Collide: A Riverbend Novel (12 page)

~~~

After a long day shopping,
I sat in front of Mrs. Johanna as she fixed my hair and put a
little bit of make up on me. After we were finished, we headed to
the restaurant where all three of the boys were supposed to be
waiting for us.

I walked in and saw
Garrett, Havock, and Mr. Rick. I liked Garrett. A lot. But my heart
seemed to only speed up when Havock looked at me. Which was stupid
because he didn't even like me. He merely put up with me. Hell,
half the time I didn't like him.

I liked Garrett all the
time and when he kissed me or touched me I enjoyed it. But him just
looking at me didn't make my heart want to jump out of my chest. I
cursed myself. This wasn't a fairy tale. I didn't need fireworks. I
wanted, no
needed
,
someone stable. Someone I cared for and who cared for me. That was
not Havock. Havock only cared for one person and that was
Havock.

I tugged on my dress a
little but Mrs. Johanna slapped my hand away. I really believed
this was the shortest dress I had ever worn.

Havock was taking a drink
when he saw me. His mouth dropped open causing his drink to miss
his mouth completely, soaking his lap.

Garrett ignored him as he
started grabbing every cloth napkin he could. Garrett smiled but
didn't say anything. We agreed we would keep us a secret if there
ever was an us.

Garrett was dressed nice.
He had on a dark pair of jeans and long sleeved button down shirt
tucked in. His short hair was fixed like it always was.

Havock had on an ACDC
t-shirt with a hooded leather jacket, jeans, and of course his
converse. His hair was in a mess like he just stepped out of bed,
but it looked good on him.

Rick pulled out a chair for
me and Johanna. He whispered in his wife's ear, and she giggled as
she sat.

"Thank you," I said as I
took my seat next to Garrett.

Mrs. Johanna had
straightened my hair making it look even longer than normal. "So
did you guys have fun today?" I asked Garrett and
Havock.

Garrett nodded. "Yeah. Dad
and I went hiking. It was great. Saw some moose and
everything."

Garrett smiled, but Rick
glared at Havock. It was obvious he was upset Havock didn't come
along.

"How about you, Lone
Ranger, what'd you do?" I asked Havock as I put the new napkin the
waiter brought in my lap.

Out of the corner of my eye
I saw Garrett do the same, but he only brought one hand back up. I
wondered about that for a second before I felt it on my
thigh.

That warm tingling feeling
filled me with his hand there. Garrett made me feel cared for and
safe.

"Oh you know, a few
drugs....slept..." He smiled at his dad.

"Do you have to be so rude
all the time?!" Garrett snapped.

Havock laughed. "Tell me,
Garrett, is it exhausting living to please everyone or do you
actually enjoy it?"

Rick slammed his fist on
the table. "Enough!"

Johanna put her head in her
hands. "Just one dinner. Just one could we please, "she looked up
at her boys, "eat without a fight?"

Havock kept a cocky grin on
his face but never agreed our disagreed. Garrett nodded.

Havock pulled out his cell
but dropped it. He knelt down to get it and when he came back up,
he raised a brow at me.

He stared at me with
intense, fiery eyes for a few seconds then started texting on his
phone. Garrett noticed and started talking to me to distract me
from Havock.

"You haven't looked at the
menu yet. Have any idea about what you want?" He opened my menu in
front of me.

"They have the best pasta,"
Johanna said as she scanned her menu.

"Pasta isn't a good choice
for a diabetic," Havock said never looking up from his
phone.

"How do you know?" Garrett
asked.

Havock's lips curled. "I've
done my research." Havock put his phone back in his pocket when the
waitress came over.

"Ready or would you like
more time?"

"My brother," Havock said
as he pointed at Garrett, "can't read. He has to look at the
pictures."

"Aww it's okay, I'll give
you more time." The waitress looked sympathetically at Garrett then
walked away.

Havock laughed when
everyone glared at him. "What? It was funny. She fell for it!"
Garrett nor his parents were amused.

I sighed and shook my head
then looked at the menu. I felt a prickle on the back of my neck. I
looked around and saw a dark figure staring at me from the shadows.
I stiffened, my eyes locked on the shadow. Then suddenly it
disappeared.

"Reese?" Garrett said
worriedly. "You alright?"

"What is it, dear?" Johanna
asked as she closed her menu.

"Nothing." I gave them a
weak smile then looked back at my menu.
I'm going insane.

The waitress came back over
with a kid’s menu and handed it to Garrett. Havock burst out
laughing. Johanna and Rick laughed too.

“He’d like crayons as
well,” Havock said through his laughter.

The waitress looked
embarrassed. "He was joking wasn't he?"

"Don't feel bad, he's an
ass to everyone."

