Pierce My Heart (Women of Willowbrook Book 1) (32 page)

“
Anna!
”

Shit.

Rolling my eyes to the ceiling, I search for patience before walking out.

“Calm down, Evan. You’re going to give yourself a stroke if you keep shouting,” I say, coming face to face with all of them.

Grace is kneeling next to Maddy, keeping the dogs close enough to pet, but far enough away that jumping was a non-issue, Payton is next to Evan with a grimace of a smile on her face, and Evan has a hand on her cocked hip and a look that definitely says she's gearing up for a fight.

I should snap a picture to show Jake what that look actually looks like, but I don't think that would go over well after what went down this morning (or with Evan’s attitude).

“Don’t you tell me to calm down. When were you going to tell me you two moved in together?”

My eyes go wide as my eyebrows shoot up. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Evan, I told you they didn’t move in together,” Grace throws in on an eye roll.

Evan turns her attitude Grace’s way. “You did not.”

“Um, yes I did,” she argues.

“No, you said every time you talked to Jake he was on his way ‘home’, but he was headed to Anna’s. You don’t call someone else’s house ‘home’, unless it’s your home too.”

“Maybe he meant Anna,” Payton chimes in quietly and my eyes shift her way.

Payton has her long blonde hair up in a messy knot on the top of her head that looks like it took her seconds (and probably did) but would take me fifteen minutes just to get it right, a maroon Brafton University sweatshirt (that was definitely her dad’s), black leggings, and a pair of tan Uggs on her feet.

I’d never make it out of my bedroom in that, let alone my house, but she looks adorable in her laid back way. Sometimes I envied how effortlessly beautiful my cousin looked, whether she was put together or casual like she is now.  

Payton was definitely the day to Mia’s night. Where Mia was petite, loud, sassy, and in your face with everything she did, Payton was not. She was quiet, almost shy, always reading, or observing, and while she was still on the shorter side, her curves definitely had ‘Pierce’ written
all
over them, but she never flaunted them. She was the cousin I was closest to when we were growing up, so hearing her chime in for my defense was absolutely no surprise. But, with the attitude Evan was throwing around, I still was.

“What do you mean
her
? That doesn’t make any sense,” Evan replies, her attention focused on Payton.

“I think,” Maddy wades in, “what she meant was that Jake was referring to Anna as his home. Not her house,
her
.”

My head swings Grace’s way when I feel her eyes on me.

They're soft and happy, her gorgeous smile wide and shining, like she's overjoyed with the idea of her brother thinking of me as his home.

“I just want to know what in the
hell
Anna’s thinking letting him stay over every single night. It’s been three weeks since she met the guy,” Evan screeches, clearly unhappy with the answer.

Grace’s face transforms.

Gone is her wide shining smile and soft eyes. Instead, an annoyed, pissed off look takes its place and I brace.

Oh shit.

“Um,
excuse me
. That’s my brother you’re talking about,” she snaps.

Evan looks to Grace. “So? Just because he’s your brother doesn’t mean it’s not the truth. Do you know his intentions when it comes to Anna? ‘Cause I sure as shit don’t.”

Grace’s face gets red. “Just because I don’t, doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy. He wouldn’t mess around with Anna like that. He’s not that kind of man.”

“Really? Because I heard before Anna he definitely wasn’t shy to having women in his bed.
Lots
of women. Seems to me like he
is
that kind.”

Her words slice through me. Pain, the likes of I wasn’t expecting, follow in its wake, almost staggering me.

They need to shut up.

“He’s a twenty-eight-year-old man, it’s expected. Besides, that was
before
Anna. There’s been no one since her.”

God, they
really
need to shut up.

I didn’t want to hear about women before me. Hell, I didn’t want to hear about Jake and any woman besides me period.

It’s not like I didn’t know he’d had women. He was gorgeous, sexy, sweet, funny, and about a million other things. A girl would have to be dumb, deaf, blind, and on her deathbed to not want him, and even then there was a slim chance she wouldn’t.

And I knew that, but I didn’t need that shit thrown in my face.

Especially by my
best friend
.

So instead of standing in the hallway, listening to all the shit and feeling the pain of their words, I turn on my heel and march into the kitchen straight to the fridge.

My need for caffeine to even put up with this shit is at an all-time high and I need a fix, stat.

When I back out and shut the door, a soda in hand, Maddy, Payton, and Grace are on my stools. Looks of sympathy from Maddy and Payton, and a look of guilt from Grace, but Evan is nowhere to be seen.

“She’s in your room,” Payton offers, knowing what I want to know without even having to say so.

I give her a smile of thanks as I pop the tab and take a huge gulp.

“I’m sorry, Anna. Jake and I are protective of each other. Things got worse after…” she trails off, her eyes sad.

She didn’t have to explain.

I set my soda on the counter and cover her hand with my own. “I know, I get it. You don’t need to be sorry. It’s not like I wasn’t aware, it’s just hard to hear, ya know?”

She nods with a smile; one that doesn't reach her eyes.

And just like Jake, there was nothing I could do about it.

Watching Grace, someone who in the short time I’d known her was rarely without a smile, have that sad, almost lost look in her eyes, did not sit well with me. But there was nothing I could do except be there for her if she needed it.

“I’m going to go talk to Evan. You guys make yourselves at home,” I say, giving her hand another squeeze and trying to let my eyes say what I can't, before nabbing my diet and heading towards my room.

