Page 71 of Through The Woods

I brushed off any feelings of disappointment. I’d given my word to Doc. “Bye Charm. Save me some food.”

He gave me that weird look again before agreeing.

The party was in full swing now—there were bodies everywhere. I was busy counting the bikers in attendance when I got the distinct feeling that I was being watched. I turned around and there he was, back by the trees.

Clint.

He’d found me, but didn’t make a move, like I’d expected. He just stood there, watching me silently.

I sucked in a breath and PD grabbed me, spinning me around to face him. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

I blinked and looked again, but he was gone. Had I imagined it? “I’m sorry. Thought I saw something.”

It was a hallucination.

That was the only thing that made sense.

Fir tree

“Neve. Neve. Neve.”

I took a deep breath and patiently replied, “Yes, Doc?”

“Have I told you how pretty you look?”

“Not in the last five minutes, no.” If I’d acted anything like he was while I was detoxing, it was a wonder he hadn’t thrown me out into the woods himself.

PD had dropped me off to find Doc hunched over the bathroom counter. “Kill me,” He’d groaned. “Why did I drink so much?”

From there, he’d proceeded to splash cold water onto his face before giving up and sinking down to rest his head against the toilet seat. I’d patted his back as he repeatedly told me how pretty I was. Apparently, his idea of manning the smoker had involved copious amounts of liquor.

“He’s gonna be so fucking pissed at me for keeping you in here,” he grumbled to the toilet seat.

I wet a washcloth with cool water and placed it on the back of his neck. “Eh, what’s a party without you?”

He continued mumbling to himself. “If I thought the black eye was bad—shit, he’s going to murder me.”

“Wait, Charm gave you the black eye?”

He nodded slowly. “Yep. I opened my big mouth and told him about strip Go Fish. I shouldn’t have done it, but I wanted him to know about your legs—see if we could track down the assholes responsible. Obviously, he didn’t take it well.”

I shook my head as my face went numb. “But, that was right after I got here. Why would he care about our game?”

He hadn’t given any indication that he’d felt anything other than disgust back then.

Doc propped his hand up under his chin and looked at me. “I can see down your dress, Neve. Is that a new bra?”

I slapped the back of his head. “Focus, Doc. Why did Charm hit you? It doesn’t make sense.”

He laughed until his head fell off his arm and then righted himself. “It doesn’t make sense? Are you fucking kidding me? It’s been you from day one. Everything changed when you showed up.”

I raised a hand to stop him. “He called me a mangy dog. Surely you didn’t forget about that.”

He smiled to himself and closed his eyes. “Oh yeah. You know how some guys are cards and flowers?” I nodded and he continued, “Well, Charm is whiskey and insults.”

I began fumbling with the washcloth in my hand. “I just wanted to return the favor to you guys for helping me, and I wish I could’ve done more. I never meant for any of this to happen.”

His smile faded and he leaned closer. “You say that like you’re not planning on being around tomorrow.”

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