And I’m only partway teasing about that.
For as far back as I can remember, I’ve always gotten the best reactions out of Haven whenever I teased her. That’s what I’m doing now. She can spit at me, she can huff at me, she can throw some blades of grass at me, I could give a shit. I just want to see some fire instead of fear. That’s all.
And, oh, I think I get some.
Her head snaps my way. For the first time since she woke up in my bed, I see pure hate blazing out of her grey eyes. I suck in a breath, but when she jabs a pointer finger at the house instead of at me, I realize what really set her off.
Adrian. Fucking Adrian.
Yeah. I should’ve known better. Adrian and Haven’s relationship—or lack of one—has been fodder for the gossips in Harmony Heights for a damndecade. She has her reasons to loathe him, and I was happy to let that animosity fester in case Adrian got a lobotomy or some shit and decided to make a move onmygirl.
Only now? She might think she hates me, but sheloathesAdrian, and there’s no doubt in my mind that she knows he’s currently in the living room.
Just like I’m pretty sure that she didn’t just take advantage of Adrian’s visit distracting me to escape. That’s gotta be part of it, but if I’m right—and, when it comes to Haven Smith, I usually am—then she boltedbecauseAdrian was in the house.
Which means that I’m going to go kick one of my oldest friends out of it.
“I got you, baby. You hear me? You shouldn’t have run that fast. Maybe after you’ve had more than a couple of bites of fruit, you’ll be strong enough to outpace me. For now, why don’t we go back inside, you calm down, and I’ll make you a real dinner? Yeah?”
She makes a sound. That’s the only way I can describe it. It’s not a yes. Not a no. It’s vocalized pain, and it fuckingwrecksme.
It takes everything I have to speak around the lump in my throat. Keeping my tone cheery instead of as murderous as I feel, I rise up, edging even closer to her.
“I’ve got you,” I repeat. “I know you don’t want that right now, but I do. I’ve got you.”
Maybe she finally believes me because, when I drop down and lift her up in my arms, she doesn’t do a damn thing to fight against me.
I want her fight. I want her fury. I want her to slap and punch, to kick, tobite.I’m not even annoyed she tried to escape. I mean, I’ll have to take that into account and accept that it’s probably not a smart idea to let her have that much freedom until she chooses to stay with me on her own accord, but seeing her spark… I know that the Haven Smith I’ve always adored is in there somewhere.
And I’ll do whatever it takes to claw her back out again.
Ten minutes later,I’m back in the living room.
Once Haven allowed me to carry her back inside, I brought her upstairs, placed her on my bed, and locked the bedroom door behind me after telling her that I’ll be back once I get rid of Adrian.
I didn’t want to lock the door. Like my panic room, it’s a dual locking system where she can lock me out or I can lock her in. I thought I might frighten her by keeping her trapped in the room, but when the alternative is expecting her to pull a Houdini on me whenever my back’s turned, I have no choice.
She’ll understand. One day, she’ll know why I’m doing this. She’ll appreciate it, too.
She has to.
I wasn’t sure if Adrian would still be there when I returned—and, yeah, that’s a fucking lie. He came here to say something, and despite him telling me that it would be quick, we didn’t get to finish our chat before Haven tried to take off on me.
The moment I walked into the room, Adrian gives me an assessing look. “So? You’re keeping her captive now? Is that it?”
Yes. “No.”
Adrian arches a brow. “So she’s allowed to leave?”
No. “Of course.”
“You didn’t just take off like a bat out of hell to run her down? That’s something that didn’t just happen? So what did? You wished her good luck, watched her walk away, then came back because you remembered you left me here?”
Uh-oh. “Not quite.”
Adrian gives me a hard look. “Did you run her down, pick her up, and put her back in your bed? This time, you locked her in, and the poor traumatized Offering is realizing that she’s nowyourcaptive?”
When he says it like that…