Beautifully Shattered (The Beautifully Series Book 1) (41 page)

My stars swirl around
and around on their string from the breeze drifting through the open
window. I don’t remember opening it this morning, but my mind was
elsewhere. I should close it, but I enjoy the fresh air. The city
noise comforts me. It’s as if I’m not alone.

Two weeks have passed
by since Harper and I went running. Two weeks since I met Jax’s
latest troll in a bathroom. It seems like Harper avoids going out if
Kohen will be there. Which he always is. I need to intervene.

“I swear this better
be the last one!” Harper says, jarring me out of my thoughts.

I send an apologetic
look to the sales clerk. “You act like we are at the dentist.
You’re trying on dresses, not getting a root canal. Calm down and
put it on.”

“I’m going to
strangle you if I see one more dress.”

I ignore her. One thing
I learned about Harper, she can’t stand shopping. Okay, so that’s
not entirely true, she can’t stand shopping with me. Can’t blame
her, most people can’t.

Harper emerges from the
dressing room and poses in front of me. Wow. This is the one. It’s
spectacular! She fights her smile. I’m sure because she fears me
forcing her into the dressing room to try on another endless pile of
dresses. I wait before I tell her I love it. I keep my expression
bored, not showing that I want to jump up and down.

I make a turn signal
with my index finger. Her figure looks amazing! Men are going to have
a hard time keeping their eyes off her. Mission accomplished. Her
shoulders sag a little when she faces me again.

“Well?” she asks
impatiently.

“That’s the one!”

“Thank God! I thought
I’d have to sneak out of here. I was afraid we would never leave!”

I grip my chest as if
she wounded me. “And here I assumed you were dying to go shopping
with me.”

“Yeah, that was
before I knew you had to try on everything in each store.”

I shrug, not caring.
“I’m not that bad. We didn’t even get to that section yet.” I
nod to the left, proving my point.

“Okay, okay, you’re
right. We’re done though, right?”

I nod.

“I’m starving!”
she says dramatically as we leave the boutique.

Now here comes the hard
part. I thought that I would sneak-attack a lunch between her and
Kohen. What surprised me was when I heard Connor in the background. I
have no idea why they’re together. Kohen usually only hangs out
with the guys if I’m there. I wonder if it was Connor’s doing. It
has to be, I don’t see Kohen calling up Connor. Sometimes I think
he’s jealous of Connor. Gross.

“How about meeting
Kohen and Connor for lunch? I told Kohen where we are and one thing
led to another and we have a lunch date with them.”

I chew on my lip when
she doesn’t answer. She hasn’t brought Kohen up, and neither have
I. It has kind of been an unspoken rule between us. And now I’m
breaking it by making her go to lunch with him.

She turns away. “Sounds
great.”

She’s still on the
fence about Kohen. As much as she hides it, I can tell. I link our
arms together and steer us toward the little cafe down the street. We
spot the guys at the same time. It’s pretty easy when every woman
on the patio is doing her best to capture their attention. I’m not
surprised Kohen ignores them; what surprises me is Connor does too.

“You sick?” I ask
him.

“No. Why?”

I drop my bags down
alongside Harper’s, then I give Connor a hug, and Kohen a chaste
kiss on the lips. Kohen pulls out a chair for me, always the
gentleman. He and Harper exchange tight smiles. Interesting, does he
sense her hostility?

“Oh, I just assumed
you were sick,” I say once everyone has sat down again.

“Again, why?”

“You know, because of
all the women out here dying for the attention you’re not giving
them.”

Both Kohen and Connor
look like I started speaking a different language. Do I need to spell
it out for them?

“She means she’s
surprised that you don’t have your tongue down one of their throats
yet,” Harper says with a wave towards the surrounding women.

Now they understand my
earlier comment. Connor, gives Harper his panty-dropper smile,
complete with running the tip of his tongue over his top lip. Here’s
the Connor I was expecting.

