Across the Vanishing Sky (Starlight Grove, #1)(31)

“Depends. Are they poisoned?”

I couldn’t help the chuckle that slipped free. “Damn. I should’ve thought of that.”

Curiosity won out because Dex leaned over the plate. Confusion quickly swept over his face. “A torso, which is kind of creepy, I might add. Birds. A house. Balloons. And smiling shits?”

I beamed up at him. “An apology for your absolutely worstest day, for rubbing it in at the Boot, and for accidentally exploding a water balloon all over you.”

Dex’s lips fluttered, bringing my gaze down to them. The action made me realize just how full they were. He suddenly lost the battle, and a smile overtook his stubbled face. It changed everything about the man.

It put light behind those dark-hazel eyes. It transformed his face from scary hot to devastatingly gorgeous. And something about it made me want to lean just a little closer.

“Bird shit apology cookies,” Dex said, humor lacing his words.

I shrugged, struggling to reel in my reaction to the man opposite me. “Might as well make the apology personal.”

He stared down at the plate for a long moment. “I owe you an apology, too. I was a grumpy bastard when we had our run-in.”

“And after,” I chided.

Dex chuckled softly, the sound skating over my skin and eliciting a pleasant shiver.

“And after. I’m sorry about that.” He took the plate of cookies. “Thank you for these.”

I nodded, twisting my fingers in front of me. Suddenly, I didn’t have the first clue how to segue into what I wanted to ask. Hey, I heard you’re a supersecret computer hacker. Want to break into parts of the internet that could get you arrested? I wasn’t sure cookies bought me that much goodwill.

Dex frowned. It was the scowl I’d grown used to with him, but there was also a hint of something I swore was concern lining his face. “Did you need something else?”

I sucked in a breath. “I heard you might be good with computers and wondered if I could get your help with something.”

Tension wove through Dex’s muscles, erasing all the ease that had come with that beautiful smile. “Who told you that?”

I twisted my fingers tighter, all but cutting off the blood supply. “Um, Roger from the sheriff’s department, kind of. And then—”

“Nosy bastard,” Dex muttered.

“He was trying to help. I’ve figured out a lot on my own, but tech has never been my strong suit. Owen helps me nine times out of ten—”

“Owen helps?”

“He might be eight, but he’s good with just about every device known to man—”

“Hellion?”

My gaze jerked up to his face. “Yes?” There was something about Dex giving me a nickname. It had an intimacy to it, even though we didn’t know the first thing about each other. It set me on edge. But at the same time, I couldn’t deny I loved that he’d given me a moniker with a ferocity to it—something I so desperately needed.

Dex’s gaze skimmed over my face, assessing. “What do you need help with?”

I squeezed my fingers even tighter. “My best friend. She’s missing.”





13





DEX





The words Brae spoke were the last I’d expected. “My best friend. She’s missing.”

I’d figured some laptop emergency. Even considered that she might be hiding out from a douchebag ex. But the word missing had everything in me weaving so tight it was as if my muscles had turned to cement.

I knew what it was to miss someone. To have no idea if they were alive or dead. To replay every single memory of them over and over until they grew fuzzy around the edges and you wondered if you’d invented the memory.

When my mom vanished from our lives, our father had told us he’d gotten an email. He even showed it to Wylder. A letter sent the day she supposedly took off that said she was sorry but life had become too much for her. Five boys, a massive house to maintain, all the social obligations her husband’s station required of her as the head of a multibillion-dollar import/export conglomerate and so-called pillar of the community. She needed a fresh start.

We’d believed him. Hook, line, and sinker. And so had everyone else in his life. They’d felt so bad for the suddenly single father, abandoned by his flighty wife.

But now, I knew just how easy it was to access someone’s email. To lay a false trail. To fake everything.

When the truth about my father came to light and everything exploded, people looked at my mother’s disappearance through new eyes. But it was too late. The trail was too cold. We never found out if she left or if my father stole her, too.

“Missing?” The single word I managed to give voice to had an animalistic edge. As if I’d gone feral and Brae had me cornered.

She studied my face for a moment, trying to read the tone as I struggled to hold on to my mask. Her fingers braided together as her knuckles bleached white. “A year ago, on the Three Creeks Canyon trail. We were here for a girls’ weekend—the first I’d taken since Owen was born. It was supposed to be a thank-you for all she’d done to help.”

Brae’s words tumbled over each other as she struggled to get them out. “Nova basically raised Owen with me. When everyone else in my life bailed, she stuck around. She moved cross-country with me. Started over. Helped me with middle-of-the-night feedings, changed diapers, cooked when I could barely see straight. I don’t think I would’ve survived without her.”