Changing Everything (9 page)

He wiped at his lip as he straightened, and looked down at the blood on his hand before rolling his eyes. Grabbing one of the bar napkins, he cleaned it off and picked up his Guinness. I made a face as he downed half the pint.

“That’s disgusting.” He grimaced and slammed the glass back down.

“As I’ve been telling you for years!”

Eli smirked and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close as he bent down, and letting his lips fall onto mine. “The beer mixed with blood, Pay.”

“Ew.”

“Exactly.” He kissed me again, and I pushed against his chest.

“You taste like nasty beer now,” I whined.

“And you love it.”

“Lie. That is such a lie.”

He laughed and captured my mouth again, this time slowly teasing my tongue with his, and I melted into his arms and that kiss despite the Guinness aftertaste.

“Is it okay if I still don’t know how to feel about all this?” Kristen asked. “I’m happy, and weirded out, and feel like I’ve stepped into an alternate universe . . . so many conflicting emotions.”

Eli was smiling down at me when he pulled back, but he spoke to Kristen. “You have time to get used to it.” Working his jaw a few times, he reached for his glass again and drained his beer. “Ready to get out of here?”

Grabbing his keys out of his pocket, he handed them to me and my eyes widened. “You’re letting me drive your truck?” Not that I hadn’t before. But it was always only because I’d won a bet, and I’m pretty sure I knocked five years off Eli’s life every time I did.

“I don’t know . . . can you reach the pedals?”

My expression fell and I smacked his stomach. “Don’t be rude or I’ll take your keys and leave you here.”

He gripped my hips and pulled me closer. “It was an honest question. You’re munchkin-sized.”

“I am
not
a munchkin!”

Ignoring me, he lifted me into his arms and kissed me soundly. “Perfect pickup size.”

“I’m leaving you here,” I grumbled against his lips.

“I want to get out of here. I want to be alone with you, and I just got punched and chugged a pint all within the last five minutes. So, yes, I want you to drive.”

I frowned and gently trailed my fingers over his red jaw. “ ’Kay, let’s go, giant.”

He snorted. “Troll.”

“Take that back!” I demanded.

“The cute ones with the colorful hair that sticks straight up,” he backpedaled.

“That does
not
make it any better!”

“It makes you adorable,” he countered. He was still holding me, and turned so we could both see Kristen and Jason. “Later.”

“Bye,” they called out in unison, both smiling widely at us.

“Did you hear what he called me?” I asked as Eli began walking us away.

Eli kissed my forehead and squinted his eyes in concentration before smirking. “We could even give you the colorful hair and everything. Like I said, you’ll be adorable.”

People were whistling and shouting catcalls as Eli walked me out of the bar—if only they knew what was actually going on right now.

“Trolls are
not
adorable, you beast.”

“Does that make you Beauty?” he teased.

I growled unimpressively. “This is not the time for you to try to be sweet.”

“But you’re pint-sized, you
are
adorable.”

“And you look like Lurch.”

He laughed loudly before everything stopped at once. Eli stopped walking, there was no sound coming from him, and even though we were out near the ocean air, it suddenly felt thick with tension . . . and I knew it was all coming from the man holding me.

“Paisley,” he sneered my name, and my body froze. “Get back in the bar and stay with Kristen. Have Jason come out here.”

“What’s—”

Eli stopped my head from turning to look behind me as he let my body slide down his. “Please just go inside until I come get you.”

I was looking up at Eli, but he was staring directly past me—his blue eyes were dark and his body was vibrating.

“Who’s behind me?” I asked hesitantly.

“No one,” he answered. When I tried pulling away, he looked directly into my eyes. “Please, Pay.”

“Why can’t I look? What is it?”

He took a large breath in before releasing it through his nose; his eyes never once left mine. “You’ll see it later anyway, but right now I don’t know
if
he’s still here, and I will beat the shit out of him if I see him. And that is something I really don’t want you to see. So,
please
, just trust me that going inside would be best right now.”

