Page 13 of Duress
She walks toward the paid parking lot next to Brewed Awakening. Perfect. Timing my exit, I walk out just as she gets to my side of the street, forcing us to cross paths. She’s distracted, looking at her phone, hopefully reading my text. I call out her name, garnering her attention. “Everly?”
She stumbles to a stop at the sound of my voice. When she looks up, her mouth drops open, and her eyes widen in surprise. Yup, she’s definitely avoiding me.
“D-Dane. Hey…umm…” Not willing to let her off with an excuse to avoid talking, I take control of the conversation. I reach out and take her hand, pulling her off to the side out of the way of pedestrian traffic.
“Ever, can we talk?” I do my best to keep my voice calm. I don’t want to give her any impression that I’m angry. I watch at she scans our surroundings, maybe looking for anyone who might see us. Blowing out a sigh, she nods, relenting to my request. I spy her car at the back of the lot, so I lead her toward it so we can have some privacy. Hopefully that will put her at ease.
Once we are in her car, I can see her visibly relax. She leans her head back against the head rest, closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath, holding it for a four count before slowly releasing it. I’ve seen her do this before. It’s how she centers herself before starting an art therapy session. I think she called it box breathing. She used to do it with Mom before they began each session. I watch her do it two more times before she opens her eyes and directs all of her attention toward me.
“What do you want to talk about, Dane?”
“I just want to make sure you’re okay. I know you feel like that kiss was a mistake, and I don’t want you to feel like I’m going to pressure you into telling Bryce or doing it again. If you feel like you need to tell him though, then I’ll deal with it. I want to know where your head is.”
Apparently whatever Everly was expecting me to say, it wasn’t that. Her eyes soften at my words, and a small smile plays at the corner of her mouth. I think she’s so used to Bryce’s demands and coldness that she didn’t expect me to hit her with empathy and understanding.
“I haven’t told Bryce. I don’t plan to. I know your relationship with him is strained enough, and I don’t want to make it worse. I was drunk and sad and…I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have kissed you. I’m sorry, Dane.”
“I’m not.” I mean it too. I’m not sorry at all that she kissed me. I hope it’s the catalyst she needs to realize she can do better than Bryce. That she doesn’t have to settle for him. Even if she doesn’t wind up with me, I can’t stand the idea of a woman like Everly withering away under Bryce’s shadow.
“I’m not sorry you kissed me. I think you are incredible, Ever. I’ve felt that way for a long time. Probably for way longer than I should have. You are so much better than my brother. You deserve someone who loves you for the light you shine into the world. Not someone who tries to make you dim it. I just want to be here for you. Help you find a way to shine.”
Everly’s eyes shimmer with tears. My words hit their intended target.
“Let me be there for you. Don’t shut me out. Please.” Everly closes her eyes, causes the tears to finally break free and trickle down her cheeks. Her mouth presses into a thin line, like she’s fighting back a sob. After a long, tense moment, her head nods.
Not ready to push my luck, I decide to change topics. Pull us back from the same charged energy that was surrounding us Thursday night when we kissed.
“So can I give Serena your number?”
Everly huffs out a laugh as she wipes away her tears. “Yeah, sure. You can give my number to Serena.”
CHAPTER 12
EVERLY
“I’m not sorry you kissed me. I think you are incredible, Ever. I’ve felt that way for a long time. Probably for way longer than I should have. You are so much better than my brother. You deserve someone who loves you for the light you shine into the world. Not someone who tries to make you dim it. I just want to be here for you. Help you find a way to shine.”
Dane’s words echo in my mind as I walk through the front door. After my brunch date with Veronica—that I went to at Bryce’s insistence—running into him was the absolute last thing I expected. I had been ignoring his texts; the guilt from kissing him and then blowing him off had been eating me alive, but I knew continuing down that path was only going to lead to both of us getting hurt. I had hoped maybe he would take the hint and back off, letting my momentary lapse into insanity be forgotten. I had almost convinced myself I could pretend it had never happened. Apparently, I’m not that lucky.
Seeing him in person, being reminded of the way itfeels like he manages to stare straight into my soul, sent me right back to that desperate, lonely headspace I was in on Thursday night when I kissed him. His presence has a calming effect on me. He makes me feel…safe. Secure. Seen. My mind screamed at me to make an excuse to leave and not talk to him, but seeing the earnestness in his eyes, the worry. I couldn’t bring myself to say no.
Then when Dane delivered his speech about how incredible he thought I was and how he wanted to be there for me, my stupid heart wanted nothing more than to leap across the center console and crush my mouth to his for a repeat of our last kiss. The kiss we shared on Thursday had been electric. Mind-blowing. Consuming. God, if Bryce hadn’t called and interrupted it, I don’t know where we would have stopped. My whole body lit up under Dane’s touch. I felt like a live wire, sparking in a rainstorm.
Bryce used to kiss me like that. Years ago, when we were first married. I don’t know when our kisses went fromthatto…whatever they are now. Mundane? Perfunctory? Obligatory? It’s not the difference between new, exciting lust versus old love. I don’t even know if love exists between Bryce and me any longer. We are tied together because of circumstance now. Our marriage is a ship that we will both go down with together, whether we like it or not.
“Everly, is that you?” Bryce’s voice floats through the house, pulling me from my thoughts. Clearing my throat, I give my head a shake, treating it like an etch-a-sketch as I try to erase the memory of Dane’s lips on mine, on the off chance Bryce has suddenly become a mind reader.
“Yeah, it’s me.” I kick off these godawful heels and toss them into the entryway closet before heading in his direction. He’s probably going to grill me about my brunch with Veronica. Make sure I did my wifely duty and made a good impression on her, so she will give a positive report to her husband. Honestly, I would’ve rather been having my teeth extracted than share a meal with the likes of Veronica Harrington, but it’s not like I get much say in the matter. I do what I must to make Bryce look good. That is my lot in life.
I find Bryce sitting in one of the leather wingback chairs in his study, whiskey tumbler in hand, staring out at the view of the mountains. I pause at the doorway to take in his appearance. He’s still as handsome as ever, but he looks pensive and slightly disheveled. His hair is ruffled, like he’s been running his hands through it, and his white button-down is undone halfway, with the sleeves rolled up. He told me he had an early morning meeting before I left for brunch but didn’t mention who it was with. It doesn’t seem like that meeting went very well.
“Hey, honey. How was your morning?” I lean down to plant a chaste kiss on his cheek in greeting. Instead of letting me move away, he wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me into his lap. I let out a startledoofwhen I land, feeling the hard rigidness of his length under my ass.
“To be honest, it wasn’t great. I had a meeting with someone that didn’t go the way I wanted, and my useless, lazy, piece of shit brother won’t return my calls. I could use some cheering up.”
My spine stiffens at the venom in his voice when hementions his brother.He doesn’t know. He can’t know. He doesn’t know.I keep repeating the manta in my head as I contort my face into a concerned expression.
“I’m sorry, love. What happened?”
