14. Eva

Being here, in this cabin, was like a dream. A pleasant one, but still a dream. I slept deeply, ate better than I had in years, and for the first time I felt safe.

The kitchen incident had been brushed under the proverbial rug. Cole and Silas had explained to me that Tanner was their brother and he hadn't known I was here.

He'd scared the shit out of me, but also invoked feelings I wasn't comfortable looking too closely at. It wasn't until Silas got knocked to the floor that I snapped out of the spell Tanner had cast over me.

It was the blood that did it. And the violence. Watching Silas bleed on the floor brought it all back. All the memories of Brent cutting me, using me as a punchbag, screaming at me.

Dissociating was my coping mechanism, and this time was no different.

After Cole left me alone in my bedroom, my brain ran through different escape plans, but by the time morning came, reality had sunk in. There was no way I could leave the cabin. Not without help, anyway.

Whether I liked it or not, I was stuck here for the time being. Once I accepted this, I calmed down.

Several days had passed since Tanner's unexpected arrival and he'd been avoiding us all ever since. He ate in his room, was never around when I was, and I'd begun to think he was a ghost.

I felt bad because this was his home, but also relieved that I wasn't being subjected to his particular brand of dark intensity.

Since I had mostly recovered from the accident, Cole and Silas were trying to keep me busy. Silas had even asked me to help him chop wood yesterday, which was ridiculous. It basically involved me watching him wield an ax while shirtless and sweaty.

From how he flirted with me, I knew he liked the way I blushed every five minutes and ogled him when I thought he wasn't looking.

Cole rolled his eyes a lot at Silas's antics and pretended to be annoyed at his shameless flirting. From what I could tell from watching the dynamic between the guys, Cole was the adult in the house, Silas was the annoying younger brother who enjoyed pranking the shit out of them all, and Tanner was the dysfunctional one.

Today, we were baking.

It wasn't something I knew how to do, but Cole insisted I needed to learn. He said it was a useful life skill. Silas had laughed at that. He said shooting and knowing how to fix a generator were a lot more useful, at which point Cole had punched him in the face and they'd started play-fighting.

Honestly, I'd never seen men fight as much as these idiots. It was all in good humor - most of the time. Aside from the fight between Silas and Tanner, they didn't seem to suffer any ill-effects from the roughhousing. Whereas most men would have black eyes and end up covered in bruises after a serious fight, they all looked good as new within a few hours.

It was a little odd, but I figured they just had good healing genes.

For my baking lesson, Cole had decided we were making cookies. He said it was one of the easiest recipes and impossible to mess up. I was unconvinced, but I stayed quiet, not wanting to disappoint him.

Cole watched as I measured out flour and added cocoa powder to the bowl. I was terrified of messing up the recipe and wasting the ingredients. Memories of Brent beating the shit out of me for dropping something he'd paid for were at the front of my mind. My hand shook as I lifted the sieve.

"Now add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar."

I did as I was told.

"Use your hands to turn it into a dough." I tried, but it was sticky and I soon got frustrated.

"No, like this," he said, moving behind me and placing his large hands over mine to illustrate the figure-of-eight movement I was supposed to be using to form the dough.

It was hard to concentrate while he stood so close. His body was like a furnace against my back and I could feel every hard plane of his muscular torso pressed against my soft curves. His scent was intoxicating. My attention soon drifted from the task at hand.

"Like this?" I wished he would move away so I could string a coherent thought together. But he seemed completely unaware of how fast my heart was beating in my chest and how badly my body was overheating at his proximity.

"Yes, just like that." It was pathetic how my cheeks flushed red at the pride in his voice and I was grateful he couldn't see me blushing like a stupid schoolgirl with a crush on the star quarterback.

He stepped back, and I relaxed, able to breathe normally again.

"Now take the dough and roll it out into small balls." I did as I was told while he watched. "Put them on the baking sheet and flatten them a bit."

"How long in the oven?"

"About ten minutes. Maybe a touch longer, but we'll see."

I placed the tray in the oven and closed the door, praying they tasted as good as the ones Cole made. We quickly tidied up the kitchen and when the buzzer went off, Cole grinned at me.

"Now it's time to eat what we baked!"

He grabbed the oven gloves and opened the oven door. The scent of cocoa wafted out and my stomach growled loudly. Cole snorted with laughter while I cringed. God, I'd done nothing but eat since I arrived here. If I wasn't careful, I'd be piling on weight. Just like Brent warned me would happen.

My tummy had already gone from concave to gently curved, and my cheeks were no longer as gaunt when I looked in the bathroom mirror. As much as I wanted to forget about all the awful things Brent had said over the years, it was hard. But as Cole slid the cookies we'd made on to a wire rack to cool down, I realized I no longer cared what Brent thought.

I knew Silas found me attractive. He was constantly telling me how pretty I was, how blue my eyes were, and how he loved it when I smiled. I also hadn't missed the way Cole looked at me when he thought I wasn't watching.

Truth be told, I enjoyed their attention, and they had been nothing but respectful. The only one who'd pushed my boundaries was Tanner. But that was before he knew who I was, so I didn't hold it against him. Maybe he treated all women like that. I hoped not, but not all men were nice, as I knew to my cost.

But I wasn't thinking about Tanner or the way he'd made me ache deep inside. I was ignoring him and pretending he didn't exist.

"Here, you get to try the first one, Eva." Cole folded his brawny arms across his chest and I tried not to admire the way his biceps bulged and the tee-shirt he wore rode up, revealing a tempting strip of golden skin just above his belt.

"Erm…OK." I reached for a cookie. It was still warm and when I bit through the crunchy outside, the chocolate flavor exploded on my tongue. Oh my god, this was so good!

My first time baking hadn't been a disaster after all. Seeing the surprised on my face, Cole laughed.

"Good, eh? I told you cookies were easy!"

"Cookies?" drawled a deep, oh-so-sexy voice. I looked up to see Tanner leaning against the door frame, shirtless, his corded arms and muscular chest covered in ink. The mouthful of cookie I was chewing solidified to concrete, and I struggled to force it down without choking.

"I've been teaching Eva how to bake cookies." Cole grinned at me, ignoring the sudden tension in the room.

"Can I have one of your…cookies, Eva?" Tanner asked as he stepped into the room. I knew he was deliberately trying to make me feel uncomfortable. My cheeks flushed fire engine red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"Sure, try not to choke to death." My sharp rebuke surprised not only myself.

"I see our kitten has claws." Tanner smirked as he reached out for a cookie. He bit into it while raking his gaze down my body. I wanted to run away, but forced myself to stay.

The man was an asshole and I refused to let him upset me. Cole was here, so nothing was going to happen. I could handle this.

"Delicious," Tanner purred with a smile as his eyes lingered on the curve of my breasts beneath the shirt I wore.

"No more cookies." Cole slapped Tanner's hand as he reached for another. "They're Eva's and she gets to eat them all."

Tanner pretended to pout, and I tried not to grin. He was an asshole, but something about him drew me in. Just like all of them did, but for different reasons.

Cole was the nurturing one. Silas made me laugh. And Tanner…well I sensed his darkness, and I instinctively understood it was rooted in pain.

I knew all about pain.