Eli said
he
. At that moment, I could only think of one person who that might be. If what had gone on in the bar had barely fazed him, then I couldn’t begin to imagine what Eli was looking at that was having this kind of effect on him. “If you honestly think Brett had something to do with whatever is behind me, then I
need
to see it even if he is still here, which I doubt he is after what just happened in the bar.”

His arms didn’t loosen, and the worry on his face seemed to multiply. His lips pressed into a firm line as he watched me, and he began shaking his head slowly.

“Don’t try to protect me from this,” I whispered my plea. “And don’t make me leave you right now because I will go crazy in that bar wondering what is happening out here.”

After a few more seconds of silence, Eli released me with a heavy sigh, only to loosely wrap an arm around my waist as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. I waited long enough to see him text Jason, then dial a nine and a one before I turned around, and my stomach sank.

All the windows on Eli’s truck were smashed out, as were the windows on the cars on either side. But for those cars, it was only the windows that were directly next to Eli’s truck.

He couldn’t have. Brett wasn’t vindictive like this. I knew he was hurting . . . but he wasn’t violent. He wasn’t this guy.

“I need police,” Eli said calmly. “Yeah, I’m at O’Malley’s on H Street, someone broke all the windows on my truck . . .”

I blocked out what he was saying as I tried to understand what was happening. As I turned around to see if any other cars looked like they’d had the same fate, the sinking feeling in my stomach only seemed to double when I didn’t see anything else out of the ordinary.

Brett wouldn’t do this
, I told myself. But, then again, I wouldn’t have thought that he would come looking for Eli to punch him either.

“That fucker,” Jason sneered when he and Kristen joined up with us.

“Oh my God! How did no one see him do this?” Kristen asked.

Apparently everyone thought it was Brett.

Searching for my phone in my pocket, I tapped on the screen until it was calling Brett’s number, but it went straight to voice mail.

“Of course,” Eli gritted out, having heard. “How convenient.”

A few police cars pulled up minutes later. Two officers began checking out the truck while another questioned Eli.

“Is there anyone you know of who might do this?” he asked a couple minutes in.

Eli eyed me warily and his grip on my waist tightened. “Her ex showed up tonight and tried to start a fight. Pulled me off the bar stool and punched me before I was able to stop him, security walked him out not even five minutes before we came out here. If it was him he would’ve had to have done it beforehand.”

“Name?”

“Brett Oswell,” I answered. “I tried calling him and his phone went straight to voice mail.”

The officer nodded. “I’ll need any information you have on him, ma’am.”

“Of course.”

We talked to the cop and security guards from the bar for thirty minutes before Eli pulled me in for a short kiss. “Go home with Kristen and Jason, and I’ll come get you when all this is taken care of.”

“No, I want to be here with you.”

“And I want you safe while this is happening. After what happened with Rachel and my dad, I don’t want you alone and I don’t want you out here now that it’s getting dark. I don’t know Brett, but I know he’s pissed and has already shown it in one way that we’re positive of—that alone makes me want to keep you from him. If he did this?” he said, gesturing toward his truck. “I’m not leaving you alone ever again. My buddy who owns a window repair shop is on his way. By the time I come get you tonight, my truck will look like nothing happened. All right?”

I glanced over to Eli’s truck and the two cars on either side, and my eyes drifted over the officers and owners of the other vehicles. “Okay,” I conceded, and shook my head in disbelief.

Kissing me harder this time, he held me close to his chest as he spoke to Jason. “Keep my girl safe. Anything happens to her tonight—”

“I’m dead, I figured.”

“Give me your phone, Pay.” My eyebrows drew together as I handed it to him, and he placed his cell in my hand. “If Brett calls your phone, I’m answering. I’ll call you when I’m coming to get you.”

“See you soon,” I whispered as I backed away with Kristen and Jason, but it sounded more like a plea.

If Brett had done this, I didn’t want to be away from Eli at all. But I didn’t want him to have to worry about me while trying to get things straightened out here. So with one last look, I turned and left.

