Page 90 of Fighting Shadows

“Hey! Why does he get a better nickname than me?” Dominic sputters in outrage, his eyes narrowed on Autumn, who leans over her legs, laughing.

“I get a better one because I’m clearly the better one. I mean, I did save her.” I smirk at him.

“If I had my knife right now…”

“You’d do nothing because I’m your bestie, remember?”

“Can we get back to the plan?” Brenn grumbles, folding his arms over his chest. Aidan presses closer to him, his hand resting on his jean-clad thigh, and squeezes it, earning him a soft smile. I want to be able to do that with Strange Girl, to comfort her in the same way as the others do. I want nothing more than to be able to pull her in my arms and kiss her until she forgets about everything going on around us, about Charlie, but I know she’s not mine to do that with, and to even think about it, I need to talk to the others, out of respect.

I’m pretty sure I already have Dominic's approval, and the others have warmed up to me enough that I could say we are friends, but I’m like ninety-nine percent sure that Sebastian still hates me, and I fear for my face if I bring it up.

I’m going to wait til everything with Charlie is done to make sure that she’s in the right headspace before I make my move to try to make her mine, also.

Zander coughs, nudging me with his shoulder, and looks at me expectantly. It’s when I realize I’ve been staring at her like a sad puppy, and I quickly avert my eyes away from her and focus back on my phone.

I write out a reply to Charlie, confirming that I’ll be there with her, and then throw it to the middle of the table like it’s contaminated.

“I feel cooped up. Can you take me to get coffee?” Autumn asks Brenn and Aidan.

“We can take you,” Atlas says, but she shakes her head. “I need some time with my brother,” she says, smiling at him so he knows she’s not mad. “You all need to come up with a plan anyway, and I’m getting anxious just thinking about it.”

“Okay, Pumpkin. Stay with them at all times.” Atlas says sternly before crashing his lips to hers, “Be safe.”

Autumn kisses all of her men goodbye, her lips puffy and pink after they steal more before they let her go.

Parzival paces by the patio doors the moment she's out of sight, his low whines alerting Nanook that their owner has left. My heart breaks for Parz when he lays down, small whines leaving him as he waits dutifully for Autumn to return.

“The plan then,” Atlas starts, nodding to Sebastian, who pulls out his laptop.

“Floor plan looks easy enough for you all to be hidden since I get to play Autumn in the backseat,” he says, his fingers tapping away on the keyboard while we all sit there in silence, waiting for him to continue, “I don’t see any issues that could potentially pop up, but you never know. How likely is he to have a weapon?” he asks me.

“I don’t know. He might now he doesn’t trust me, but I can’t say for sure. Will we take our own just to be sure?”

“Can you shoot?” Atlas asks, quirking an eyebrow.

“I can. Aidan was paranoid with his line of work, and he wanted me to be able to protect myself. I’ve been practicing every week since I was fourteen,” I tell them all.

I can protect myself easily enough, and as long as Autumn is far from everything, I’ll be able to breathe easier and do everything we need to.

Dominic gets up and returns with beers for us all, and I take a sip. “So when are you going to man up and make a move on Autumn?” he asks me, causing me to choke.

“Um-”

“He’s not going to because he feels like he’s stepping on our toes,” Atlas chuckles, taking a swig from his bottle.

“It’s not that-”

“Is it not?” Sebastian raises his eyebrow at me, “Because you sure like staring at her when you think no one is watching.”

I splutter. Excuses come to mind, but not one of them comes out of my mouth. They’ve seen me, of course, they have, and panic courses through me.

“Leave him alone,” Zander’s gruff voice has a hint of laughter in it, “We’ve spoken about it, Noah, and we have no issue with you pursuing something with Autumnifit’s what she wants. If she tells you to fuck off, you fuck off, got it?”

Nodding my head like a bobblehead, I swear my hands tremble as I reach for my beer, taking another swig before I open my mouth again.

“I was planning to talk to you all, I swear. I just wanted to wait until everything with Charlie was over,” I tell them, clutching the cold bottle in my hand.

“Admirable, but you’ve been watching her for weeks now since she got home from the hospital. Did you not think we would notice?” Sebastian snarks.

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