Page 10 of Cedar Edge
“And Ace?” Logan goes still, his body rigid. It's the only answer I need. Logan and Law may have regretted ghosting me but Ace? Ace didn’t want me, and I burned the bridge when I came onto him.
“You are safe in this house, for as long as you need to be here. You got that? And anyone who threatens that safety won’t be around long.”
The darkness in his voice sends shivers down my spine, it has a promise of violence on it, not towards me, butforme. And lord help me; I want what he is promising.
People may have always been afraid of Ace, and been cautious with Law but at this moment I’m beginning to think that Logan is the one with the most darkness running through his veins, that his golden boy exterior works well in hiding what lurks behind those green eyes.
“You were our best friend Thea. And I want that back.” Logan swipes tears from my face that I didn’t know were falling.
Friend.
The word cools the fire he had ignited in me immediately. I do my best to ignore the feeling of my heart cracking in two because as he had been holding me, saying all the right things, I had allowed hope to grow and I should fucking know better.
Chapter Five
“Perhaps it is our fault that we persist in coming into contact with plants that can kill. These toxic components have evolved out of a need to protect against consumption, after all, and yet we continue to consume.”
-Fez Inkwright,Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow Lives of Plants-
Logan
“She just needs to cool off.” I say for the millionth time. I watch as Ace paces back and forth. He’s been like this since the night of the party when Thea fled back to their childhood home and had gone radio silent ever since.
He shakes his head as I pull a drag from the joint into my lungs, holding the drug in as long as I can. I love the burn of it. “Something is off, I can fucking feel it.”
Ace isn’t wrong that it feels odd but we talk to Thea all day everyday so truthfully any amount of silence would feel weird. “Alright dude lets just call her.” Before he can stop me I hit theFaceTime button. We both wait to see her adorable face pop up on the screen only to be met by ‘caller unavailable’.
“She’s just busy.” I say but as the words come out of my mouth I see her name pop up via text.
Tinkerbell: I need you all to leave me alone.
Tinkerbell: I’m seeing someone now and it’s not appropriate for me to be as close with you three. It was wrong for me to even think of entertaining a relationship with any of you, especially my brother. Please respect my decision.
The words feel like I’m getting punched in the gut over and over. And I’m ready to kill whoever thinks they can touch Thea. But when I look at Ace I know the words just destroyed a part of him that we may never get back.
I watch Thea’s reactions closely as we talk. She’s a shell of who she used to be and all I want is to demand answers. She wasoursand yet she had left us for someone else. Refusing to speak to us. Ace had spiraled deep after that, going to a dark place I hadn’t been sure we could pull him back from.
It had been miserably hard to respect her decision but I was also pissed that she could throw away years of friendship for some fucking asshole. After I heard about her moms death I said fuck it and came back one weekend to demand she talk to me. At the very least I was going to fucking be there for her while shegrieved. But she had vanished. No one could, or would, tell us where Thea Montgomery had gone.
And now I find her half dead on the side of the road. None of it makes sense.
Thea clears her throat. Her body shivers in my hold and I’m reminded how much of her story I’m missing. “Let’s get you in a warm shower. We can finish our conversation after that.”
I reluctantly pull away and lead her towards the back of the cabin, pushing the door open to our master bedroom. Long ago, when we remodeled the house, I demanded a room big enough to fit all three of us with a shower and bathroom to match. While the whole house is gorgeous and an architect's wet dream, the master is my favorite place.
Thea pulls up short just over the threshold, her eyes wide as she takes in the room. “Don’t worry Tink, this just has the best bathroom.” I say in a joking tone. “I promise to behave myself.” I throw a wink in for good measure.
She flushes crimson as she pulls her bottom lip into her teeth, biting down as she nervously shifts back and forth.
Fuck me, what I wouldn’t give to be the one biting that lip.
I stalk towards her with a low growl, the noise and movement spooking her and sending her back against the door jam. I want to feel bad, Ishouldfeel bad, for spooking her, but after everything I can’t help but enjoy the wide eyes she has.
Bracing an arm above her head I lean in, breathing in her natural scent. Without thought my thumb presses into her lip, dragging it back out. “No more biting this. That lip deserves to be cherished.” I hear the exhale of her breath in a rapid whoosh as I step away with a cocky smirk.
This girl is both sin and salvation. She’s the apple in my own garden of Eden and when I finally get a bite? I’m going to fucking devour her.
Starting the bath up, I look behind my shoulder. “Ace is out on a job right now, won’t be back for a few days.” I supply the information as I busy myself with adding the bath salts. I don’t miss the sigh of relief she has at that.
