Page 26 of Into the Shadows

“I’m really sorry to interrupt,” he starts.

Then fucking don’t, I want to say, but keep my mouth shut.

“Did you go to school here in Sonoma? You look really familiar.”

I shake my head. “Nope.”

“Is your family from here? Why do I feel like I know you?”

I shrug. “My grandad lived here, but he passed away about eight years ago.”

Then he snaps his finger. “Fuck, that's right. You're the guy in the diner that Lottie was mooning over.”

I snort, unprepared for the dig at Lottie. The guy reaches his hand out. “I’m Noah, Lottie's older cousin, sort of. I guess. We're not technically blood-related, but that's a long story.” He shakes his head as if he's annoyed he blurted all that out.

I shake his hand and introduce myself. “Teddy Kavanagh.”

“It's nice to finally meet you,” Noah says. “Are you staying in town for a while?”

“Yeah, I moved into my grandad's old place.”

“If you need any help fixing it up—” He cringes. “I know it sounds creepy that I know that; just go with it. This is a small town. We know everything about everyone. Lottie's uncle, Levi, owns a construction company here in town. He'd be happy to help.”

I smirk at his quip about the nosy people in town. “Thanks. I'm about to be at the end of my own knowledge, so I’ll need some help soon.”

“Here, let me give you my phone number. I can send you his contact information.”

A small part of me wants to brush this guy off. He has no idea who I am, and I have no idea who he is. Why he'd want to help me with anything makes no sense. But at the same time, having Lottie around has made me realize how lonely I've gotten. I used to live on base. I was constantly surrounded by guys. Even if I wasn’t friends with them, I never had to worry about eating alone or feeling too adrift.

While I've needed the time alone to heal, I'm begrudgingly realizing it might be time to branch out a little.

I give my number to Noah, who immediately sends me a text in return. I save his contact info as “blond guy from the gym” and drop my phone back into my duffle. Noah waves to somebody over my shoulder, and I turn to see two men walking toward us. They're both about the same height, likely around six feet, but one has really dark hair and dark eyes. He's got a menacing look that immediately puts me on edge. The other has lighter coloring with brown hair and eyes. Something about him feels familiar, but I can't figure out why.

“Dad, Uncle Cooper, I want you to meet somebody,” Noah says.

I groan internally. I knew I shouldn't have been nice to thisguy. Meeting one person today was enough. I did not sign on to meet the entire town.

“Dad, this is Teddy. Teddy, this is my dad, Tucker.” He points to the dark and menacing one. Tucker holds his hand out and smiles. It immediately changes his face. “It's nice to meet you, Teddy.”

“I’m Cooper.” The other man holds his hand out to introduce himself.

“Teddy.” I nod.

“Cooper is Lottie's dad,” Noah supplies. My stomach sinks. I feel like I'm walking through quicksand. One wrong move, and I'm gonna sink.

Cooper frowns at me. “You know Lottie?”

“Yeah, we've met a few times. She helped me out when my truck broke down the other day.”

His face goes a little bit more severe. “You mean, she picked up a random man from the side of the road? God, I could fucking kill her.” His exasperated tone makes me want to laugh. It tells me this isn't the only time he’s said those words.

“To be fair, I wasn't a complete stranger. We'd met a few years back after my grandad died. Not that it makes a difference, but I am former Special Forces. I'd never do anything to hurt your daughter.”

Cooper nods at me. “I appreciate the reassurance. Lottie and her blasted podcast will be the death of me, I swear.”

“You know Lottie's more than capable of taking care of herself,” Noah argues.

“Doesn't make it any easier to let her do it,” Cooper grumbles.

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