I walk in and see Evan sitting on the side of my bed, head in her hands, elbows to her knees, but when she hears the door click, her head comes up and I see the tears there.

Evan is not a crier and every time I see her do it, it hurts my heart.

“I’m so sorry, Anna.”

I round the bed and sit close, but don't say anything.

Knowing Evan, she needs to get whatever it is out without interruption, and I know whatever
it
is, is more than just Jake staying over at my place or calling it home.

“God, I’m such a bitch,” she says on a humorless laugh. She shakes her head and turns to face me. “I’m worried. I know I pushed you towards Jake, and I do think he’s a nice guy, but that doesn’t mean I’m not worried.”

“Why are you so worried, Evan?” I ask with curiosity.

She looks at her hands and whispers, “Because I can still see the black eye.”

My body goes still as I feel my breath catch.

She hears it and grabs my hand to keep me from fleeing.

After shifting her body to face me, she continues talking.

“I still hear your voice when you called me, the anguish and hurt in it. The look on your face when your brothers saw you and the absolute fear in your eyes when you told them he fought dirty, your voice telling
how
you knew it. Your body shaking for
hours
. The tears you cried for
days
. I remember it
all
, Anna, and it’s not something I
ever
want to see you go through again.”

“Jake would
never
hurt me, Evie,” I say vehemently, using her nickname to let her know I'm serious.

“Maybe not physically, but I see the way you look at him. I saw it the first day you met him and I saw it when you were in his arms last Saturday. Xavier might’ve broken you, but Jake Taylor would
destroy
you
,” she explains, gripping my hand tightly and trying to make me understand.

But she didn’t need to.

“I know.”

She blinks, her face showing shock. “You know?”

I nod my head. “Yeah, honey,
I know
.”

“So you see my point then?”

I set my soda on my dresser and shift my body towards her. “Evie, I love you. Bottom of my heart, babe, I do, soul sisters. I know you feel the same, so I know where you’re coming from and after you explained, I know where all
that
out there was coming from, but you’re wrong.”

“Anna—” she starts, but I interrupt her with a shake of my head.

“For three years I lived under a shadow, Evan. Three years I moved through the motions, existing in the present, not looking towards the future. Even the relationship I had with Dick was a part of that, but with Jake, I can feel the light,” I confess, not realizing until right now how true it is, and when her eyes widen, I know she understands. “This morning I freaked out, tried to retreat, but he didn’t let me. It wasn’t even something huge, but it was something that was a big deal to me and I couldn’t stop my natural reaction. But he stood strong and told me not to push him away, told me he’d catch me anywhere. Even if I tried to run, he’d catch me,
always
. I believed him then and I believe him now. I believe
in
him, Evie.” Tears start to well up as I go on. “He makes me feel
safe
, feel
strong
. Like I can lose my shit, get mad, get mouthy, be
me,
and I’m safe doing it. He makes it safe to be
me
.”

“You love him,” she whispers, the wet in my eyes reflecting back in hers.

I feel the familiar stirrings of fear, but I beat them back. “I—” I start to answer, to deny it even though a part of me (a big part deep down) knows it’s wrong to do so, when my bedroom door swings open.

“What the fuck is going on?” Jake barks, a seriously pissed off vibe rolling off him.

“Um,” I mutter, unsure of what to say with his anger.

“Called you five times, babe. Left you voicemails and text messages. Got no fucking answer and after the shit that went down this morning, I hightailed my ass here to make sure you didn’t bolt. Instead, I find you crying. So again, what the
fuck
is going on?” he quietly roars, and even though he's pissed off and I'm not a fan of him being pissed off, I'm impressed he manages to do that.

I’d probably sound like a dying frog.

“Jake,” Grace screeches.

Okay, I’d probably sound more like that.

“Doesn’t concern you, Cece,” he bites out.

“It does to concern me when you’re being a jerk to my friend. Knock it off,” Grace says, marching into my room.

Payton and Maddy hang back in the hallway, apparently not about to miss the show.

Jake turns to his sister, pissed off vibe still rolling off him. “She may be your friend, Grace, but she’s
mine
. And make no mistake, if you all are filling her head with shit, making her pull away from me, again, I’m gonna be seriously, fucking unhappy.”

My face goes soft at him calling me his, even though I'm not crazy about the fact that he thinks I’d let them fill my head with ‘shit’.

Then again, after this morning, I couldn’t really blame him.

Evan leans over and whispers in my ear, “I take it back. All of it.”

Unfortunately, Jake heard.

I know this when his eyes cut straight to Evan and the pissed off vibe ratchets up about ten notches.

Before anything else can be said, I disengage from Evan and move straight into Jake’s space, sliding my arms around his waist and back before laying my head on his chest—right over his rapidly beating heart. His arms curl around me tight, holding on, as he drops a kiss to the top of my head.  

“I think that’s our cue to leave,” Maddy says quietly.

Everyone but Jake and I start shuffling out of the room.

I move to pull back so I can say goodbye, but I find myself pinned to Jake’s front. When I tilt my head back in question, I see why.

He's not done being pissed and worried.

Tilting my head back further, I move up on tiptoes, offering what I know will help calm him.

He doesn't delay.

I feel his mouth come down on my mine hard, and his kiss is definitely a claiming—thorough, hungry and with
lots
of tongue. He pulls back (much sooner than I would’ve liked) before dropping a softer, sweet kiss on my lips and walking us out of my bedroom to say goodbye to everyone.