Not anymore.
These days, I’m too busy and too tired to do anything really extreme or insane. Instead, I focus on playing my cards right and helping the kids who cross my path
Helping others is really important to me and when it comes to making a difference, teaching English is really the best thing I’ve ever done.
Is there really someone who doesn’t want me doing that?
Is there really someone who wants to hurt me?
Brendan steps closer to me and wraps his arms around me. I sink into him, finding solace in his touch.
I don’t know what the future holds for us or what’s going to happen next, but I do know that Brendan and I have somehow managed to find each other once more, and I don’t want anything to come between us again.
“Got it,” Henry says, and he turns around. “But you aren’t going to like it.”
“What is it?” I ask quietly. Any answer is better than no answer. Once we know what we’re dealing with, then we’re going to be able to fix the problem, no matter what it might be. Hopefully it’ll be an easy fix. Maybe this guy is just a random weirdo who needs to be banned from using the app. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that he and I ended up paired together. Judging by Henry’s expression, though, it’s not random. This was on purpose.
Henry turns to Brendan and asks him a question.
“Do you remember that girl who came into the shop last week asking questions about you and the bakery?”
Brendan thinks about it for a second and shakes his head at first, but then he stops mid-shake and pauses.
“Allison?”
The girl his mother wanted him to marry and have kids with?
“Yeah, I remember. It was strange that she came in, but not wildly unusual. A lot of people come in and want to c
hit-chat. She just seemed a little…”
“Bold?” Henry asks.
“Something like that,” Brendan agrees. “What about her?”
“She’s been after you for a long time, hasn’t she?” Henry asks. He glances at me, and I can tell that he’s silently urging me to stay quiet right now. He doesn’t want anything to distract Brendan from this moment because what happens next is going to change everything.
I’m not going to believe that this lady wants to ruin my happy-ever-after, but I’m kind of getting that vibe.
And it’s scaring me.
“I guess,” Brendan says. “Are you saying she’s involved?” He raises an eyebrow, as though he doesn’t quite believe Miss Allison could be capable of hurting anyone, let alone me.
“Take a look.” Henry points to the computer, but neither Brendan nor I know what we’re looking at. Henry gestures wildly a couple of times, and the smug look on his face says that whatever he’s dug up is really, really good.
There’s just one problem: neither one of us knows what the hell it all means.
“Seriously?” Henry’s face falls and he shakes his head. He reaches for a glass of water that’s on the desk and sips it slowly.
Painfully slowly.
“Dude, are you seriously not going to tell us?” Brendan starts to get agitated, but Henry just rolls his eyes. I’m beginning to kind of understand their relationship. They’re both really serious in their own ways, but it also seems like they’re both comfortable flipping each other crap.
“It’s like this,” Henry says, setting the glass of water back down. “Allison Erin likes you, Brendan. A lot. She is a tiger shifter, which you know, and she has a brother, which I think you did not know. That brother has been trying to play games with the girl you like, and I’m guessing this entire thing was either a set-up to kill Foxy or to run her out of town, leaving you free and clear to date Allison.”
“But I don’t like Allison.”
“Love makes people do crazy things, Brendan. She’s been coming into the bakery for months. You really never noticed?”