Page 56 of Cold Foot Croc

She was the one who didn’t belong.

The tightening in her belly drew her attention down and she sighed, feeling absolutely miserable. There were reasons she wasn’t bonding to her home, or to Wreck’s Mountains, or to the people who were supposed to be friends or built-in family.

She was still distant, still defensive, still defiant, still…different.

If Cash, or any of the Crew, was going to give their opinion every time she and Garret got into an argument, she wasn’t interested. Cash had his own issues, and didn’t need to be judging hers.

She was doing the best she could. Right? This was the best she could do?

Raynah inhaled deeply as Cash’s words echoed through her mind.You owe him an apology.

Right now she hated Cash. Hated him because he’d seen her in a moment that made no sense and embarrassed her. Hated him for the call-out. Hated that he thought he knew her. Hated him for choosing a side when neither she or Garret had asked him to.

She was always wrong, always the one with the reactions that didn’t make sense, always the bad guy. Eternal villain.

You owe him an apology.

She did. She hated that Cash was right.

Raynah steeled herself, and made her way outside just in time to see Garret’s truck accelerating down the road. The engine roared and smoke plumed out of the exhaust.

Stupid argument over nothing, and it really was on her.

“Shhhit,” she whispered, pulling her phone out.I’m sorry. You really didn’t do anything wrong.Send.

“He’ll be fine,” Reed said from right behind Raynah. She startled hard. She hadn’t noticed the Komodo dragon shifter sneak up behind her. He was way too damn quiet. “Sometimes we just have to blow off some steam. He’ll come back patient.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you aren’t the only one figuring out how to navigate this.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m the bad guy.”

“Hell no you aren’t.” Reed cocked an eyebrow and looked her right in her eye. “Ain’t no bad guys here. We’re all just trying to figure our shit out.”

“Everyone else is making it look smooth.”

“Ha. Smoke and mirrors then. I feel like I make mistakes every day, without fail. The point is to keep trying, and to learn. A year from now, we will all be in a better place.”

“You believe that?”

“A few months ago we were rotting in prison with no future, Raynah. Look at your life now. Really look at it. You would’venever met Garret if you were still there, and this baby? What future would he have?”

Chills rippled up her spine just thinking about it.

“It’s okay to let yourself be happy.”

Happy. There it was. There was the reason her brain had gone off on its own. Garret had asked her if she was happy, and she’d admitted she was, and then she’d panicked because it still felt like happiness shouldn’t belong to someone like her.

There it was. There it was.

“You know, you’re not as stupid as you look,” she muttered.

Reed belted out a laugh, and left her standing by the door to go help the guys rearrange the presents in the back of King’s truck.

Garret would come back patient? God, she hoped Reed was right. The text-apology was one thing, but she would make it up to him and explain what had happened, and as Reed said…she was going to learn.

Chapter Twelve

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