Chapter Ten

September 27, 2013

Eli

I
KNOCKED O
N
Jason’s door a few hours later, and looked around at the dark street—trying to see anything that seemed off. I couldn’t prove that Brett had been the one to vandalize the cars, but it would’ve been stupid for me to think for one second that it could’ve been anyone else. And while I knew it was just paranoia from what had happened with Dad and Rachel, I was afraid if I let my guard down for a second, something would happen to Paisley.

“Hey, so what all happened?” Jason asked before the door was even fully open.

I stepped in and looked around for the girls as I responded, “Got asked the same questions a few more times. I tried calling Brett twice but it still went to voice mail, but I heard two of the cops talking about cameras that were on the lights in the parking lot, so hopefully they find something. Where are the girls?”

He nodded his head in the direction of the bedroom. “Kristen’s sitting with her on the bed . . . Paisley’s kind of in shock about what happened. She kept saying on the way home that Brett wasn’t an angry or violent guy. I think the fact that she was with someone who would do this is really getting to her.”

I frowned as I crossed my arms over my chest. “I know she was falling hard for him, but she didn’t know him long enough to know who he really was.”

“I agree, and I think she’s just come to that realization. How does the truck look?”

“Like nothing ever happened. We got all the glass vacuumed out and replaced, I’m just glad he didn’t hit the frame.” Looking down the hall, I took a step closer to Jason. “Do you think we shouldn’t bring it up around her? I gave one of the detectives who showed up my number; told him to call me if he had any more questions about Brett. I don’t want them calling Paisley about him, I don’t want her to be brought into this anymore—especially if she’s already not handling it well.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. And if it ends up it
was
him? That’s going to be too hard for her. Do you know if they’ll tell you if they find out who did it?”

“Once they get the video from the cameras on the lights and outside the bar, if they see the person doing it on there, they’ll call me in to see if I can ID him.” When Jason nodded, I took a step in the direction of the bedroom. “Thank you for bringing—”

“Don’t thank me. I knew she needed to get out of there, and we would do anything for her.”

Clapping his back, I sent him a grateful look. “Appreciate it, man. I’m gonna take her back to my place.”

“You guys can stay in the guest room if you want,” he offered. “I doubt it will take O’Malley’s long to get the video over to the police, so if they do call you, they’d probably be doing it soon. You can stay here; that way if you need to leave she can be with us.”

I hesitated for a few seconds as I thought about what to do. All I wanted was to take Paisley to my apartment and keep her safe, but I didn’t know if Brett knew where I lived, and Jason had a point. “If you’re sure?”

His expression fell. “You’re both our best friends, you think I’m not going to try to help you out right now? Yes, I’m sure. Besides, Kristen already put new sheets on the bed in there just in case.”

I nodded my appreciation. “Thank you.”

Turning, I walked down the hall and into their bedroom. Paisley was lying on her side with her knees curled up to her chest and her head in Kristen’s lap as Kristen ran her fingers through Paisley’s long, dark hair. Kristen looked up at us and smiled, but Paisley didn’t move until I ran my hand down her arm.

“Hey, beautiful.”

Her head turned slowly; her dark eyes were wide. Her jaw was locked so tight it looked like she would break if she tried to speak.

“Let’s get some sleep, all right?”

She nodded subtly, and I grabbed her up in my arms before turning to leave the room. Paisley never said anything about the fact that I wasn’t taking her outside, or that I set her on her feet in Kristen and Jason’s guest room . . . she just stood there staring at me with those wide eyes. Like she couldn’t believe what had happened, and didn’t know what to say now.

After shutting the bedroom door, I moved back to Paisley and slowly pulled her shirt off her body before unclasping her bra and letting it fall to the floor as well. Grabbing the back of my shirt, I lifted it over my head and off my arms, only to slide it over Paisley’s head. When she was drowning in my shirt, I took off my jeans then grabbed for the button on her shorts. Letting them fall down her legs, I left her to step out of them while I went to arrange the pillows on the bed the way she liked them.

When they were all propped up, I slid under the covers and held my arm out for her. She came easily and curled up against my side as I wrapped my arm tight around her body, but she stayed rigid for long minutes until I pressed my lips to her forehead.