“Don’t be jealous,
Elizabeth
, you know I
save it all for you,” he says in a voice that should be reserved
for the bedroom.

“I’d rather swallow
my own tongue than have yours anywhere near my throat.”

Connor leans in so that
his lips are inches from her face. “I promise you wouldn’t be
saying that after I run my tongue up and down your throat.”

I shake my head. This
guy is asking for trouble. You don’t mess with the devil, and she
can be heartless when she wants. I’ve seen it, plenty of times on
the opposite sex. It’s never pretty, but always funny.

Harper swallows loudly.
“Sorry I just threw up in my mouth.” She sits back in her chair.
“It’s Harper, by the way.”

“Not Elizabeth?”

And he wonders why she
dumped water on him. What a mystery.

Lunch runs smoothly, at
least until everyone has finished. Harper watches everything Kohen
does, hanging onto his every word. And not in a good way. She’s
studying him, waiting for him to mess up. I’ve been trying to steer
the conversation away from the two of them, but she has other plans.

“I saw a documentary
on abusive partners last night,” she says casually, but directs her
eyes to Kohen.

I can’t believe she
just said that! Kohen surprises me by remaining calm. I can tell that
he’s nervous by the way his hand trembles slightly as he reaches
for his glass of water.

“Any reason why you
would bring that up, Harper? Is there a guy in your life that we
should know about?” Kohen feigns concern.

She shrugs, but
challenges him with her eyes. Harper stares him down until he turns
away, to me. I shake my head, trying to convey my confusion. I can
tell when his jaw tightens that he doesn’t buy it. Time slows down
in an awkward silence that doesn’t break until Connor peers up from
his phone, oblivious to the tension. At least I think he’s
oblivious until he engages Harper in conversation. I beam gratefully
at him. He nods.

Kohen drags my chair
closer to him and lays his arm on my shoulder. Harper gives a slight
shake of her head in disapproval. I rub my forehead, feeling the
pangs of a headache. Maybe lunch with them wasn’t the brightest
idea. When the bill arrives, both guys reach for it, but Harper
intercepts it with her dainty hands.

“Have to be quicker
than that, Evans.”

Harper hands the bill
over with her credit card to our waiter. Not bothering to even look
at the price. She drinks the rest of her iced tea, happy as can be.
She loves messing with Connor. She knows he hates anyone paying for
him. I once made the mistake of telling her how he flipped out when I
paid for lunch one time. Since then she has taken every chance to pay
for him. I love it.

“Thanks for lunch,
Harper,” Kohen says through gritted teeth.

Letting her accent drip
through her voice, Harper says, “You’re most welcome,” while
she picks up her iced-tea.

Clearly these two don’t
mix well together. Hopefully that will change when she sees that he
isn’t a bad guy after all.

When the waiter
returns, Connor smirks. The waiter casts his gaze to Connor when he
speaks. “I’m sorry, Ms. Harrison, but your meal has already been
paid for.” He hands over her credit card without another word.

“Have to be smarter
than that, Harrison,” Connor says smugly.

“Well-played.”
Harper winks at Connor before putting away her credit card.

Connor gets up and
bows. Actually bows. I groan as everyone watches the show.

“Thank you, thank
you,” Connor says.

“Okay, let’s go
before he really makes a scene,” Harper says.

I pick up my bags as I
get up and take Kohen’s extended hand. Kohen and I start walking
away from the table. We say good-bye after he reminds me to keep my
phone on me while at the movies with Harper. I join Harper and
Connor, who are in a heated conversation by his car. They’re
arguing about who’s going to drive.

“Harper, we’ll miss
our movie, just get in the back. He doesn’t let anyone drive his
car,” I inform her.

“Then why was Logan
driving the other day?” Harper asks.

“What? When?” I
turn towards Connor. “What the hell?”

“Yes, I let your
brother drive my car. It’s not a big deal, Addie.”

