Page 107 of Protect

I pull my phone out of my back pocket. My pack is heavy on my back after our trudge from the spike camp we called home for the last eleven days. I have service but it’s three in the afternoon and I’ll be home before four.

I know Violette’s on days this week, so by the time I get home and spend an hour in the shower scrubbing until I can see my actual skin, she should be home. I’m struggling with the decision to tell her I’m coming or surprise her. A thought occurs to me as I wager it.

“Anyone talk to Jack today to let him know we’re coming home?” I ask as I help the boys pack up the trucks and wagon.

“No, I’m gonna call him tomorrow and go for a beer with him, give him the lowdown. He still likes to feel connected,” Sup says with a tired grin. “But tonight, I just wanna veg.”

I nod.Perfect.

Opp nudges me as we climb into the back of the uncomfortable green buggie that will take us home.

“What do you think Jacob would say about you and his sister?” he asks.

I look out the window. “I’ve thought about that a lot,” I tell him honestly, instinctively rubbing my thigh, it’s been aching all night. “He knew I cared for Vi, we only talked about it once, but he told me he thought I’d end up being an actual part of his family somehow and to not fuck it up.”

“Was that after you took Sheriff Miller’s daughter out for him and stole the video of him breaking and entering off her phone?” he asks, still looking out the window. When I don’t respond, he turns to face me and starts to laugh.

“He may not have told you this, but he told me. Said it to me one drunken night a few months before he…you know.” Hetrails off without saying “he passed.” Five years, and we all avoid saying the words still.

“Said the only reason he was a hotshot was because you saved his ass once and it gave him a get out of jail free card.”

I gulp.

“Said you gave Vi up to do it and that he always regretted asking you because he thought you two belonged together.”

“Why wouldn’t he have said that to me?” I ask, not really expecting an answer.

Opp shrugs. “We all live with regrets, who knows?”

He flicks his gaze back out the window. “Just make sure you do right by her, or we’ll all kick your ass.”

I chuckle and backhand cuff him in the arm. “Listen, if I fuck this up, I’ll welcome any ass kicking.” I pull my phone out and check the time as I say it; not long now.

I can’t fucking wait.

I rest my eyes most of the drive back, my body finally relaxing after days in the field. I’ve already heard we may be heading to Montana after our mandatory R&R which means I only have the next two days to spend some time with Violette and Hollie.

It takes me over an hour and every drop of hot water in the tank to get myself clean. I make a few stops on the way, so when I pull up to Violette’s house at six thirty my mind is already full of kissing her. I think about taking them to dinner, maybe playing Candyland with Hollie, and curling up on the couch with them. I’m desperate for that feeling of peace only being with them gives me. So when I immediately notice that Mae’s car is parked in the driveway and Violette’s car isn’t, my heart squeezes in my chest.

I look over at the little gifts on my passenger seat, all the girls’ favorite snacks, a new pair of slippers to replace the worn ones Vi wears around the house after a long day on her feet, and a souvenir stuffed moose from Knox Mountain for Hollie.

I make a snap decision to make sure Violette isn’t here and say hi to Hols and Mae anyway. I make the short trek up her front walkway and I’m just about to climb the front steps when the door opens and a polo wearing, clean-shaven guy comes out calling back into the house, “Thank you, Mae.”

“Don’t thank me, I always want to spend time with my granddaughter. Maybe next timeyoucould stay longer,” I hear Mae call back.

The guy mutters something under his breath that I can’t make out as he closes the door behind him, and I instantly know this is the infamous Troy.

Troy almost walks right into me before he realizes I’m standing here. He jumps back a beat, and his eyes grow wide as he looks up at me, then down to the gifts in my arms. I’m only a few inches taller than he is but I’m quite a bit bigger. I don’t move, I just grip the gifts in my hand tighter.

“Shit, man, you scared me,” Troy says, running a hand through his hair. He looks at me for a second and then straightens—like he knows who I am, almost—folding his arms across his chest.

“Violette’s not here, she’s at work until eleven.”

I nod in disappointment, realizing she must have changed her shift.

Troy looks me up and down but doesn’t say anything.That’s right, she’s mine,I think as I extend my free hand

“Rowan Kingsley.”

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