“Sleep, Pay,” I crooned deeply.

The tension slowly left her body and her fingers curled against my stomach as her head rested more comfortably on my shoulder. Her breathing deepened, and she was asleep within a few minutes.

“I’ve got you, and I love you.”

M
Y EYES FLEW
open the next morning when someone opened the bedroom door, but my body instantly relaxed when Jason walked in.

“Sorry,” he whispered, and walked over to me with my phone. “Paisley left this in our room. Detective,” he mouthed the last word.

Trying to clear my throat without waking up Paisley, I looked down at where she slept soundly on my chest, and turned my head away from her. “This is Eli Jenkins.”

“Yes, this is Detective Hooper, we spoke last night in the parking lot of O’Malley’s. Good news, the three vehicles were in sight of one of the cameras, and we have someone on video doing the vandalism. I was wondering if you’d be able to come down to look at what we have, see if you can ID the person.”

“Of course, when do you need me?”

“As soon as you can get here.”

“I’m on my way.” After ending the call, I dropped my phone on the bed and looked back over to where Paisley’s head rested on my chest, and pressed my lips gently to hers before sliding out from under her.

“Where you going?” she mumbled as I pulled my jeans on.

I wanted to keep all this from her, but I didn’t want to lie to her. I took in a deep breath as I thought of what to say to her, then decided to go with the truth. “I need to go to the police station to see if I can ID the person from the cameras at O’Malley’s. I’ll be back with breakfast soon.”

“So they’ll know if . . .” She trailed off. Her eyes, heavy from sleep, still told me everything she was feeling. Confusion, confliction, worry . . . but they were so distanced I doubt she saw me nod.

Walking over to the bed, I leaned over her and kissed her more firmly this time. “I love you, Pay.”

Paisley wrapped a hand around the back of my neck to keep me there a few seconds after the kiss ended. She looked like she wanted to say something, but eventually released her hold on me, and said, “I love you too.”

Just as I got to the door to leave the room, she called out my name to stop me. When I turned to look at her, she was sitting up and shaking her head. “I don’t want to know if it was . . . I just don’t want to know.”

With a nod, I left the room and walked down the hall, and found Jason pouring coffee in the kitchen. “Do you have a shirt I could borrow?”

“Yep. There are travel mugs in the cupboard, get one.”

I switched places with him when he left for his room, filled a mug with coffee, and finally located the matching lid by the time he came back out with a shirt.

“It’s big on me, should fit you,” he guessed as he tossed it toward me.

Shrugging into it, I grabbed the mug and turned toward him. What I was about to say must’ve been clear on my face because he leveled a glare at me.

“She’ll be fine. Just go take care of whatever you have to do.”

“Thank you.”

“Stop thanking me.”

I smirked as I walked past him. “Only if you let my girl get hurt.”

“I still value my balls and my life.”

Turning to look at him, I shrugged. “Then I’ll keep thanking you.”

I
WASN’T AT
the department long. It had still been light enough out when he took a bat to the windows, and thank God O’Malley’s didn’t have piece-of-shit security cameras, because there was no questioning who the guy was in the video.

I still just didn’t understand how Brett could smash out all those windows in broad daylight in a crowded parking lot, and no one saw him. But, as the officers had told me the night before and then reminded me again while I was at the station, it happened a lot more often than people realized.

After picking up breakfast for everyone, I went back to Kristen and Jason’s, determined to make Paisley have a good weekend. I’d told her about my dad and Rachel earlier this week, and then with this, I didn’t want her focusing on all the bad shit. And if I was being honest with myself,
I
didn’t want to keep focusing on all the bad shit. I knew with the first, their worries were now gone . . . but I didn’t want last night to put a strain on us. I would make sure Paisley was safe, but I didn’t want her worried about Brett doing something else. I didn’t want her to keep wondering what bad could’ve happened later on down the road if she’d chosen him.

