Chapter 32

Rowena

“Eric, you asshole! You stood me up!”

Eric and I both whipped our heads around at the sudden shrill voice that was breaking through the air. When I turned, I felt my heart sink.

Heather.

She stormed up to him and stopped just a few feet away, her face beet red with fury and her hands curled up into fists. For a few moments, it seemed as though she didn’t notice me standing there outside the movie theater.

“Heather,” Eric said with a surprising amount of calmness for someone who was about to be chewed out on the street. “What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean, ‘what am I talking about’?” Heather huffed. “I got all dressed up for our date, and you didn’t even think to tell me you weren’t coming?”

Eric furrowed his brow. “I never agreed to a date.”

“Yes, you did.” She folded her arms across her chest. “You said you would meet me at the club.”

“No. I said I might be there tonight. I never said that I would meet you there.”

There was a long, tense silence as Heather glared up at Eric, who remained seemingly unperturbed. I felt a little bad, too; she did look good, and had clearly spent a lot of time on her hair and makeup.

“I know what you said,” Heather insisted. “God, you’re such an asshole. I never should have agreed to this. What a waste of time.”

I frowned. I knew that Eric was a playboy, but not like this. Since when did he start misleading women and standing them up?

“Eric,” I called out, finally walking up to them, “why did you come here if you had a date with someone?”

Suddenly, before Eric could answer, Heather whipped around at the sound of my voice. Her face became twisted with fury upon seeing me, and she stormed up to me, jabbing her index finger into my chest.

“So it was you!” she exclaimed. “You’re the one who Eric stood me up for! As if it’s not insulting enough, he stands me up to hook up with a… a freak like you!”

My eyes widened. “Heather, Eric is my brother,” I said. “It wasn’t like that.”

Heather clearly wasn’t buying it. “Oh, yeah, sure,” she hissed. “You don’t look like a Griffith at all. Don’t play me for a fool.”

“Heather, I—”

“Enough.” Eric suddenly stormed up, placing himself between us. I felt his arm wrap around me, pulling me close so hard and fast that it left me breathless. “That’s enough,” he repeated. “Rowena, I’m taking you home.”

Before I could say or do anything, or even catch my breath, Eric suddenly yanked me away. We left Heather screaming there on the sidewalk, her hands still balled up into tight fists at her sides.

“You’re a cheater, Eric Griffith!” she cried out. “A dirty cheater!”

…

The air was surprisingly warm that night as I sat by the poolside, gazing into the softly illuminated water. The surface rippled every so often as a slight breeze blew through, and I sank a little lower onto my chair, pulling my jacket a little closer around my shoulders.

A quick glance at my phone told me all that I needed to know: Adrian still hadn’t texted me.

In fact, I had even texted him when he got home, and he had left me on read.

“Made it home,” my text said. “I had a nice night. Call me?”

No answer, but he had certainly seen the text, which only meant one thing: I really did blow it by not kissing him. Or maybe it was doomed long before that, maybe from the moment that Eric had shown up.

“Eric…” I grumbled under my breath. Why did he need to show up tonight? Why did he stand up a date with Heather just to come and crash mine?

And now, not only were my chances with Adrian in the gutter, but Heather was going to tell people that I was dating my brother, the playboy cheater.

Oh, joy.

As I sat there, with my hands in my pockets, I felt something. I pulled it out and let out a wry chuckle when I saw what it was: the little talisman that I had bought for Eric.

It had been Adrian’s idea, and now I even wondered why I had ever listened to him. Anger surged through me just upon seeing the stupid thing. I wanted to throw it away; and in that moment, the moonlight caught the pool just right, and an idea came to my mind.

Fuck it, I thought to myself.

Rising from my chair, I stormed over to the water’s edge. With a satisfied huff, I pulled my arm back and prepared to throw the talisman in.

“What are you doing?”

Eric’s voice suddenly came from behind me, causing me to whirl around quickly and lose my balance. I gasped, feeling myself topple backwards toward the water, and braced myself for a big splash.

But warm arms circled around me then, pulling me upright.

I looked up to see Eric standing there, holding me tightly. He looked down at me with concern written across his face, and the ambient lighting coming from the pool cast his face in soft purples and blues.

“Get off of me.” I pursed my lips and tried to shove him away, but it was no use. He wasn’t letting go.

“What were you about to throw?” he asked.

“Nothing. None of your business.”

“Show me.” Eric didn’t even wait for permission; he just grabbed my hand and yanked the talisman out of it, ignoring my protests as he held it up to the light. The small blue sapphire set into the base of the wolf’s tooth caught the light and almost seemed to absorb it.

“What’s this?” Eric asked, his eyes still fixed on the talisman.

I finally managed to wrench myself free and pulled my coat closer around myself, as though that would somehow ease my anger. “It’s just a stupid trinket,” I said coldly. “That’s all.”

“That’s all?” Eric glanced at me. “It seemed like more than that when you were about to chuck it into the pool.”

Typical Eric; insightful as always. I sighed and felt my shoulders slump a bit, my eyes cast down to the cold tiles beneath our feet. “I bought it for you tonight,” I said. “It’s just a good luck charm. It’s pointless.”

“Pointless?” I heard shuffling, and lifted my gaze to see Eric frantically slipping the leather strap around his neck. A broad grin had stretched across his lips, and he looked like a kid in a candy shop. “Rowena, I love it.”

My eyebrows shot up. “You do?”

“Of course I do.” Eric took a step forward, and grabbed me by both shoulders before I had the chance to move away again. “What made you want to get this for me?”

I shrugged, feeling a newfound heat creep into my cheeks. No words would come; I felt utterly tongue tied.

Without a word, Eric suddenly wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. I felt myself stiffen against his chest, the steady beating of his heart pounding into my eardrums. I should have shoved him away, I should have told him I was still angry.

But…

My muscles seemed to work of their own accord, and I relaxed into him, letting his heartbeat and his warmth soothe me.

It felt like an eternity later when we finally pulled apart, and my face was redder than ever. Eric smiled softly down at me, twirling the talisman in his fingers.

“This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten,” he whispered, his eyes flickering down to my lips. “And I’m never taking it off.”