Beautiful Elixir (Beautiful Oblivion #3) by Addison Moore

both arrested. But yeah, maybe some other time.”
    “Sounds good.” I walk her to the porch and let the night song of the crickets, the sound of water rippling onto shore encapsulate us for a moment.
    “One more thing, Caleb.” She spins into me, her eyes shining with tears once again. “I’m not too sure about this whole us thing.”
    This whole us thing. The words burn through my stomach like acid.
    She shrugs before she lets the rejection fly. “Maybe we should just stay friends.”
    I give a silent nod in agreement, but the hard stare I’m bearing into her says anything but.
    Kennedy is running scared. Her life, her body has been mapped out like the constellations in the cyber galaxy for all to see. Her head is a mess. At least that’s the version my ego, my heart demands to believe.
    “We can take it slow.” The words escape me before I can assess them. I don’t want to take it slow. I just want the magic we had, the magic that we could have.
    Her glowing eyes widen in fear before she takes off into the dark.
    The sweet scent of lilacs lingers in her wake, and I writhe into it, inhaling her hard as if saving her for later.
    Maybe I’ve misread this entire situation from the beginning. Maybe Kennedy was just never that into me.
    I head back into the house and ransack the kitchen for that whiskey. I find a slender bottle of Grey Goose instead and take it with me out back. It’s time to sit under the stars and figure out what the fuck just happened.
----
    I n the morning , I shoot Kennedy a text asking if we could meet for coffee to discuss the case. I would have invited her to the cabin, but, as it turns out, I’m deficient in both the makings for a decent cup of Joe and whiskey. I should probably rectify that, but, in truth, I prefer the Starbucks down the hill for one and the bar on the backside of Loveless for the other. I guess that makes me a social drinker.
    But Kennedy doesn’t opt for the Starbucks down the hill, in fact, she doesn’t bother responding, or going anywhere with me for that matter, so I choose something far more close to home, all by my lonesome. The Corner Store is only a little more advanced than I remember. The sign out front is homemade, something just a little stiffer than cardboard with its red paint faded to brown in the sun. The uneven lettering lets you know right off the bat there’s a good chance they’re serving up a little listeria with their à la carte lunch menu
    I head in, and the scent of apple pie and coffee lights up the air.
    “McCarthy.” I hear my name shouted from the back of the café. It’s Gavin seated with Ace. I give a brief nod before putting in my order to a tall girl with unruly black hair piled on top of her head, her eyes glowing like high beams, sunk beneath circles upon circles of black eyeliner. It gives her a ghoulish effect, but she’s pretty enough even with the Halloween haunt she’s got decorating her features. Her crooked nametag reads NEVA .
    “I’ll bring it to you,” she says, nodding toward Gavin’s table, so I head on over.
    My head feels thick, still fogged up from the rejection Kennedy served up for dessert last night.
    “What’s up?” I take a seat at the table. Gavin is wearing that signature ear-to-ear grin of his. It hasn’t left his face since the day he got Demi back in his life. It’s hard not to forget the heartache they went through, she went through with that psychotic stepmother of hers. But now it’s all been resolved, Gavin and Demi get their happily ever after, and they should. They deserve it. I glance to Ace. “So you’re Reese’s husband. I had dinner with Kennedy last night.”
    Ace shakes his head. It’s clear what he’s disapproving of, and it’s not the fact Kennedy pan seared a fish for me. “Reese says Ken hired you. Is there anything we can do to help? You need me to kick Stearns’ ass?”
    “No. I need his ass very much intact. In fact, speaking with him is at the top of my to-do list