Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 111038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111038 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
But now I couldn’t get answers to my questions, because my brother was here and his woman was in my face. She yelled at me, tugging me away from Aspen, and all I wanted to do was grab Aspen, drag her into my Wagon, and peel the fuck out of here so I could be sure she wouldn’t do something fucking stupid.
But first, Christ.
Bren—that’s her name—was almost hissing at me. Her hands dug into my arms, and she pulled.
I turned to find Cross right there. “Get your woman off me, or you and I are going to have problems.” I didn’t have any patience today.
His eyes narrowed, but he moved forward, maneuvering himself between Bren and me. He began to pull her back. “Bren!”
“He’s got his hands on her. Aspen, are you okay?” Bren looked around Cross, her eyes wide and alarmed.
Shit. She knows Aspen.
I looked down, and Aspen hadn’t moved. The blood had drained from her face, and she looked up, meeting my gaze.
“What is happening?” she whispered. Her forehead dropped to my chest.
Thunk.
I felt something falling into place at the same time I heard it. And it wasn’t her forehead. It was me, realizing something had just happened, and it moved me. I didn’t want it to move me, but fuck it, I was moved.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I didn’t like this.
I stepped back, lifting my head, my eyes closed, and I cupped the back of Aspen’s head.
What was happening here? She shuddered in my arms.
Ignoring the sudden silence around us, I bent down and murmured, for her ears only, “Do not leave. Please.”
She nodded, her forehead not moving from my chest, and then I motioned for Jamie.
When he came over, I handed her off. “Put her in my car. Don’t let her leave.”
He nodded, taking her arm.
I sighed. “Babe.”
Jamie paused, a grin starting.
“Keys,” I said to Aspen.
Her eyes were still closed, her head down, but she dug into her pocket and pulled out her keys. I swiped them, nodding to Jamie. “Get her phone,” I told him. “Have her text me.” I wanted her number.
He nodded. A moment later, after she was in the car, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Then Jamie locked the doors and sat facing us, his back to Aspen, blocking her view.
I sighed and turned to face my brother.
Cross was my half-brother, but we looked so much alike, we could’ve been twins. It had been a shock when I saw him the first time, and it was a second shock when I realized later that he knew about me. I hadn’t known about him, not until I saw him with his group, facing off against Zeke. They’d been fighting—all of them, even Bren—because that’s what they did.
His group of four loved each other.
They were tight, but not the kind of tight that was a show. They were legit tight, and he and Bren were a unit like I’d never seen in my life. He had it all, and as I looked at him now, I wanted what he had.
I mean, I didn’t want his woman. She was gorgeous and all—a rock-tight body and dark hair—but she did nothing for me. But I did want friends that would step in front of a moving car for me, and that’s what he had. Was that what I had? Maybe.
Zeke would do it. He’d said as much.
Maybe I was the asshole, taking what I had for granted?
Either way, this wasn’t the time for these thoughts.
“Bren knows Aspen?” I asked.
Cross frowned, looking torn. He didn’t talk to me. I didn’t know if it was a rule, it was just the truth.
My blood had cooled, but I still didn’t have much patience. “Don’t make me say it again. I wasn’t hurting her. I like her, so tell me what you know.”
Bren moved around my brother, her eyes flashing a warning. “Yeah, we know her. She helped us out of a bind once. How do you know her?”
I settled back on my heels, taking a calming breath. My hands went into my pockets. We were communicating. Good. “We go to the same school.”
She frowned, looking at Cross. They seemed to share a whole conversation before she moved back, sighing and cursing at the same time. Then my brother stepped forward. It seemed he was the chosen spokesperson now.
His group remained beside their huge-ass truck, waiting to see how this ended.
Cross’ hands went into his pockets, and I grimaced, realizing how much we looked alike. I pulled mine out, but didn’t move. I just waited.
“We crossed paths with her once. She was camping.” He indicated behind him with his head. “Bren was worried about her. She thought she might’ve been homeless.”
I snorted. “She’s not homeless.”
He frowned. “You don’t know—”
“She owns this car.” I knocked on the hood of the sickest car ever.