Hunting Haven
Chapter Three

Haven

“Well, let’s look on the bright side.” Laura’s cheery voice filtered from my phone’s speaker as I drained my spaghetti noodles.

“There is no bright side,” I groused.

Laura was my childhood best friend. We met in kindergarten and had been inseparable until I ran from-. Anyway, point is we’d been friends for two decades now and I still managed to be surprised by her perpetual optimism.

“Of course there is! So your boyfriend cheated. That sucks, but you were going to dump him, anyway. He saved you the time and effort. Yes, you just got your car back and now it’s been damaged again, but at least nothing was stolen. And you weren’t hurt! That’s important, too.” I snorted at her summary as I poured sauce on my pasta and glanced at the clock on the microwave. I had an hour until Gabriel showed up.

I began to twirl my first bite of pasta as I unleashed my pessimism. Laura and I were nothing if not polar opposites. “I also had to disinfect every surface of my kitchen to make sure I got rid of their sex juices, and now I have to pay an insurance deductible on a car that I just paid a ton of money to have fixed. So yeah, I’m not hurt, but life still sucks. Maybe downgrade your bright side to not totally fucking tragic but still pretty awful and I’ll agree with you.”

“Ew. Sex juices? Seriously?”

“That’s what it was.”

“Pick a better term.”

“Don’t be such a baby.”

“Anyway,” she dragged the word out in a sing-songy voice. That was her signature way of smoothly changing the subject. “How are you going to get to work now? You said that the cab rides were draining your bank account dry before.”

I shoved that first bite of spaghetti in my mouth so fast it was a miracle I didn’t choke. I hadn’t exactly mentioned Gabe giving me a ride home or offering to give me rides to work. Chewing noisily, I managed to say something resembling one sec around the heaping bite I’d taken.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t chew forever. After I swallowed, I answered her slowly. “Oh, right. I forgot to mention that.” I was being hella suspicious, and I knew it. There was no reason for me to keep him a secret, but a part of me didn’t want to share the fact that he’d offered his help and that I’d accepted.

Fiercely independent was how I’d lived my life after I left him. Relying on someone else, anyone else, was just not acceptable to me. Unfortunately, Laura was right. The cab rides to and from work and the $2,500 I spent to have my transmission rebuilt had been a significant hit to my savings. I couldn’t afford to keep paying for rides to and from work and cover a $500 insurance deductible. I made decent money at the bar, but they didn’t pay that well.

“So you know how I told you I called the cops to file an incident report last night?”

“Yeah.” The suspicion was clear in her voice, the way she dragged the one syllable out enough for me to know that I had better start explaining or I’d be receiving the mother of all lectures.

“Okay, so Gabriel, I mean, uh, Deputy Crenshaw, was the one who came out to the scene. After he inspected the car and took photos, he gave me a ride home. I-” Pausing, I took a deep breath before I finished telling her the details. There was no way in hell I was going to escape a Laura lecture. “I may or may not have been a crabby bitch and then had that crabby bitch turn into a sobbing mess. Long story short, he offered to give me rides to work until I get my car back. Hopefully, it’ll only be a day or two.”

Her teeth audibly clenched and silence followed for a beat. I took another bite of my rapidly cooling dinner as I waited for her to unleash.

“What do you mean, a crabby bitch? Haven! Did you yell at a first responder? A first responder who was doing his best to help you?! I swear sometimes you have no manners. I know for a fact your mother raised you better than that. Why can’t you just be nice to-”

I zoned out and continued to eat as she harped on me. It wasn’t like I wanted to be a bitch all the time. It’s just how I dealt with stress. I got overwhelmed, my hands started to shake, my heart beat faster while simultaneously feeling like it was being squeezed in a vice, and then I snapped. Sometimes I yelled, sometimes I was sarcastic, and sometimes I was just an asshole. My mom always used to say it was my defense mechanism, the way I handled stress and anxiety. I didn’t necessarily agree. If my “defense mechanism” was worth anything, I wouldn’t have spent so long with him. I wouldn’t have taken the abuse. But I did. Fat lot of good my bitchy side did me then.

“Are you listening to me?” Laura screeched.

“Yes.” No.

“I almost believed that. Fine, I’ll back off for now. But be nice to him. He’s doing you a favor.”

“I know, Lala.” Did I use her childhood nickname in the hopes that she’d chill out? Absolutely. No shame. “I just had a bad night. I already apologized to him.”

“Okay, fine. I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.”

“Are you sure you can’t come home? Or I can come see you?”

