Page 28 of Claimed By 3 Mountain Men

He claps a hand on my shoulder, a reassuring gesture that eases some of my tension. “We will. I promise. Just trust me, okay?”

He’s lying.

I glance at him sideways, searching his face for signs of deception, but I find none. Reluctantly, I nod. If he’s not going to tell me then I won’t be able to force it out of him. Ben is stubborn.

"Alright. But you better not make a habit of it."

Ben's lips quirk up into a smile, just small enough to be missed by the untrained eye, but I see it. We know each other better than we know ourselves. He knows I've caught him. "Scout's honor?" he says.

God. I feel like I’m turning into Dad.

We both head inside, where JT emerges from the shadows, his face etched with concern.

“The hell you doing out there this late?”

“A whole bunch of shit,” Ben says. He shakes his head. “Since when do you both care so much?” He shoulders past us and heads up the stairs.

The only sound left in the room is the methodical ticking of the massive grandfather clock in the entryway.

The air between JT and I is thick with unspoken words, we lock eyes.

“You know anything?” I ask, my voice low, so Ben can’t hear us from upstairs.

JT shakes his head, his brown eyes clouded with worry. “He’s been acting off.”

“We all have,” I mutter, kicking my work boots off.

“This isn’t like him though,” JT counters. “And you know it. He’s the one who's always making sure we keep our heads on straight.”

I sigh, raking a hand through my hair. “I don’t know anymore, JT. Maybe we just need to back off.”

He doesn't respond, but I can feel his eyes boring into me.

“Follow him tomorrow if heads out.”

I shoot him a look. “Are you serious?”

“We’re past worrying about that crap, Hank. Something is wrong and we’re damn well gonna find out what.”

“He’s probably just walking the trails, clearing his head after losing Dad.”

“That’s something you or I would do. Not Ben. You know there’s two reasons he pulls away.” He holds up a finger. “Either he’s found a woman, or two he’s hiding something. Since there hasn’t been any sign of a woman, I'm betting on the latter." JT crosses his muscular arms across his chest and leans against the wall, his stance an unyielding sign that he won't budge.

“Follow him, yourself,” I say, waving my hand. “You’re the ex-military.”

“I’m going to meet with the lawyer tomorrow. Unless you want to?”

“No. No. You can deal with that shit. I’ll figure out what the hell Ben’s up to. Though we could just ask.”

“He would’ve told us.”

“Yeah. He would’ve,” I mutter, running a hand through my hair again. My brother, the mystery man.

The sunbarely breaks the horizon, casting a dull gray light over the forest as I step out onto the porch and into the cool morning air.

I lean my head against the wall, watching the front yard, waiting for Ben.

Except he doesn’t head out into the woods. He walks past me clutching truck keys.

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