Hinder

I was jaded and bitter after the worst kind of betrayal, so the last thing on my mind was love… until her.

My job was to keep her safe, but I wanted to be more than just her protector. I wanted to be her forever, but she only needed me temporarily. When it was time to leave, I could do nothing but walk away and hope she would follow.

I didn’t see her again until months later when she showed up at my door with blood on her hands. And because I was still in love with her, I risked everything to clear her name… even though I wasn’t sure she was as innocent as she claimed to be.

CHAPTER 3

Onnika

I had barely slept, and when I heard my sister moving around, I didn’t get up. All night I was tossing and turning, a sinking feeling in my stomach that would not go away. My irrational decisions were starting to weigh on me, and I felt bad for not telling Oakley everything. But I was embarrassed about my behavior and didn’t want to admit what I’d actually done.

She also had enough going on in her life, and it was clear she was totally in love with Lincoln, so while I was here for the next couple of days, I would do everything I could to push her to tell him how she felt.

I had always been the confident, outgoing sister, while Oakley was shy and a little insecure. She had told me about Lincoln a long time ago, and when I ran into him last night, it was so obvious he was gone for her, too. If she hadn’t gotten wasted, my plan to get her alone with him would have worked, but unfortunately, that was foiled when she got sick. Which was also a shame because I was having fun with Foster. He was the kind of guy I should have been with, and I was so angry that I fell for Drake’s shit and wasted months of my life with him.

When I heard Oakley leave for her run, I decided to just get out of bed because I wouldn’t get any sleep. I tied my hair up and took a quick shower, then went to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Oakley returned and walked right to the sink. “Good run?” I asked as I set a piece of bacon on a skillet.

“Yeah, it was.” She filled a glass with water and slammed it.
“Do you want to shower first or eat?”

“Shower. I’ll be quick.”

I fried some bacon and made a half dozen pancakes, and when Oakley came out, she joined me at her little table. I’d already finished my plate, and when she reached for a piece of bacon, she gagged. “Ugh.”

“Nauseous?”

She took a pancake and ate it plain. “I wasn’t until now. I’ll just stick to this.”

“More bacon for me, then.” I swiped another piece and happily nibbled on it. It had been a while since I’d lived with a roommate, and even longer since that roomie was my sister, so I really enjoyed having someone to sit down and share a meal with.

“How are you not more hungover?”

“I guess I just hold my liquor better.”

She made a sour face at the orange juice and got up to get more water. “So how bad was I last night? It was really bad, wasn’t it? God… I’m so embarrassed.”

“No, you weren’t terrible at all. After you puked, you pretty much passed out, so there wasn’t much to be embarrassed about.”

“Did you take my jeans off?”

I shook my head with a grin, remembering how sexy it was that he took care of her last night. “No. That would be your man.”

“He’s not my man.”

“Uh, I think he is.”

“No, he’s not,” she argued, and just then, her phone dinged. She looked at the screen and got a huge smirk on it.

“It’s from him, isn’t it?” I asked, even though I knew there was only one person who could make her smile like that.
“Shut up,” she mumbled.

Her face got all red, and I couldn’t contain my laughter. “Oh, my God. You’re blushing. What did he say?”

She went to show me the screen, but I plucked it out of her hand and replied as I ran away from her. “Give it back.” She chased me, but I was faster. “Don’t, Onnika. I’m serious. What are you, twelve?”

After I finished, I dramatically pressed send. “You’ll thank me later.”

“What did you say?”

I handed her the phone back and watched her face turn red as she read what I had sent.

Let me make it up to you. Come by tonight with your friend from yesterday.

“Oh, my God! I hate you.” She threw her phone when it buzzed, but I caught it and read Lincoln’s response.
“What time? He wants to know.”

She pouted, crossed her arms and everything like a kid having a tantrum. “I’m not talking to you.”

“Okay, I’ll tell him seven.”

“You’re such a bitch.”

“I thought you weren’t talking to me.”

“Ahh!” She pulled at her hair and stomped to her room, slamming the door behind her.