“That’s not safe for either of us. You know if he knew we were in contact, we’d both pay for it.” A deep weariness settled in my bones as we discussed my vicious ex-husband. My appetite completely gone, I scraped the remnants of my dinner in the trash and made my way upstairs to get ready for work.

“Fine. Can I at least have your address to send you care packages and photos of Andres?” I knew I should say no, but the temptation of having physical photos of my best friend and her son were too much. Leaving my life behind and starting over had been a necessity in order to survive, to actually live, but maybe… maybe I could have a piece of my past still.

“Okay.” My voice was small as I gave her my address.

“I’ll make sure I send you lots of pictures and a dozen of Dante’s devil’s food donuts.”

I let out a groan at the thought. Dante’s was my favorite bakery back home. Just hearing the name of the donuts made me salivate. “And one of his giant lavender macaroons?”

“You got it, girl.”

“You’re the best, Lala. I gotta go get ready. Gabriel will be here soon. I’ll give you a call tomorrow.”

“Alright. I love you, Hav. Stay safe.”

“You, too.” I felt like a hypocrite as we hung up. I told her to be safe, yet here I was putting her at risk by giving her my location, but I was desperate to have a connection to home again. It’d be okay. It had to be. He hadn’t bothered her since I ran almost three years ago. Why would he bother her now? Still, I couldn’t help the sinking feeling in my stomach as I got ready for work.

The doorbell rang at seven o’clock on the dot. While Gabe was definitely prompt, I was not. That much was obvious as I hopped to the door on one leg as I pulled the opposite shoe on. I yanked the door open, toothbrush in my mouth, and waved him in.

“I’ll just be a minute, sorry.” My speech was garbled by the foaming toothpaste I desperately needed to spit out. What can I say? I’m classy like that.

My phone call with Laura had lasted longer than I’d intended and, though I rushed through my getting ready routine, I still wasn’t 100% put together. Gabe said nothing as he appraised the state I was in, but his eyebrows said it all when they shot up. His lips twitched as he tried, and failed, to stifle a smile.

“Take your time.”

I rushed back to the bathroom, both shoes firmly on my feet this time, and finished brushing my teeth. My hair and makeup, minus the lipstick I currently rushed to put on, were already flawless. My jeans made my ass look bomb, and my deep black v-neck made the girls look great. Now that I had to pay an insurance deductible to fix my car after I got it back from the cops, I definitely needed to up my game at work. Basically, I needed all the help a push bra and painted on pants could give me.

When I exited the bathroom, Gabe’s eyes gave me an up and down look, making my stomach do a little flip-flop that I desperately tried to ignore. The guy was definitely observant, his eyes always searching for something, but the look he gave me this time was less calculating and more like he was checking me out. Was I going to date the hot cop who came to my rescue? No way. How cliché. However, it was nice to have my looks appreciated by someone who wasn’t a drunk at my job. Especially when that someone was as handsome as Gabriel was.

“Ready?” he asked as he moved his gaze back to mine.

“Yep, let’s go.” I took a moment to appreciate the fit of his dark washed jeans as he exited my house. It was only fair. He started it and, let’s just say, with an ass and muscled thighs like that? He most definitely didn’t skip leg day.

He led the way to the squad car parked in my driveway and opened my door for me. I couldn’t help but cock an eyebrow at him. “You do know I can open my own door, right?”

He rolled his eyes and gave me an exasperated look that I silently reveled in. He was so stoic that getting under his skin was oddly satisfying.

“You gonna get in or do you wanna be late for work?” His tone was disapproving, but the small smile that graced his lips gave him away.

“I suppose.” I got in, immediately leaning across the center console to push his door open for him. “It’s only fair. You opened mine. I've seen A Bronx Tale.”

I ignored the handheld radio antenna that was jabbing me in the ribs as I grinned up at him before leaning back. He probably thought I was emotionally unstable based on the way I’d treated him the night before compared to my current friendliness. You know how some people act completely different when they’re hungry? I had that problem when I needed to sleep.

He shook his head, his smile growing minutely. “Guess that means you aren't selfish.”

“Why thank you, Officer. I try my very hardest.” My smile grew when he referenced my favorite scene back. I hadn't expected him to actually know what I was talking about.

“Deputy,” he corrected as his smothered smirk transformed into a full-blown grin. Holy hell, he’s hot.

I bit my lip as our gazes locked. His emerald eyes made my heart beat unsteadily. I turned away and reached for my seatbelt, buckling up, as I avoided looking at him.

Was he 100% my type? Yes. But I definitely would not—could not—go there. When you had the kind of past and secrets that I had, dating a cop was definitely not an option. Even if he was pretty, and ridiculously nice.