Page 9 of It Was Always You

OWEN: Suppose I should get some shut eye, talk later x

CORA: Shh, you seen nothing lol

CORA: Sweet dreams :) x

Chapter 7

Stalking the woman I’ve been crushing on for a decade sounds like a red flag. And I suppose it is.

However, if it’s for her safety and under her dad’s order, I figure that’s a valid enough reason. A get out of jail card if there ever was one.

At least I hope Cora would think so if she ever finds out that on top of the brothers being her bodyguards, I’ve been following them to see if there are any patterns to indicate someone else is following her.

And if it has the added bonus of letting me stare at her perky ass every day, then who am I to complain? Between her love of walking around her apartment in an oversized band tee with her ass peeking out and her love of form-fitting yoga pants or jeans, my cock has been permanently hard. So fucking worth it.

Not that I include that detail in my reports.

Cora is a huge homebody. She goes about her day-to-day routine of work, Abigail, the grocery and bookstore, and the occasional visit to her Mum’s grave, but otherwise, she stays home. She seems more than happy to spend hours reading on her Kindle or watching a crime podcast. Which is fucking perfect from where I’m standing.

From a security stance, there are fewer opportunities for someone to hurt or stalk her.

From a selfish point of view, having my girl be content to be at home and not hitting the club every weekend is the dream. I’ll happily break the hands of any fucker that touches her or makes a move, but that time could be better spent between her thighs worshipping her as she deserves.

Yawning, I crack my back which isn’t loving being confined to my car for hours on end, as I scroll through the endless pit that is TikTok. I’m currently parked across the street from her apartment with my laptop beside me, the CCTV footage of Cora’s apartment building pulled up so I can keep an eye on it. Considering it’s the middle of the night, nothing interesting has happened since one of her neighbours stumbled home with two guys glued to her.

The sharp shrill of my phone jerks me back into reality. I answer, wondering what the fuck Matt could need at three in the morning.

“Hey man, is everything okay?”

“Have you seen Lily’s latest Instagram?” The slurred mention of his stepsister tells me all I need to know about what’s going on. Sighing, I lean my head back against the headrest and close my eyes. I contemplate how to talk Matt off this metaphorical edge for the hundredth time since his dad remarried.

“Matt, I thought we agreed you weren’t going to torture yourself with that shit again. She’s still in school, man, she’s allowed to live her life a little. Fuck knows you did,” I try to crack a joke, hoping if I get him to laugh, he’ll go from being a sappy drunk to the fun loving Matt I know and love.

“I know, Owen, but imagine it was Cora posting pictures with some other guy’s tongue down her throat. Shit, she didn’t even post a selfie with the guy she was in a long-term relationship with, yet I’m being forced to watch Lily post a hundred photos with different guys and there’s fuck all I can do!” I hear a crash before the line goes dead. Fucker’s broke his phone again.

With a muttered curse, I open my eyes as approaching headlights blind me. I quickly clock the number plate. It’s the fifth time tonight I’ve seen this car, and after running the plates and discovering they’re flagged as stolen, I shoot off a text to Jonathan, filling him in and getting the green light to do a car chase tomorrow night as long as one of the brothers keeps an eye on Cora.

Humming, glad we have a plan to make progress on shutting this shit down, I send Cora a funny GIF for her to wake up to before switching off with Liam and heading back to headquarters.

Matt hasn’t been able to catch a break since the heartbreaker that is Lily Davis entered his life.

I let myself into his apartment with my spare key. He’s still dressed in his suit, but he’s lost his tie somewhere. His hair is more dishevelled than usual, and as he downs his drink, it becomes clear just how drunk he is.

“Gonna track him down…kick some ass…make her mine… fuck the contract.” His drunken ramblings make me snort, causing him to flinch as he whirls around to face me.

“Hate to break it to you, man. But I don’t think you’re going to be kicking any ass tonight. The vodka has beaten you to it.” As he frowns at me, too drunk to comprehend what I mean, I cross the room. Taking the vodka out of his hands, I help myself to a swig of it before putting the lid back on.

“Owen? What are you doing here? Thought you were too busy panting after Cora to spare your best friend a second.” He sneers as he tries to grab the bottle, only to miss it and send it crashing to the floor instead.

I know this isn’t Matt talking. This is the fucked-up result of too much alcohol and wanting something he can’t have. We’ve all been there. Unfortunately for Matt, he’s just there a hundred times more than the average guy. Luckily for him, he’s got an awesome best friend here to clean up his mess for him.

After manoeuvring his ass to the bedroom with a lot of grumbling and little help from him, I clear up the broken glass and get him a water bottle for the morning. We’ve been through this routine enough to know giving him a glass of water would only result in more mess to clean up.

Locking up, I head down the hall to my apartment for some much-needed sleep. The sooner we can get the Clan off our backs, the sooner I can work on making Cora mine.

Chapter 8

Texting regularly with the same guy who swung between hot and cold during high school wasn’t something I expected this year, but it’s quickly becoming the highlight of my mornings. Knowing a funny GIF or text awaits me makes waking up a hundred times easier. Coupled with the fact that Abbie and I have planned a coffee date today, I practically leap out of bed when my alarm goes off.

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