Across the Vanishing Sky (Starlight Grove, #1)(33)
Brae’s slender shoulders slumped, making her look even smaller. “I understand. I’m sorry I put you in a bad position. I don’t want you to get into trouble because of me.”
Her understanding was like a one-two punch to the places that had just been stabbed. “I really am sorry.”
She shook her head, already backing down the steps. When the porch light caught her golden-brown eyes, I saw why. They glittered with unshed tears, and it was the last thing she wanted me to see.
“I’ll see you around.”
She didn’t wait for my answer, all but bolting back to her cabin.
God, that killed me. Not just the tears but her fight to keep them at bay, to keep me from seeing them. She was so damn strong. But even the strongest people needed someone to lean on. And Brae had no one.
My back teeth ground together as I tugged my phone from my pocket and pulled up the Hot Sauce and Hot Goss chat. Not even seeing that Kol and Mav had gone to war with the name half a dozen times in the past few hours made me smile.
Me
Case to bring to the group. A personal favor.
It only took seconds before a name popped up.
Wylder
If it’s someone you need to help, you know we’re there.
Me
There’s a complication.
Kol
What kind of complication?
Zero-risk, play-by-the-rules Kol would, of course, focus on that.
Me
It’s local.
Kol
We can’t. You know why. It’s a nonstarter.
Maverick
We might be able to figure out a way to keep our identities under wraps.
Orion
No.
I scowled at my phone. I owed Orion everything. Down to the air still flowing in my lungs. But his finality was pissing me the hell off.
Me
I wasn’t aware this had become a dictatorship.
Kol
It’s not, but we’ve always worked on a one-vote veto system. And we do that for a reason.
I knew he was right, but I couldn’t get Brae’s face out of my mind. Golden eyes darkened as grief streaked across her expression.
Wylder
Who is it?
Of course, he’d be the one to zero in on the important question.
Me
Brae. Her best friend went missing at Three Creeks Canyon a year ago.
Kol
I remember that case. I thought they closed it. I heard from my boss they thought she fell into the river. Got swept away.
Annoyance flickered through me as my cheek fluttered.
Me
Miller says that’s what happened.
Wylder
That’s why she moved here? To look for her friend?
Me
Get the sense the friend is more like a sister.
Wylder
Fuck.
Maverick
Who the hell is Brae?
Me
My new neighbor and Wylder’s new waitress.
Maverick
Brae’s a hot girl name. Maybe a little hippie. She hot?
The now-familiar scowl was back on my face.
Me
Don’t be a jackass.
Maverick
That’s a yes. I see a visit to the Boot in my future.
I bit the inside of my cheek. It didn’t matter. Mav could hit on whoever he wanted. Brae wasn’t for me for a million reasons. Neighbor meant you couldn’t escape them when things were done. Kid meant commitment and family, something I’d never risk after the hell I lived through. And the way everything about her had me leaning in had my red-alert signs flashing.
Wylder
I’ll pay to see this. Brae’s gonna put you on your ass in two seconds flat.
That had a different sort of alert flaring.
Me
There a problem at the bar?
Wylder
Sloppy, day-drunk tourists. Never seen someone put entitled assholes in their place faster.
My fingers tightened around my phone. I hated the idea of guys creeping on Brae while she worked. I knew Wylder would have her back, but that didn’t change the fact that it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
Kol
You like her.
I stiffened.
Wylder
She works for me. You know I don’t go there.