I’m about to speak when my words are cut short.
Yelling.
Pounding.
“Charlotte! Charlotte! Let me in!”
Jace snags the knife from my hand, storming toward the front door. I chase after him, fear swelling up inside of me.
“Jace!” I cry out when he flings open the door, a murderous growl in his throat.
He grabs our visitor by the front of his T-shirt and shoves him against the wall in the hallway, the knife with vegetables still clinging to it, digging painfully into his flesh.
“Apologize to her,” Jace snarls. “Apologize for being a psychopathic woman beater rapist!”
Loden’s eyes are wild with fear. “Wrong dude, dude.”
“Jace, it’s my friend. That’s not Ryan.”
Jace doesn’t pull away, his shoulders tight with anger. Gently, I reach past him to take the knife from his hand. He relinquishes it to me, but doesn’t unpin Loden from the wall.
“He seems sketchy,” Jace grumbles.
“And so do you,” I argue, “but you’re here, living with me. Sometimes the perfect looking ones are the worst. Lo is cool. Let him go.”
Jace finally releases him and steps back. His fiery glare takes its time inspecting Loden as though he’s hiding a hidden agenda that Jace can uncover with one stare. I move around the snarling beast and throw my arms around my friend.
“I missed you,” I choke out, overjoyed with his sudden appearance.
“Missed you too, baby.” Loden nuzzles my hair and sighs as though my hug has the power to heal all the cracked parts of him. “Is the ex-convict your new boyfriend or are you still banging the bad boy Hoodlum?”
I push away from him and swat at his arm. “Jace is just a friend.”
“A friend who will beat anyone who hurts her,” Jace throws out.
As much as I appreciate the protectiveness, it’s overboard. He can’t go beating people who might be a threat. Especially Ryan, who is one. Michael will have him tossed back in prison before either of us could even blink. There’s no way I will be responsible for him going back. My best friend would be devastated.
“Come on. I was just starting dinner. Jace, you can join us if you act like a civilized human and not this Neanderthal. Deal?”
Jace shrugs, his glare affixed on Loden. “Ain’t makin’ any promises, princess. If he gets out of line, I’ll straighten him back out.”
“There’s no straightening me back out,” Loden says. “But Char is my girl. She’ll always be safe with me.”
“This feels like the start of a bad porno,” Penny says when she enters the kitchen, drenched in sweat. “Cheerleader makes breakfast in her pajamas. Two convicts do terrible, terrible things to her with the spatula.”
I hand Jace his plate and he carries it over to the table, chuckling at Penny.
“I’m not having sex with either of them,” I grumble. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but no pornos here.”
“I did watch a porno with two sisters once—” Loden starts, but I cut him off with a glare.
“Don’t encourage her,” I bite out. I point my spatula at Jace, who’s laughing. “You neither.”
“For real, though,” Penny says. “How many hot guys do you have just hanging on your every word? Do you have a harem now? Ohhhh, Dad is going to lose his shit if you’re having threesomes in his apartment. Does Cal know? Is Cal in the harem? What about Terrence?”
“Penny!” I bark out. “No harems. No threesomes. Get your head out of the gutter and make an omelet if you’re hungry. I’m not cooking for your bratty ass.”
She smirks. “Nah, I just ate with Dad. He had to swing by the office, but he’ll be home soon. Quick, hide your boyfriends.”
I smack her ass and she laughs before escaping the kitchen to head to her room that we’re now sharing.
“For the record, the sister porno started with an ass smacking,” Loden says unhelpfully. “Just saying.”
“Zip it.”
The three of us eat, both of them hiding smirks while I try not to blush profusely. Damn Penny for always stirring shit up.
After dinner and cleanup, I take Loden’s hand, leading him outside. I check my phone for messages from Cal but come up short. It makes my heart ache, but I’ll worry about him later. Something is up with Loden. He’s never come to visit me before. Despite the playful grin he plastered on since he’s been here, I know better. He’s hurting.
We sit on the patio sofa, me on one end with Loden’s head in my lap. I stroke my fingers through his black hair and wait for him to spill. Tonight, as the sun disappears behind the horizon, a chilly wind blows across the river, making me wish I’d grabbed a blanket.
“I want to get drunk, Char. Like shitfaced, fall-down wasted. I want to drink until I black out.” He sighs. “I want to feel numb.”
My heart twists painfully in my chest. “Why?”
“It’s too much. Everyone. Everything. Always in my fucking face. Demanding. They want me to be a circus monkey. I can’t fucking breathe, baby. I can’t breathe.” His voice cracks. “No wonder you like it here. It’s calm. No one pulling your strings and telling you where you have to go.”
“Maybe you need a vacation,” I suggest, taking his hand in mine.
“You have no idea what sort of hoops I’d have to jump through to make that happen.”
“You came here with no problems.”
His dark eyes flash with deviance as he pins me with a stare. “I left. I didn’t even tell Mena. No one knows I’m here. I had trouble leaving LAX. Cameras everywhere, but once I arrived in Oregon, no one knew me. It was bliss.”
“You should let her know you’re okay,” I urge. “That’s erratic behavior. She’ll be worried. When it’s family, it’s okay to let them know your plans. She’s not trying to control you like they are.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll call her.”
“I’ll give you a minute,” I tell him. I rise and leave him on the patio to head inside. Music plays in Penny’s room where she’s holed up. Jace is
