Page 86 of Fight

Xander and King exchange a glance, but neither answer. My gaze oscillates between them, waiting for a response. King adjusts one of the mirrors, and Xander looks off to the distance.What aren’t they saying?

“Hey!” Cal snaps, leaning forward to make sure the guys hear him. “How did you know Scottie was missing?”

“We didn’t know,” King spits out. “Her husband did.”

Suddenly, I wish we hadn’t been rescued by the guys. Our bubble has officially exploded, and our time is running out with each mile back to the trailhead. She’s been silent since she found out Jonathan’s in town. We made plans on the mountain, but now that her husband has shown up, will she still hold true to them? What if he convinces her not to file for divorce?

When the parking lot comes into view, I can already pick him out. He’s acting the same way I probably would if Scottie went missing. His fingers are threaded on top of his head as he paces back and forth, but as soon as he spots our off-road vehicle, he stops in his tracks, then bolts toward us.

I retract my arm from behind her back despite my body’s instinctive protest. That’s when I notice my sister in the parking lot, standing near one of two ambulances. “Can’t believe you called Teddy.” I can thank the guys for that. Great, this day just got even better. She’ll probably chew my ass out.

When we pull up, Scottie climbs out and is instantly wrapped up in a hug by the man I presume to behim. My sister has her arms around me for a hot second before rearing back and slapping me on the back of the head.

“Glad you’re alive, you fucking idiot.” Her nostrils flare, and she throws her arms around me a second time.

Peeking over Teddy’s shoulder, I witness Jonathan and Scottie in a tender embrace. Even after everything she’s told me about their relationship, jealousy burns hot in my chest. Her eyes find mine, and she offers a sympathetic smile. How did he find her, and what does he want? It better not be to take her back home. They may still be married, but I won’t give her up without a fight.

Teddy angles away. “You need a shower, dude.”

“I wanna introduce you to someone,” I say, ignoring my sister’s gripes, unable to take my gaze off Scottie. I’m calling out to her before I realize it. “Scottie.”

She withdraws from his hold and steps toward us. Jonathan follows. When she stands before me, the whole thing feels surreal. Fuck, it’s like I’ve already lost her. I hate it.

“Scottie, this is my sister Teddy. Teddy, this is Scottie.”

Jonathan shows up at her side and shakes my hand. “Thank you so much for keeping her safe. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost her.”

Obviously not much, took you long enough to chase after her.

My jaw tenses. “I don’t know what I'd do either,” I say, meeting her eyes.

Scottie’s cheeks flush and an awkward silence stretches between us.

“Well, I appreciate you keeping my wife alive and getting her back to me.”

Ouch.

I open my mouth to respond when Matthew hops out of one of the ambulances and interrupts our friendly little conversation. “Prescott, playing hooky already?”

Her face drains of color, and she winces. “I’m so, so sorry. I—How much trouble am I in for missing work?”

He laughs. “Nobody is mad at you, but I need to check yourshoulder and that cut on your forehead. Mind jumping in the rig for a sec?”

She shakes her head. “Sure.”

Matthew asks her a few questions about the injury on their way over, and Jonathan stays right on her heels.

I waive care and quickly fill out the refusal form, then turn back to my sister, who’s looking at me with raised eyebrows. She gives an exaggerated glance toward the ambulance Scottie’s in and back to me. “So, you wanna tell me what that’s all about?” Her lips are pursed, matching the judgmental expression on her face.

I tilt my head, scratching my overgrown facial hair. “Not really.”

“Dude, after Molly?—”

“It’s not like Molly, okay? It’s just complicated. Look, I gotta get home. I’m beat. Can I call you later? I promise I’ll explain, but for now I just wanna go home and get a shower.”

She inhales. “Okay. Yeah.” Her arms drop to her sides.

“Give the kids a hug for me,” I tell her.

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