Chapter 1
Rhile
The blaring alarm made me groan, and I blindly reached over to smack the snooze button. It felt like no time had passed when it started beeping again. Reluctantly, I rolled onto my back with a huge yawn and started stretching my limbs.
I slowly went through my routine, getting ready for work and downing a ton of coffee as I went. When a horn blasted from in front of my house, I sighed, grabbed another coffee, and headed out, locking the door behind me.
As soon as I dropped into the passenger seat of the beat-up little blue car—I had no idea what kind it was, only that it was old as hell—my best friend said, “You have to come out with me tonight.”
I groaned. “No.”
Joz started driving as he whined, “Come on, please? You never come out with me. I need my wingman tonight.”
I sighed and took a sip of my coffee. “I really don’t like going to bars, Joz. You know this already.”
“I know, but… you haven’t been out in months. You need to go out and meet people, and maybe even get a little action going.”
Cringing at the thought of a one-night stand with a stranger, I said, “Not gonna happen.”
He sighed. “Come out to dinner with me, then.”
I stared at my best friend, taking in his golden skin, hair a shade darker than mine, and fit body. I couldn’t see his grayish-green eyes from here, but I knew they were striking against his darker complexion. He went biking regularly, so he was fit and stronger than he looked. Objectively, Joz was a really good-looking guy. Too bad I had nothing but brotherly feelings for the guy.
He caught me looking and smirked before returning his attention to the road. “You could just take me home tonight.” He waggled his eyebrows.
A laugh bubbled out, making me choke on my coffee, and Joz howled with laughter as he patted me on the back, keeping one hand on the steering wheel.
When I caught my breath, I said, “Don’t do that!”
He chuckled. “Seeing your face was priceless.” He fake shuddered. “But yeah, I’ll never say that again. I can’t even imagine you naked, and I don’t want to.” He shuddered again.
“Gee, thanks.”
He offered a grin. “You’re too much like my brother to think of you that way.”
I rolled my eyes, and luckily, the hardware store where we both worked came into view. “I’ll come to dinner with you, but I’m not going out afterwards, so don’t even ask.”
He nodded, parked the car, and when I went to get out, he put his hand on my forearm to stop me and asked, “Are you alright, Rhiles?”
“Yeah, fine.”
He tilted his head to the side. “Why don’t you want to meet anyone? I could get you a date, if you’re not into picking up guys at the bar.”
My heart clenched in my chest at the thought of going on a date with someone I didn’t know, so I shook my head. “I’m good.”
He stared at me, his eyes seeing more than I was comfortable with. “Why is dating, or even sleeping with someone, such a hard no for you?”
I opened my mouth but no words came out. “I… I don’t really know, but the thought of it just feels… wrong.”
“Are you…” he hesitated.
“Am I what?”
“Promise not to be mad or offended?”
I waved him away. “Fine, I won’t be mad or offended.”
He gave me a nod, then said, “Are you asexual or something along those lines? You can tell me, I won’t judge, no matter what.”
I scrunched up my nose as I thought about that, then sighed. It would be easier to explain to him if I thought the asexual label fit me, but I really didn’t think it did. “No, I don’t think that’s it. I just… I don’t think the right person is going to be at a bar.”
“Okay, but then why not let me set you up on a date?”
“I don’t know how to explain it, but I’m really not feeling it right now.”
He nodded, looking thoughtful. “Okay, well, if you need to talk it out or anything, my door is always open.”
I shot him a half-smile. “Thanks, Joz.”
“Anytime.” He smiled, then hopped out of the car, so I followed suit.
We walked through the side door of the store to the locker room where we checked in and found our vests. Then we both headed over to the gardening section, since that was our regular area.
I’d only met Joz about a year ago when I moved to this town and started working here. He’d been working here for a year already, so he’d helped me learn the ins and outs of the place quickly. We’d hit it off immediately, almost as if we’d known each other our whole lives. In fact, it was almost crazy how well we got along right away. I’d never had a good friend before Joz, at least not that I remembered anyway. My childhood was a happy one, for the most part, but to be honest, nothing in my life before meeting Joz was very memorable.
People often asked us if we were brothers, thinking that we looked alike—kinda like that weird thing where couples started looking like each other after a while, but Joz was only a friend, a close one though. I supposed I could see it a little, but my beard covered much of my face, and he was always clean-shaven, so I was surprised how often people asked.
The job was fairly easy, as long as you didn’t get rude or cruel customers—which seemed to happen every other day. But I loved taking care of the plants and helping customers find good ones to take home for their gardens.
As I stocked the shelves and helped customers, I wondered, not for the first time, if this was truly what I wanted to do with my life.
Joz and I often talked about extravagant jobs we’d love to do, but neither of us ever pursued anything. Maybe it was laziness or maybe we were both just destined to lead boring little lives in a small-ish town. It wasn’t a terrible life, but it certainly wasn’t exciting.
As I stood in my front yard, a beautiful man walked over to me, taking my breath away. His bright blue eyes caught my attention first. They were bright, yet held a sadness in them that made me want to take the man into my arms and hold on tight. As he approached, his eyes became glassy like he was about to start crying. I stepped toward him on instinct, and he closed his eyes, a tear running down his cheek. Only when I wasn’t caught in his gaze did I take in the rest of his appearance.
His long, light brown hair was braided back to keep away from his face, revealing pointed ears like an elf. When I moved my gaze down, I blinked. At first, I’d thought the man was tiny, but he was actually taller than me by a few inches, only where I was stocky and muscled, he was thin—a beanpole, really, perhaps even too skinny—with such delicate features. And he was dressed in clothes that made him look like he was going into combat or something. The weapons strapped all over him probably helped with that look. I almost stepped closer to him before I saw the abundance of knives and guns strapped to his person, and I was pretty sure he even had a crossbow strapped to his back.
Who in the hell carried around a crossbow? And why the hell was some mercenary-slash-possible-assassin in my front yard? Was I his intended target? Who in the world would care enough to want to kill me of all people?