Filed To Story: Secret Shifters Next Door Series PDF Free
“So, what’s going on with you and April?” he asked.
My eyes widened in surprise. “I just want to make things right,” I said, being careful with my words. “There are some things I need to tell her, and I don’t want to miss the opportunity while she’s in town.”
“I don’t know if you understand how badly you hurt her back then. Kris and I had to sit in our rooms and listen to her sobbing. Hours, Steff. She cried for hours, nonstop. Kris and I sat in the hall outside her room, trying to get her to let us in. To let us take care of her. She wouldn’t. I’ve never seen someone so broken.
“When that talent scout found her at the mall a few months after you left, she jumped at the chance. Anything to get out of Lilly Valley. It wasn’t because she’d dreamed of being a model. No. It was because it was killing her, almost physically killing her, to stay in the town that reminded her of you.”
My stomach sank and my eyes burned at the effort it took to keep tears from filling them. The bear inside me whined
and grumbled, aching at the thought of how much April had suffered. And it had all been because of me.
“When I say this, Steff, know that I’m being serious. If you hurt her again, I will not be responsible for my actions.” His fingers tightened on my arm, “I promise you that. If I have to hear my sister cry like that again? God help you, Steff.”
I didn’t pull my arm away. Instead, I simply nodded, keeping my eyes on his. He was right. I’d nearly broken her. Almost destroyed her entire life, because I thought I knew better. Without another word, Kellan released me and went to his table. April and Chelsea had made their way to the counter and were talking as they decided which cannoli to have for dessert.
I approached them and touched April on the shoulder. When she turned, the smile on her face vanished. She didn’t look upset to see me, just surprised. It was a start.
“Steff? Yeah?”
“Uh, I need to talk to you about that number that keeps calling you.”
Her eyes flashed back to her brother’s table and she put a hand on my mouth. The feel of her cool soft fingers against my lips almost made my knees weak. A bear growl of lust almost erupted from my throat, and I only barely managed to subdue it before it became audible.
“Shh. Come over here,” she said, pulling me into the hallway that led to the bathrooms. “I don’t want Kellan and Kris hearing. I haven’t told them, and they get pretty overprotective.”
No shit.
“Your manager, Larry, let us know about it. We’re trying to do some digging to see if we can figure out who it is by tracing the number.”
April nodded and looked back over my shoulder at the dining room. She looked stressed out. I wasn’t sure if it was the calls or
something else. I took her hand in mine. Her eyes shot down to look at our intertwined fingers, surprised.
“My team is handling it.” I slid my thumb gently across the back of her hand. “
I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I made sure to put emphasis on the word
I. Not we, or they, or us. Me. She was mine to protect. I wanted to make sure she knew exactly what I was saying. What I meant and what I intended. Without looking at me, she slipped her hand from mine and took a step back.
“What are you doing, Steff?” she asked, her eyes still downcast.
I didn’t really know how to answer that. My bear was begging me to tell her the truth. The full truth. I winced as I fought inwardly with the creature that was half of me. When I didn’t answer, April finally looked up and locked eyes with me.
“I appreciate you wanting to help, but I can’t be here right now. I’ll talk to you later. Okay?”
Without waiting for me to answer, she walked past me, going back to join her family. The bear whined, and I explained that we had a lot of shit to fix before we were anywhere near close to letting her know everything. We had to at least get her to sort of trust us again before we sprang something this crazy on her.
THIRTEEN
APRIL
The Sunday after Aiden’s first ball game, Kellan invited me over for a cookout. He was making burgers and hotdogs. He asked me to bring some sides. In my time in the modeling world, I never really learned the whole
cooking thing. I could make a mean bowl of ramen, but that was about it. I stopped at the store on the way and bought a massive bag of potato chips and a big premade tub of macaroni salad. I told myself it was better than nothing, but it was kind of sad. While I was in line checking out, I went online and bought some simple cookbooks. I needed to eat something other than sandwiches, cereal, and salad.
When I arrived, Kris and Chelsea were already there. Kellan was in the backyard, grilling. Fragrant smoke poured off the grill as he turned the meat. My mouth watered at the smell. For about three years, when I first got into modeling, I’d tried to be vegan, which turned into pescatarian, that then morphed into a
give-me-the-damn-meat diet. I wasn’t cut out to live on only fruit and vegetables, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a good old-fashioned burger barbecue. I was looking forward to this.
“Aunt April,” Aiden called and came running to my car to help. I gave him the bag of chips.
“Barbecue chips? Nice.” He ran off into the house without another word. Hopefully, he wouldn’t stuff his face on them before lunch.
Chelsea and Kris hugged me as I stepped inside. It looked like they’d brought a tray of brownies for dessert and the buns. Kris pulled me aside as Chelsea helped Aiden put the chips in a giant bowl.
“How are you doing? After yesterday, I mean?” he asked.