So as soon as I saw her, I dropped the breakfast on the table and pulled her into my arms as I walked her back to the guest room, my mouth never once leaving hers. This time, I didn’t touch her. This time, it wasn’t about anything sexual. This time was about telling her words I couldn’t figure out how to form into sentences, with a kiss. This time was about showing her what she did to me and what she meant to me as I rested my body weight on top of hers on the bed. This time was about breathing the words “I love you” over and over as I trailed kisses across her neck to tease the sensitive spot behind her ear.

When I finally let us leave the bed to eat breakfast, Kristen and Jason both gave us looks like they’d known exactly what we’d been doing . . . but they had no idea.

I’d wanted to show Paisley what it felt like to have different experiences sexually since she’d never been given that attention before. I’d wanted to worship her body for these two weeks before I had sex with her. But I’d had no idea what just kissing her could do to us.

The passion that had filled the tiny room had followed us throughout the rest of the day. Touches were softer and lingered, looks lasted longer, and her smiles all hinted at a secret between us that no one would ever figure out.

And with every touch, with every look, and with every smile . . . I fell more in love with her.

September 28, 2013

Paisley

E
LI AND
I had started grossing out Kristen and Jason this afternoon with our “love fest,” enough to the point where Eli had finally taken me out of their house. Even though he hadn’t told me why he hadn’t wanted to leave, I’d known. I knew he was trying to keep me somewhere where he thought Brett wouldn’t find us, and that theory was proven once we’d left. After swinging by my apartment and telling me to pack a bag, he’d spent the day driving us up and down the beaches in Southern California, and going to all my favorite places along the way. We didn’t get back to his apartment until close to 10
P.M.
, and while I’d been excited to get back since it had been such a long day, I was now wishing I was anywhere but here. Well, anywhere as long as I wasn’t alone with Eli. Because Eli was now hovering over me and stealing my breath with teasing kisses and bites down my throat, and I just remembered that I desperately needed to avoid anything sexual with him.

“Did you have a good day?” I asked breathlessly, in hopes to get us talking instead of going in the direction we were already headed.

“I’d rather know if you did,” he said against the spot behind my collarbone, then placed a deceptively soft kiss there.

“Of course I did. Thank you for everything. I loved everywhere we stopped, and—”

Eli cut off my rambling with a searing kiss that had my blood heating and my freaked-out mind clearing. The fingers that had been trailing up my arm began sliding down my body, caressing the swell of my breasts, and continuing their journey to my shorts.

No, no. No, no, no, no, no. I need to stop this. Now. Right now. Oh my God. This can’t happen.

“Um!” I said loudly, and struggled to think of something. “How about we watch a movie?”

Eli laughed huskily. “Maybe tomorrow.”

“Why not now? Don’t you want to? Actually, I’m kind of tired,” I lied, and swatted at the hand that was unzipping my shorts.

He abruptly stopped trying to undress me, and once again lifted his head to look at me. “Do you not want me to touch you?”

I would have shouted that I didn’t if he hadn’t looked absolutely terrified in that moment. I didn’t have to ask what he’d meant by that question, it was all over his face and in the tone of his voice. He thought seeing Brett last night—or his actions—had put a wall between us. “Of course I do! Just . . . maybe not tonight. Or tomorrow,” I added a few seconds after.

“Pay,” he whispered in the same worried and hurt tone. “I will never touch you if ask me not to and mean it, but I need you to tell me what’s happening right now.”

“I’m just tired,” I repeated, and immediately regretted the lie when Eli’s face went completely blank.

“You’re a bad liar, Paisley Morro, always have been.” He moved so he was sitting up and looking down at me. “What’s really happening in that mind of yours? Is it . . . Are you—”

“No, Eli, no! I’m— God, I’m sorry. Please stop thinking whatever it is you’re thinking; it has nothing to do with Brett.” I covered my face with my hands and groaned. “This is so embarrassing.”

“Embarrassing?” Eli echoed, his voice laced with confusion. A sharp laugh suddenly burst from his chest. “Are you . . . Is it that time of month for you, Pay?”

I dropped my hands and glared at him. “No,
Eli
, it’s not. I just—” I cut off and groaned again. I knew my cheeks must have been bright red. “I tried to do something for you and it went
so so
wrong.”