Code Name Shadow

Chapter 6

I know how important this night is to him and he makes a good point, I do want to make friends. I force a smile, and even though it doesn't quite reach my eyes, Beck smiles back at me. "Come on," he says. "Let's go inside."

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The house is massive and kind of intimidating, but luckily everyone is hanging out on the backyard patio. I feel my shoulders relax just a little, knowing I'll at least have so fresh air while I'm here.

Beckett grabs my hand as we weave through groups of families chatting, and his pace picks up when he sees his whole team standing in the corner of the yard. He drags me behind him as I struggle to catch up, and by the time we make it there I'm practically out of breath.

"Wellsy!" A chorus of men yell out as they see us coming. Beckett drops my hand then, going over to his teammates and pulling them in with one hand and smacking them on the back with the other. He has a huge grin on his face, and I can't remember the last time I've seen him this happy.

Once his initial greeting is done, he comes back over to me and drapes his arm around my shoulders. "Boys, this is my little sister, Brielle. Brielle, this is my team."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." The largest, most intimidating member of the group reaches out his hand. He has to be at least 6 foot 4, with dark brown eyes and jet-black hair. If he wasn't trying to force a smile for me right now, I'm pretty sure I would be terrified of him. I extend my hand and force my own smile as I shake his hand.

"This is Damien," Beck says, gesturing to the massive man in front of me. "And this is Jack, Cohen, Aaron, and Cody, who you've already met." They all wave at me and smile, and I force myself to return the gesture.

They soon go back to chatting about whatever they were before Beck and I came over, and I suddenly feel very overwhelmed. Beckett is enthralled in whatever conversation they're having and although I know I shouldn't, I feel isolated. I don't like being left alone at social events, especially when I don't know anyone else, and it's making me very anxious.

Excusing myself, I leave the group and go to find water. My hands tremble slightly as I pour some into a glass, and the second I take one sip of it I gulp down the entire glass. Refilling it, I move off to the side of the yard and fiddle with my hands, cracking my knuckles and picking at my nails.

"You know, that's not a great habit." I nearly drop my glass when I hear a dep voice next to me. Heart pounding, I turn my head quickly and am met by piercing green eyes. Cody. I breathe deeply, trying to recover from my moment of panic.

Placing my hand on my chest, I keep eye contact with him. "Cody, oh my god, hi. You scared me," I say.

With a small, soft smile, he responds. "Sorry, definitely not my intention," he says, putting his hands in his pockets.

"What are you doing over here anyway? It seemed like you and your team were having some pretty interesting discussions over there." He laughs at that, and the sound gives me butterflies.

"Sure, if that's what you want to call it," he chuckles, running a hand through his hair. "But what's more interesting, is that I saw you over here, standing alone."

"And why is that so interesting to you? Am I not allowed to be alone for a few minutes?" I ask.

"Of course you are. It's just that when I choose to be alone, I'm not normally shaking."

I gulp at that, unsure what to say. How could he even notice that from where he was standing? Trying to put on a brave face, I straighten myself up and lie to him.

"I really don't know what you're talking about. I was just getting some water and came over here for some space while I drank it. I'm completely fine."

"Really?" He asks, very similar to how Beckett does when he knows I'm lying. "So if I were to ask you to hold your hands out right now, they wouldn't be trembling?"

I finally break eye contact with him as I stare down at the ground. "I told you, I'm fine. There's really nothing to worry about."

He nods but says nothing. It's quiet for a few moments before he breaks the silence again. "Okay. Well, fun fact about me, I hate crowds. So, whenever I'm somewhere new, I try to find one person that I can get along well with who will stick with me for the night."

"Usually I have Beckett," I mumble, just loud enough for him to have heard me.

"Well, I happen to know someone even more fun than him, if you're interested," he smirks.

"I swear, if you say it's you, I'm walking away."

He laughs again, a deep, genuine laugh this time. "No, no it's not me. Although, I am pretty cool, aren't I?" He winks at me and I can feel myself blush. Luckily, it's dark out, so I don't think he noticed. "Come on, I'll introduce you."

He puts his hand on the small of my back and I reluctantly follow him. I tense up as we reach a large group. As if he can sense my uneasiness, I can feel his thumb start slowly moving, trying to calm me down as it rubs across my back.

"Gemma!" he calls out. A blonde girl about my age and height whips her head around, and she smiles when she sees him. Immediately she starts walking towards us, and it takes everything in me to keep a brave face.

"Gemma, this is Brielle, Wellsy's little sister. Brielle, this is Gemma, Jack's sister."

She gives me a huge smile. 'Oh my god, it's so nice to meet you!" she says as she pulls me into a giant hug. "I thought there'd never be another girl around here to hang out with, there's too much testosterone all the time!"

I laugh and smile back at her. "It's nice to meet you too. We just moved here, so I really don't know anyone yet."

"Oh my god, well there's so much to tell you then. Jack's been on the team about four years now, so I know pretty much everything about everyone here who isn't new. Not the best place to unpack all that information right now though, I'm afraid. How about we get lunch? Friday maybe? I'd love to get to know you more and give you a proper introduction to the team."

As weary as I still was of strangers, everything about Gemma seemed completely genuine. She didn't come across as fake and seemed like a really nice person, and I needed friends, allies, if I was going to make it living here.

"Sure," I replied. "That would be great."

"Yay!" she practically squealed as she pulled me in for another hug, catching me off guard.

I went to look at Cody but realized he was gone. Scanning the crowd with my eyes, I saw him back in the corner with his team. As if he could feel me staring at him, he looked up. I nodded my head, a silent thank you for introducing me to my new friend, and he smiled and lifted his beer in the air toward me as an acknowledgement.

Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all.