I yank open the
passenger door and slam it shut. Harper settles into the back without
a word. I wait until Connor is situated until I drill into him.

“How many times? Has
Jax?”

Connor shrugs. I can
tell he is trying to decide if he should attempt lying, or tell the
truth.

“Okay, so you’re
the only one I don’t let drive my car.”

“WHAT!” I scream.

“Come on, Addie, it’s
not that hard to believe. You’re a nervous driver. Besides, it’s
not like you have a current license.”

I tell myself to shut
up. My voice has other plans, though.

“I haven’t driven a
car since I moved to New York. I’ve never been in a car accident!”

The minute the last
sentence leaves my mouth, I clamp it shut. I have been in a car
accident. I just wasn’t the driver. That’s what I meant, but
that’s not what came out. Luckily, Connor knows what I mean.

Connor seems lost. I
know he is thinking the same thing. He remembers the last time I
drove a car. I panicked and almost veered off the road because I
couldn’t stop picturing the accident. I haven’t driven one since.
I have never had the urge to get behind the wheel until now. Which
means I have no right to be upset. But I am, I blame the stress of
lunch.

“Adalynn, you haven’t
been behind a wheel in over five years. If you really want to drive,
you can drive.”

I hear Harper’s gasp,
but I don’t look at her. I don’t want to tell her about my fear
of cars. At least not right now. Once there was a time when I
couldn’t ride in a car without having a panic attack. More times
than I can count I ended up blacking out. I was able to conquer that
fear. One day soon, I will drive a car again.

“Next time.”

Connor sounds as
surprised as I feel. “Really?”

I weigh my response
before answering him. I know he’s asking a lot more than if I’m
ready to drive again. He’s asking if I can handle it after
everything. Before, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it. Before
when I would get behind the steering wheel, it would take me back to
when I was trapped in the darkness. Cries unanswered.

“Yea I’m ready,”
I say quietly.

The heaviness of the
last five minutes seeps through the air. Harper and Connor can feel
it, too. I catch her worried eyes in the visor mirror. I give her a
small smile. She squeezes my shoulder from behind me.

Connor pulls up to the
AMC theater to drop us off. Before I unbuckle, he breaks the silence.

“Call one of us when
you’re ready to leave. I don’t want you two walking around the
city at night. You can even call Jax.”

I know he’s just
looking out for me, but it still gets on my nerves. They act like I’m
a child. They don’t think I can take care of myself. Granted, I
haven’t been known to take care of myself over the years, but
that’s changed. I’ve changed.

“Fine,” I say,
opening the door.

I meet Harper on the
sidewalk. We watch Connor drive away before we stand in line to buy
tickets. I’m not in the mood to sit through a movie. Harper must
sense this because she suggests skipping the movie for drinks.

“Lead the way,” I
tell her.

Harper and I are about
four rounds in. When I say rounds, I don’t mean beer. Nope,
straight tequila. Tequila and limes to be exact. It’s safe to say
I’m buzzed. Digging into my purse, I grab my phone. I have four
texts from Kohen and one from Connor and Logan in a group message. I
hate group messages. Without responding to their reminders to be
safe, I delete it.

I scan the area to see if Harper
will be back anytime soon with our next round. We made a “no cell
phone” rule earlier. I spot her at the bar flirting with two men.
Because one is just not enough. Got to love her. I read Kohen’s
text.

Kohen:
Where are you?

Kohen:
When you gonna be home babe?

Kohen:
Please don’t ignore me again.

Kohen:
Need me to pick you up?

Kohen:
What did I say about ignoring me?

I peer up from my phone. Harper’s
chatting at the bar, but she will be back soon. I can tell she’s
bored. She’s no longer touching one of their arms, and she has put
space between them that wasn’t there before. When she waves down
the bartender, I begin to type out a message, then delete it. For
some reason I don’t want to inform him about my change of venue.
Instead of being honest, I ignore his first question.