He wore his hair differently now. It was cropped close on the sides and long on top. It fit him. The longer strands said in-control businessman, but the sides said rebel.
“Oh, look what the cat dragged in. The one person no one wants here.”
Caden chuckled, and that sound was even worse than his husky voice. It had a smoky heat that wrapped around me, digging in deep. Just that barest hint of sound had my body waking up in ways it never did, even when I searched with all my might for that pull.
“Denial is not just a river in Egypt, Gigi.”
Every time my nickname left his lips, I wanted to punch him. It killed—the two syllables that reminded me of a simpler time. One where I was truly happy. Where I thought the world was fair and things always worked out.
My gaze flicked up to his as if of its own volition. “Pull your lip over your head and swallow.”
Nash groaned. “Will you two quit it? I thought you were getting along better.”
I squirmed in place. There’d been the briefest of cease-fires. A moment in the aftermath of Maddie’s kidnapping and Nash’s attack where I’d thought that maybe Caden and I were finding our way back to what we had been. But the second we’d known that everyone would be okay, Caden had put that wall right back up.
“I’m going to find a seat,” I muttered. I hurried away from the group as fast as I could.
At least two dozen folding chairs were assembled in a semi-circle, leaving an opening for the two EMTs who were requalifying us in first aid tonight. I scanned the people gathered and made a beeline for the one person I knew wouldn’t put me on edge.
I dropped my bag to the floor and lowered myself into the chair next to Roan. He glanced down at me, his gaze running over my face, searching the way it always did. He could see more than any of my brothers. Sometimes, I thought it was because he lived his life in the quiet. It made him aware of even the slightest changes in the world around him.
“Bad day?” he asked.
“Idiot tourists pretending they could hike Everest, nosy coworkers, a-hat Caden.” I consciously left out the Rance issue. Because while Roan was my most understanding brother, that didn’t make him any less protective. And the last thing I needed was my four big brothers thinking they had to step in where my dating life was concerned.
“Tourists,” Roan grunted.
He had to deal with his fair share of them while working as a game warden for Fish and Wildlife. Usually, when they didn’t store their food properly and attracted bears.
“Summer’s almost over,” I assured him.
“Not soon enough,” he grumbled.
The chair next to me squeaked, and I looked up. The little bit of calmness I’d found from Roan’s presence vanished in a flash.
Caden rolled up the sleeves of his button-down, exposing tan, corded muscle. Rage pulsed hotter in my system. Even his forearms were hot.
“Sit somewhere else,” I growled.
Caden arched a brow. “You’d think I had an effect on you, Gigi.”
“Yeah, indigestion,” I snapped.
Roan choked on a laugh.
Caden stretched out his arm and draped it across the back of my chair. “So, what you’re saying is I cause deep feelings.”
I snarled at him as I pinched the inside of that danged forearm.
“Shit! Sheathe the claws.”
“You’re the one who wanted to sit here.” And now I would be on edge for the rest of the night.
Holt stepped into the center of the semi-circle. “Thanks for coming, everyone.”
I glanced at Roan. “Where’s Lawson?”
“Couldn’t find someone to watch the boys.”
Our eldest brother was the world’s best dad, but I knew doing it on his own wasn’t easy, and he wasn’t one to ask for help unless he was desperate.
Holt introduced the two EMTs, and they dove into basic wound care. Between training for my job and growing up in SAR, I could’ve recited the presentation by heart.
My phone buzzed in my bag, but I ignored it, trying to focus on how to properly wash and sanitize a wound before wrapping it. Heat wafted off Caden in waves. My body was instantly aware of every tiny movement he made. His arm brushed mine, and I jolted as if I’d been shocked by electricity.
Roan sent me a puzzled look, and I crossed my arms, pulling them tight to my body.
My phone buzzed again, and I bent to slide it out of my bag. As my fingers closed around the device, yet another buzz sounded. Tapping the screen, I grimaced.
Rance
I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said.
Rance
The strongest relationships I’ve seen started as friendship. The spark came later.
Rance
Give us another shot. Let me take you to dinner this weekend. Or we can spend a day out on the lake.
I toyed with the corner of my thumbnail as anxiety pricked my belly. So much for honest conversations helping close the door.
“What does that jackhole want?”
I’d been so distracted by the texts that I hadn’t noticed Caden’s nearness until his lips ghosted across the shell of my ear.
I shoved my elbow into his side. “Mind your own business.”
“He bothering you?”
There was a strain to Caden’s voice that I didn’t miss. Because while he had firmly closed the door when it came to letting me in emotionally, he still felt like he had the right to play big brother number five. That fact only poured salt into the wound that was his defection.
“No, he’s a friend,” I whispered.
Caden’s eyes narrowed. “That didn’t look like someone who wants to be your friend.”
“We went on a few dates last month. It’s no big deal.”
Caden’s jaw hardened, and a tic started in the muscle. “He’s not good enough for you.”
I wanted to read far too much into those words. I wanted to hear jealousy and desire and a million other things. But they weren’t there. Even my traitorous heart knew that.
Because that day when I was fifteen had changed everything. Caden might have saved my life, but he had slammed the door on our friendship, taking away my secret keeper, my resting place, my person, and replacing him with a coolly casual acquaintance. So, when I’d woken up from the coma, I hadn’t just lost the normal future I’d planned for. I’d lost everything. Because I’d lost him.
2
CADEN
I watched as Grae moved through the crowd, her tiny form slipping between team members with graceful deftness until I saw only a flash of white-blond hair before she disappeared altogether. An ache settled deep in my chest the moment she vanished, as if some invisible tether linked us together. It happened every time I watched her walk away, yet I didn’t do a damn thing to stop it.
A throat cleared next to me, and my gaze snapped to Roan. His eyes were hard as he took me in. Shit. Being away for so many years had dulled my reflexes. I was normally more careful about paying Grae too much attention in front of her brothers—beyond giving her a hard time.
I shouldn’t be doing that either, but I couldn’t resist. Riling Grae meant getting her attention, even if it was in the form of the sharp side of her tongue. I’d take that over her cool indifference any day of the week.