I said as I smiled. Garrett
laughed.

Havock nodded. "It's
true."

The waitress laughed. "Does
that mean you guys are ready?"

I ordered a shrimp
concoction and tried to get comfortable. I tried not to scan for
the shadow. Tried not to be afraid, but it was hard. I'm so scared
and for some strange reason, I wanted to be held by Havock.
Dammit, I'm an idiot.

Havock got a text that made
him look at me. He then looked at his mom. "Mom, can I talk to you
alone for a second?"

My stomach dropped.
Something bad happened. I felt it.

"What's wrong?" she
asked.

Havock looked at me then
down at his phone. "Mayor Johnson's plantation house burnt to the
ground a few hours ago."

Garrett moved his hand from
my thigh to my hand. He held it tight.

"Who told you?" she
asked.

"Jude."

I swallowed hard and closed
my eyes. The waitress brought us our food. No-one seemed to have an
appetite anymore.

HAVOCK

My heart didn't break when
things went wrong. So why the hell did it feel like it was? Seeing
her sitting in the cold outside as she thought about her shitty
life, my heart hurt for her. It was weird. No-one bothered her.
They all went to bed. Even Garrett.

She wanted to be alone.
That was more than obvious. But I wasn't okay with it. I'd be
damned if I let her hurt alone.

I laughed at myself. This
wasn't me at all. I wasn't sure exactly what I'd do once I was out
there, but I needed to be with her regardless. I grabbed an extra
hoodie and blanket then went out.

I handed her the hoodie.
"Sitting in below freezing weather with that sexy as hell dress on
is crazy, Princess." She put on the hoodie but remained
silent.

I sat down next to her and
wrapped us both in the blanket. I sat closer than I probably should
have, but considering I held her until she fell asleep the other
night, this was probably okay.
Maybe.

"I can't stay with your
family anymore," she whispered.

“Why?”

"It's not safe."

"Mom won't let you leave."
I wouldn't let her leave.

A tear fell down her cheek.
"Why are you so mean to your family?"

"If you haven't noticed, I
don't fit in."

"You try not to fit in,"
she stated. "No matter where you go or do, Havock, you'll only have
one family. Once they're gone you'll regret everything." She looked
at her hands. "Trust me."

"You're probably right." I
pulled a cigarette from my pocket and lit it. "I just don't
care."

She sighed and rubbed her
arms. She looked at the stars. "My dad’s dead. I've lost everyone.
I can't let anything happen to you or your family," she
whispered.

I slipped my free hand
around her waist as I smoked. "What's going on with you and my
brother?"

"He asked me to date him,"
she answered honestly. She put her head in her hands.

"And?"

"And I said I'd tell him
after the trip. I like your brother but..." She stopped and
shrugged. "Why are we even having this conversation?”

"Because I saw where his
hand was at dinner. I didn't like it."

She didn't comment. "I'm a
crazy broken princess." She scoffed. "Nobody deserves
that."

I finished my cigarette and
threw it out in the snow. "My crazy broken princess." I looked at
her. "You're right. No-one deserves you. You're too good of a
person for the sad excuse we call people."

"No I'm not," she denied as
tears fell. "And why are you talking like this? You don't even like
me half the time."

"Is that what you honestly
think?"

"I don't know. My
experience with people sucks. I know you like making me
uncomfortable and blush. I don't know," she said, her eyes locked
on mine.

"Because you're so cute
when you blush."

She stared in my eyes like
she wanted me to kiss her. Or maybe that was just my wishful
thinking. I touched my lips to hers and only parted them enough to
make us both want more. "Not yet," I whispered.

"Not yet what?" She asked,
her voice shook a little. She looked so confused. She pulled back
from me and scrunched her eyebrows together. "Why do you make my
heart do that? I need someone stable," she said as she shook her
head.

"Why do you make my heart
do what it does? It's annoying as hell." I smiled a little. "And
not yet as in I won't kiss you or invest any more emotions in you
unless I know you want me and
only
me." I wanted her to look at me like I had
something other guys didn’t.

She looked at me. "I
understand that. But you need to understand something about me. I'm
not stable at all."

"And I am?" I
laughed.

She closed her eyes. "I'm
on watch just in case there are any signs I might commit suicide.
I've tried three times." She looked away and refused to look at
me.

"Damn, really?" I didn't
like that she had hurt so bad that she'd consider taking her own
life.

She nodded and wiped the
tears that fell.

"I'd miss you. So don't try
again, alright Princess?"

She nodded and looked at
her hands.

"It's why your mom was
worried you'd given me drugs." She shrugged. "Pills were how I
tried the first two times."

"That's a good reason, and
now I get why my joking about the pills that day upset you so bad.
Sorry about that."