Her Destiny (Reverie #2)(40)

“We’re going soon, I swear. The bus I’m supposed to take is probably not even there yet,” I argue. “I’m guessing it’ll show up late. Maybe I should wait and take a bus home tomorrow? Should the weather be cleared up by then?”

“The ticket is transferrable,” Evan mutters. “But I want you home tonight.”

Translation: He wants me to get away from Nick now.

“I’ll go to the station and let you know what’s happening, okay? Circumstances might be out of my control.” I hope they are. I might even force them to be because I don’t want to leave. Not yet. I want to spend the night with Nick. If I let the fear get to me, I could almost think this is my one last night with him for good.

But I refuse to do that. I need to believe that this is going to work out between us.

“Text me and let me know what’s going on,” Evan says. “And let me know what time your bus is scheduled to get in here. I’ll make sure and be there to pick you up.”

“You better be,” I joke, wanting to lighten the mood. I don’t want him mad or thinking the worst about Nick. I want the two most important men in my life to like each other and get along.

“Did you get to make your statement to the police?” Evan asks.

“I did. It went all right. I think they’ll leave Nick alone now.” I frown when I hear a noise coming from the other side of the door and then there’s a light knock. I crack open the door to find Nick on the other side, his hair mussed, his eyes heavy. He’s wearing boxer briefs and nothing else and he looks good enough to eat.

“You all right?” he whispers, scratching his bare chest.

My gaze tracks his hand’s every movement. I wish I was touching him instead of talking to my pissed off brother. “It’s Evan,” I tell him. With an understanding nod, Nick pulls the door shut, leaving me alone.

“Rev. You didn’t…you didn’t make this up did you? You’re not giving this statement to the police to help get your boyfriend off the hook?” Evan asks.

Wow. I can’t believe he just said that. “Are you serious right now with that question?”

“Come on, I had to ask. It’s just…it’s so unlike you to go from being the goody goody little sister, always wanting to be perfect at the beginning of summer, to end up messing around with the help by the end of the summer and spending the night at his place alone. You have to realize how this looks,” he says. “You went totally against character.”

I’m sure everything I’ve done since the summer looks completely out of character but I don’t really care what anyone thinks, even Evan. And his opinion has become the one that matters the most. “I would never lie about something like this, Evan. I swear. I’m telling the truth. Nick was with me that night. He never left my side.” He barely left the bed the entire night.

“I just wanted to make sure. Didn’t want you caught up in something that was bigger than the both of you.”

“Like Mom and Dad,” I murmur.

“Yeah. Exactly. They bit off way more than they could chew,” Evan says. “I’m not calling you a liar or anything I just know…it’s easy to get caught up in stuff. Look at our parents. I bet they didn’t start off intending to steal from the parishioners.”

We’ve never really talked about what our parents did. Never so bluntly, at least. “I’m sure they didn’t.”

“Right. We all try our best at life. Sometimes we end up doing something wrong and there’s no going back.”

“Are you implying Nick might’ve done something wrong?”

“I think that dude has bad luck. There’s no other explanation for all the shit that’s happened to him.”

Maybe I could be Nick’s good luck charm. He needs one.

And I want to be that for him. I want to be everything for him.

Chapter Twenty-Two

8 p.m.

I’m scrolling through my phone when Reverie slips back into my bedroom, looking cute as hell wearing one of my T-shirts and nothing else. The shirt is big on me and it positively dwarfs her, hitting her just about mid-thigh and offering me a sweet glimpse of those long, pretty legs.

Glancing up from my phone, I watch her, entranced with the way she moves, the smile on her face, her long, wavy hair a tangled mess about her head. She looks gorgeous. Happy.

She looks like she belongs to me.

“Whatcha doing?” she asks as she crawls into bed beside me, snuggling close and resting her chin on my shoulder as I continue to look at my phone.

“Checking out stuff.” I pause to look at her. “So. Is Evan mad at you?”

“More like he’s worried,” she answers. “He wanted to know if I’m at the bus station yet.”

“Yeah, about that. I don’t know if you’ll be able to make it out tonight.” I go to my local news station’s app, bringing it up to the main page. It’s full of reports on the weather and the havoc the storm has wrecked, especially over the last few hours. “There are floods everywhere in the area causing road blockages. Fallen trees bringing with them power lines so the electricity is out in the more rural parts. And there are some major accidents snarling up traffic on the highways. It doesn’t look good. I don’t know if I want you out there.”