Page 168 of Twisted Collide

“Then lead the way.” Dane extends his arm in the direction of the banquet hall.

As we walk down the gravel path, it feels like just yesterday when I chose not to go in this direction.

A fork in the road.

A fork? Or a trident?

A giggle escapes my mouth.

“What?” Dane asks from beside me.

I shake my head. “Nothing.”

After a few more steps, we’re standing outside the large mahogany doors. Dane pulls one open, and I step inside.

Looking around, I spot where the clue would be right away. He’s not even trying to hide it, which makes this whole thing even funnier. On a large table in the middle of the room is a large and very fake replica of the Cup.

By the time I make it over and pull the next clue off it, my belly hurts from my laughter.

Where rendezvous start and guests arrive. A tired heart, a key they will find.

“Off to the hotel.” I hustle toward the exit and in the direction I need to go. Dane follows, letting me lead the way but staying close enough in case I need him.

This man is likely to make me a puddle on the ground before the day is out.

“Okay, spill. How did you make these clues . . . ? They don’t exactly sound like you.”

“I might have had help?”

“Molly. You really wouldn’t be able to survive without her.”

“I would if . . .” His unsaid words don’t need to be said because the meaning is clear as day. He’d be okay if he had me.

Yep. Puddle, here I come.

By the time we arrive at the hotel, it’s obvious that all the staff are in on today’s events, because as I step up to the reception desk, a woman hands me a large iron key and a clue is attached.

You can find me at the fork in the road.

I lift the clue in the air. “Did you even try with that one, Dane?”

“Um, yeah, Molly had to get off the phone, so no, Hellfire, I didn’t.”

I throw my head back at his words. “To the vineyard we go.”

This time, when we walk, we’re side by side, and every time I swing my arms, my fingers skim his. The touch of his skin makes my whole body hyperaware that in only a few more steps, we will be where it all changed. Where an innocent drink with a stranger became so much more.

Finally, we get to the path that leads to the vines. On the floor is an arrangement of tiny pebbles. The same ones we looked at that night.

“Funny, in the light of the day, it doesn’t look like a fork or a trident.”

“Are you sure?” Dane reaches out and grabs something sitting right next to the stones.

How did I not see that?

I narrow my gaze, but he’s picked it up so fast that I didn’t see what it was. That is until he dangles it from his finger.

My bracelet.

---