Page 2 of Never Fear (Whiskey Ridge)
An airy laugh came out of me. “Yeah,fuck. I don’t know how the fuck I got involved in this shit.” I waved a hand at the note in accusation.
“There’s no shit to be involved in,” Brynne said. “It was all taken care of that night. Or so we thought.” She held upthe note, scanning it again like an explanation might appear out of thin air.
“You’re not going to find anything else there. Trust me, I’ve reread it about a hundred times.”
“We have to show the guys,” she murmured, more so to herself.
“Brynne,” I warned. The last thing I needed was her hounds getting protective of me too.
She shot me anI’m-fucking-seriouslook. “This note,” she waved it for emphasis, “involves them, too. And believe me, you’ll want them on your side in this.”
I sat forward, hands gripping the stained armrests. “The absolutelastthing I want is that asshole more involved in my life than he already has to be. Which is your fault, by the way.”
Brynne grinned. “You like placing blame, don’t you?”
The gum was the only thing reining me in right now. The only thing dampening the nerves that threatened to make my limbs shake. “Just be thankful I dropped my death wish to Henley. Austin, on the other hand…”
The asshole had tried to put me in my place many times, telling me when tocalm downand when to, and I quote,put my claws away. I was protective of my best friend, pissed as hell when she was nearly killed, and he hadn’t let me take my rage out on the man mostly responsible for it because he was their friend. Friend or not, I needed to do something at that moment because I’d felt so helpless, and Austinheld me to a chair.
Nope. I didn’t need whatever protection they claimedto offer.Next.
“Speak of the devil,” Brynne said, popping up from her chair.
I followed her line of sight, a headache growing with the tension of my now-clenched jaw. I forced myself to resume chewing my gum, because if I didn’t, I’d likely commit murder within the next few minutes.
Booker, Henley, and Austin were coming through the pasture gate, each of them wearing felt cowboy hats, winter coats, gloves, and—Fuck, McKenna. Stop looking at Austin’s chaps.
“Brynne,” I warned, my tone low.
“Baby!” Brynne called, already skipping down the steps toward Booker on his fucking giant black horse. Nightmare was darting in between the horses’ hooves, practically jumping up their legs to get the men’s attention. And when he set his large paws on Austin’s calf, I tried not to notice when Austin bent over and scooped up the puppy, placing him on his lap in the saddle.
A cowboy and a fucking puppy.
I needed a drink.
I was barely out of my seat by the time Brynne was handing the note to Booker. He scanned the page and then he was looking up, directly at me. Even from this distance, I could feel his calculating gaze burning into me.
He and his friends liked to hunt, whether it was people or animals, and suddenly, he’d found himself with a shiny new target.
I slowly descended the steps, my hands still deep in my pockets, as Austin shifted his horse closer to Booker’s. He plucked the paper from his grasp, eyes moving as he read.
I stopped a few feet from them. “It’s not show-and-tell, guys. Just a little love note. You don’t have to be jealous.”
Henley was the last to get the paper. Austin’s gaze didn’t so much as flick over me after he handed it off. Instead, he and Booker stared at each other, some sort of silent communication happening between the two of them.
“Does it ever fucking end?” Henley grumbled before handing the note back to Booker. He trotted off toward the barn, leaving the four of us alone.
“Who gave it to you?” Austin asked, finally looking at me with his forearms resting on the horn of his saddle, right over the panting puppy.
“If I knew that, I would’ve taken care of it by now,” I snapped.
He narrowed his eyes, and I did the same right back. “Like hell you would. You wouldn’t know what the fuck to do if a goddamn dog stole your dinner.”
Nightmare’s head perked up at the mention of a meal.
I scoffed. “Are you saying you don’t think I’m strong enough to handle myself?”
Austin glowered at me.
