Page 129 of Burn the Wild

But I understand it now.

She’s not some aimless, confused girl. She’s in pain. She has her secrets and her sadness but goddamn if I’m walking away now. Letting her handle it on her own isn’t happening.

Never again.

I sigh, give a glance to Davis’s place in the distance. I know my brothers are getting an earful from their wives. Best punishment that ever existed.

Running a hand over her soft fur, I ask Mouse, “What do you think? Go back and get my ass kicked?”

Mouse perks up, whiskers flicking. I follow her glittery green gaze.

Reese.

She’s on the front porch of the chalet under the gingerbread eaves.

I straighten up, fully expecting her to head straight for my truck and rip me a new one with that fiery mouth of hers, but she doesn’t even look my direction. Instead, she heads into the woods, moving like she’s trying to outrun a bullet.

“Fucking A,” I swear. I hop out of my truck and follow. Mouse on my heels.

Second time today I’m chasing this woman down. I’m so angry with myself. I shouldn’t have left her alone for a minute.

My blood roars through my ears as I stalk after her. The worst feeling in my gut. A woo-woo feeling. Something bad.

Other than my twin, I’ve never had a connection to someone like this. A soul-deep burn that exists only with Reese.

I start to sprint, crashing through the forest, knocking away branches and brambles. Where is she? I never should have left her alone. Not when she looked like that. Not after what happened.

Panting, I emerge from the trees and find Reese standing on the bank of the lake. She wades into the water. Deeper now. Her shoulders sink beneath the water, her wavy blonde hair trailing the surface. She tilts her face to the starless sky.

I go still, pulse catching in my throat.

She wouldn’t.

But she does.

She goes under.

Just be brave, Reese. Be brave.

Sinking down, down, down, I hold breath in my lungs. Let my arms lift in the water. Let the gentle current carry me for a few seconds. Silence. Absolute silence.

And then it’s like a bomb explodes in the water. My eyes fly open.

Big hands on my waist.

Then, I’m forcibly dragged to the surface.

I cough, sputtering on water. “Ford,” I gasp. He’s in the lake with me, fully clothed, his shaggy hair matted to his face.

“What the fuck, Reese?” Hand on my bicep, he shakes me. Anger darkens his handsome features. Tenses all those sinewy muscles. “What the hell are you doing?”

I meet his intense gaze with one of my own. “Midnight swim.”

But his ever-tightening grip tells me I haven’t convinced him. “Bullshit.”

“Don’t worry about me.”

“Worry about you?” he shouts, hot fury in his eyes. “It’s all I’ve done since you fucking got here.”

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