Page 101 of Wicked Ends
Considering how much my father had fucked me over in my life, not to mention my uncaring, absent mother, giving someone the power to hurt me wasn’t on the top of my to-do list, but Ari hadn’t asked for permission.
She’d just fucking taken it.
The day went slowly. Coach was pissed at me, and so was the rest of HHU. The thing about hockey fans in a town like Hade Harbor, where everyone rooted for the Hellions, was that you had the potential to disappoint so many strangers in a one-hundred-and-twenty-minute game. I usually didn’t care, but then I usually didn’t get a game stopped by losing my cool. The goalie has a responsibility that no one else on the team has: to keep their cool. Since meeting Ari, that cool was eluding me more and more.
I checked her location on my phone after grabbing dinner at The Clutch with Cole. She was at the Night Owl. Probably sleeping. I fought the urge to go over there and see her. She’d issued me a challenge… I wasn’t going to fail at it. I wanted her to see that I could wait for her. I wanted her to understand what she meant to me.
“I heard that your pretty little teacher went to see a rental property today,” Cole said.
I raised an eyebrow at him. “And you know that because?”
“It’s my property. Pippa called.”
“Which property?”
“Run-down shithole near the beach. Pippa said she liked it a lot.”
I nodded. I could see my birthday girl in a quiet beach cottage, composing her songs and walking along the rocks. Watching the colors of the sounds of the sea.
“Doubt she’ll get it, though. No references…” He slid me a glance. “You know where your girl was and what she was doing before she got here?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. That’s her business.” I took a swallow of beer. My body was aching all over from training this morning, and my damn hand was throbbing. I’d pulled some stitches already.
“Well, all I can see is the fancy music conservatory she studied at and her hometown… nothing much of anything else. No socials. That’s weird.”
“You looked her up?”
Cole nodded, staring down at the bar top. “I figured I should know something about the woman my brother seems to think is trustworthy enough to bring around our house. The Clutch, your dorm. You don’t seem to be keeping Hounds business secret from her, which is new.”
I shrugged. “I trust her.”
Cole chuckled. “Looks like my brother is lovestruck, or is it dick-struck? I’d be more likely to believe that than any love bullshit.”
I clapped him on the shoulder. “Come on, now. Don’t give up on love, Cole. It could always be just around the corner.”
Cole rolled his eyes. “Sure. Sign me up for two kids and a runaway wife anytime. Sounds fucking perfect.”
I studied my brother’s profile. Last year, I’d have thought the exact same way as him. Repeating my parents’ mistakes had been the last thing on my mind. But lately, that had been changing. I’d seen my best friends fall fast and hard and never look back. Sure, I’d thought they were insane when it was happening, but now, since meeting Ari, I was starting to get it.
“I’m not sure our parents ever loved each other. Honestly, I don’t think love is anything like we’ve been taught it is. It’s something else. It feels different,” I added.
Cole shot me a sideways glance. “Is that a fucking confession?”
I chuckled. “An observation, from one cynic to another.”
Cole shook his head. “You’re no cynic, Marcus. You’ve got dreams and talent and fucking plans… true cynics don’t because, what’s the point? You’re no cynic, and if I achieved anything good by taking you out of the group home and playing house at the age of twenty-five with you… it’s that.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. There didn’t seem to be anything at all. So, I simply raised my bottle and clinked it against his.
“What’s the address of the property?” I wondered.
Cole fished around in his pocket and withdrew a key.
“I fucking knew you were going to ask me that.” He grunted. “What about her mysterious past and lack of references?”
I shrugged and took the key. “She doesn’t need references. She’s got me.”
“Is there a reason you’ve dragged me here at the crack of dawn?” Asher yawned as we walked across the stone path toward the cabin by the water.