For a woman who was independent and successful, she sure was a baby when it came to men. I wasn’t sure why, because she was beautiful, which always seemed weird to say since we were twins, but she was. And she was funny and smart and loyal. She had a huge heart and never missed an opportunity to let you know she cared. She always sold herself short, and I wasn’t going to let happiness pass her by anymore.

I walked into her room and sat on the edge of her bed, where she was lying with her arm thrown over her face. “I know you’re not really mad at me.”

“Good. It’s not you or him… it’s me. I like him too much. So much that I know it would destroy me if I lost him. I saw what it did to Opal and even Olive… I’m not strong enough to go through it myself.”

Both of us learned some lessons in love from our older sisters, that was for sure, but she was using them as an excuse. “I could see that if they both were still stuck in the past, but they've moved on. Opal’s happy now with Ryan. Olive got Jay back. So your excuse is bullshit.”

“No, it’s not. Just because they’re happy now doesn’t mean I’d ever get over losing Lincoln.”

“There’s no guarantee you’d lose him at all.”

“There’s no guarantee I won’t.”

I lay down next to her. “Do you even know why you ran from him?”

“Yeah, I just told you.”

And I still didn’t believe her. “Well, whatever. I think there’s more to it, but if you don’t want to talk, I’m not going to make you. Plus, you can’t run anymore, so you need to decide if you’re willing to risk possible heartbreak because it’s just not fair to lead a man on if you’re not sure, too.” I rolled to my side and propped my head up with my hand. “Instead, let’s talk about what you want to make for them tonight for dinner?”

“I can’t cook, you know that.”

I hummed. She was a terrible cook. “I’ll make lasagna.”

“Too much garlic.”

“Are you planning on kissing him or something?”

She giggled. “Shut up.”

“I love this. He makes you act like a teenager again.”

“How about pot roast? Foster and Lincoln are big. They seem like meat and potato kind of guys.”

“Okay, we need to go to the store now, though, so I can get it browned and then in the slow cooker.”

“All right. I’ll ask Frankie if she’s got some extra cupcakes, and we can swing by for those. I want you to meet her while you’re here.”

We went to the little grocery store and then stopped by the bakery she helped out at to get some cupcakes. I loved the small town she lived in. Everyone was so nice, and it was absolutely charming. Like something out of a movie.

After we returned to her apartment in a rather small complex, she cleaned up, and I prepped dinner and put everything together in the slow cooker. We spent the afternoon getting ready, and before I knew it, it was almost time for Foster and Lincoln to arrive.

I was putting my stuff away in the bathroom when I heard a knock on the door. I was surprisingly nervous, and I wiped my hands on my pants, then went down the hallway to meet them. And when I saw Foster, I froze in my steps.
Holy shit. He had flowers.

And he was so handsome. He was tall and lean but muscular with wide shoulders and a scruffy beard.Somehow, he was hotter than when I saw him last night, and it shocked the shit out of me how intense my reaction to him was… again.

He approached, and I took the flowers wordlessly. When I moved my eyes from the beautiful arrangement across the room to my sister, I laughed because once again, we were dressed similarly, just like last night. We were wearing the same rhinestone sandals, black leggings, and a gray top.

Hers was off the shoulder with a turquoise bra strap showing, and mine had a deep vee that showed off my purple bralette. And because the weird butterflies in my stomach made me an idiot, I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. “I know this seems like the start of some porno, but I assure you it’s not, so if that was on your agenda for the night, I hate to tell you, but you’re going to be highly disappointed.”

“Onnika!” Oakley gasped.

“No doubt every guy has had that fantasy at one point or another, but you’re not dealing with a couple of immature little boys, Niki,” Foster scolded me like I was a child.

“We’re grown-ass men who know exactly what we want, and not only that, but Linc has clearly claimed your sister, so for me to tag along tonight with that thought on my mind wouldn’t only be an asshole move, but it would be disrespectful as fuck.”

I felt my face fall and flame simultaneously. “I was just joking. I wasn’t serious.”

“Something to know about me is I don’t joke about cheating, so it’s good we’re on the same page.”