in the city she knows. Squirrel, Bird, can you go to the antique store? You can see the location if you track it in my mind. Check there for her. Hurry.”
“Aye aye, Captainess.” Bird took off at a run, and Squirrel followed after a nod, flapping over the roofs, his white feathers sticking out like a sore thumb in the light from the moon.
“I’m going to the bar,” Ash declared, and if I wanted to debate about that decision of his, I didn’t get a chance, because he stormed off before I could open my mouth.
Chuckling nervously, I looked at Bernie’s nose so I didn’t have to make eye contact. “I guess that leaves the two of us.”
“Guess so.” There was tension in his tone I didn’t want to examine too closely.
I waved at him to follow and stalked toward the house, which was the only other place I thought she might go. Rushing wasn’t necessary, but I did want to find her sooner rather than later. Ebony could take care of herself and wouldn’t have it any other way most of the time, but I was working on making her more susceptible to accepting help from others. Like me, for instance. Sometimes, however, we all needed a little alone time to gather our thoughts, so I would at least give her that.
Awkward silence stretched between Bernie and me as we shuffled forward on the narrow sidewalk. I took in our surroundings to avoid meeting his gaze and opening up conversation I did not want to have because I just wasn’t ready for it. The small shops on this strip were all hidden, shrouded in the darkness as if the shadows had swallowed them whole. Here and there, one small store would peek through, the neon lights of their signage blinding me.
“Okay, is this weird, or is it just me?” Bernie mumbled, and I stopped to finally face him, grabbing his forearm to halt his movement, too.
“I thought it was just me. You seem … like you are taking this whole thing well.” I blew out a long sigh, releasing some of the anxiety threatening to choke me. “Thank goodness I’m not the only one who has no idea what to say.”
Bernie pressed his lips together, then nodded. “Well, we need to start somewhere. Anywhere, I guess, since this whole mate thing is out of my depth.”
A shiver caught me off guard, and I flinched. What the hell was that? “What was your family like,” I tossed the question nonchalantly, but deep down I was freaking out, even if I did really want to know the answer. Secretly, I prayed they were nothing like my mom.
A warm smile brightened every feature on his face, the moon’s light only emphasizing the love he had for his family. “Our mom was a mythology professor, funnily enough. Our dad loved her with everything in him in our childhood, at least for a while. Her success garnered resentment eventually after years of watching her climb up in her career, something that he couldn’t handle. From the time we were teenagers until he passed, he just wasn’t the same person anymore.” Pausing and glancing at the stars, Bernie ran a hand through his hair. “I try not to judge him for his last years and focus more on the happy times we shared as a family. At least I try. We had a great childhood, and that’s what should count.”
I took in his words and let them soak in my head for a minute before I started walking and continued the conversation. “I’m sorry.” The sadness I felt was overwhelming, but I had an urge to hear more about it. “So, you harbor no ill will at all for your dad? Did he treat you guys and your mom terrible in the end?”
He shook his head, his hair flopping around his face and landing to frame the perfection of his chiseled features as he lengthened his stride to catch up to me. I never walked that fast, but at that moment, I wanted to run away from everything I felt. “Nah. I don’t waste time on holding grudges, that’s more an Ash thing. Resentment just poisons the soul, in my humble opinion. Sure, I remember some of the bad from time to time, and it wants to take hold, but I refuse to let it. My dad was not a strong person, and he had his own demons. I think he just didn’t know how to be better.”
