Page 31 of Scent of Home

I elbow Brayson as I laugh. “Come on, Shane. Show me this secret cabin of yours.”

Shane sets off without making a single sound.

“Tic-tac-toe? Marbles? Rock Paper Scissors?”

I grip his hand and draw him to a stop. “Bray, you need to understand something about me.”

“What’s that?” Bray whispers, leaning in closer. I forget about everything else in the world. “I’d love to know all your secrets.”

I stare at his lips for three heartbeats, and then flick my gaze up to meet his. “If I want something, I’m just going to take it!” I whisper.

Bray reels back, laughing. “Fuck, that makes me hot. Damn, Erin, maybe we can do him together.”

Shane is suddenly between us, shoving us apart. Bray’s face flashes with hurt that is hidden quickly by frustration.

“People fuck, Shane, get over it.”

Shane whirls on him, and I don’t know what happens, but Bray gets really serious.

He stands up and shoves Shane away from him. “You can get fucked. Oh, wait, you don’t do that. That would involve being a person and talking to someone!”

Shane snarls as he shoves Bray back.

I wrap an arm around my stomach and watch the two of them for a long minute. The shoving goes backwards and forwards the whole time, getting progressively worse.

I mean, this is obvious.

I wonder how long they’ve both felt this way about each other.

“Stay away from Locke!” Shane suddenly growls.

I stiffen, letting my arms drop to my sides.

“Why the fuck should I?” Bray asks, but his voice sounds brittle.

“He’s my scent match!” Shane shouts like he can’t keep it in anymore.

I think my feelings are exactly the same as Brays. His face falls, and for a moment, there is just abject devastation, but he covers it with a familiar mask.

“Yeah, okay. Fine.” Bray glances at me and hesitates. “I gotta get home.”

“Bray-”

He shakes his head. “Later, Erin. Nice seeing you.”

I grind my teeth as he jogs off down the trail and disappears.

Shane stays with his back to me, but his shoulders slump, and he’s breathing hard. When he does turn, there is no hint of any emotion on him anywhere.

He starts up the trail, and I have to jog to keep up.

“So, you really love-hate Bray, huh?”

Shane sighs and glances back at me. “Locke really is my scent match. But you don’t have to worry. I’m not going to pursue him.”

With that, he stalks off, and though I follow, I can’t catch him before he enters a dark cabin and slams the door, leaving me alone outside, wondering what the hell is in the water up here.

I end up backat the main house and sneak inside. Locke is sitting at a table with two women, while Finn supervises from the bar. The women look like they could be old enough to his grandparents.

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