Page 198 of Mountain Men Heroes

Trinity and I clinked glasses.

As if to give proof to his words, Aunt Alice’s grumpy old cat slinked his way onto my lap, purring the moment I stroked my hand over his black fur and kneading his claws into my jean-clad leg. That cat hated everyone on principle. Everyone except me. For me, he turned from a spitty, feral tomcat into a sweet-as-pie kitten seeking affection. I seemed to have that effect on most animals I encountered.

Trinity snorted, shaking her head at me. She’d caught me on more than one occasion over the years sneaking out of town to play with my band. More recently, I’d even stashed my guitar in her apartment. But that was before she hooked up with my brother.

I blinked at her, eyes wide, flashing the innocent look I’d perfected after years of trying to hide my activities from my older brothers. If it made them happy to think of me as sweet and innocent, who was I to argue? Which is probably the problem. I didn’t nip it in the bud soon enough and now it’s too late and I just have to deal with it.

Trinity rolled her eyes and leaned forward. “One of these days, Clara Becker, you’re going to show your family your true colors and they’re going to love all of them. All of you.”

Sawyer’s eyebrows snapped together and he twisted his head to look at me again, but he played the wise card and bit his tongue. But I knew he burned to ask what the hell all that meant.

I let my gaze travel the room as I fought to maintain my temper. What I said to Trinity was true. I was used to my brothers’ controlling ways. Over the years, I mostly just smiled and nodded and found ways to do my own thing with none of them the wiser. Confrontations are not my thing and fighting

But every once in a while, the overprotectiveness and pressure to stay as innocent as a kid got on my last nerve. It made me want to spill the beans on everything I’d done in the past few years that broke the rules they seemed to think applied to me just because they said so. God, I hated being the baby of the family.

As I fought down my anger, my gaze landed on two men standing by themselves in the corner of the room—Dyson and Eeli. They’d been as much a part of my life as my own brothers for as long as I could remember. But no way in hell I actually thought of them as brothers. But, when my brothers weren’t around to keep an eye on me, those two had always been happy to fill in.

That was before they came back. Staring at them now seemed like gazing into the eyes of strangers. On the outside, they looked the same. Dyson was still classically handsome with his light brown hair and eyes. Clean, straight lines defined his cheekbones and brows. Shoulders made for a woman to cling to and feel protected in his powerful arms.

Eeli was darker, broodier, his features a little more rugged. Both towered over me and were the perfect definition of mountain men. Let’s face it, they were both hot enough that they’d fueled more than one of my hormone-infused, teenage fantasies over the years.

Not that I’d ever gotten the chance to act on them.

They’d both gotten a little bulkier over the years, their time in the military building a few more layers of muscle. I’d noticed on one of their rare visits home they’d gotten a little harder looking, a little more intense.

But they’d still been Dyson and Eeli—two of Sawyer’s best friends, guys I knew well and cared about. Even when they were home on leave, I’d been able to tease smiles from them. They’d mingled with family and friends when members of the family got together.

The two men I saw now were not the Eeli and Dyson I knew and loved. They were virtual strangers. The few times I’d run into them since they’d returned home for good, they’d barely acknowledged me. Definitely not normal behavior.

And speaking of not normal behavior…they were always, always together. In a way that was just…out of sorts. They were never joined at the hip and now I never see one without the other.

I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed either. I’d wandered into several conversations the last few weeks that told me Dyson and Eeli had been through something that left them scarred. And not in the way that left marks on the skin that would heal over time.

No, whatever happened to them left scars that marked them soul-deep, in a way that changed them irrevocably.

Of course, whenever anyone became aware of my presence, conversations dried up. God forbid some tidbit of anything mildly unpleasant hit my innocent ears. Can’t let Clara hear the world isn’t made of cotton candy and unicorns.

For fucks sake it’s a wonder I haven’t lost it yet.

“Clara? What’s going on?”

I tuned back in to find Sawyer staring at me, his eyes probing as if he was trying to dig out all my deepest, darkest secrets.

He could try!

“That’s what I’d like to know.” I shot a look over to Dyson and Eeli and then looked back at Sawyer. “What’s going on with those two?”

Sawyer followed my gaze and his mouth flattened, his lips tightening almost imperceptibly.

“Don’t worry about them. They’re fine. Nothing for you to worry about, pumpkin. They just need some time.” His hard look never changed, but he tried to go for nonchalance with his tone.

I rolled my eyes. “Nice try. Don’t feed me bullshit. I’m too old for that shit. I know you guys are all worried about them. I know something’s wrong. And time obviously isn’t making a bit of difference. They’ve been like that for months now.”

“Don’t say bullshit and shit.”

I blinked. Seriously?

“You’re fucking kidding me, right?”

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