Page 29 of From the Wreckage
I nod as I step into the Kincaid cabin. Grayson claps my shoulder like we’ve been friends for years.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” I lie, forcing a smile.
He steers me further inside. “Come on. There are a couple of people I want you to meet.”
A man and woman stand near the couch, drinks in hand. “This is Tom and Anita—friends from town,” Grayson says.
I nod, shaking their hands. “Everett.”
“Nice to meet you,” Anita says warmly.
Tom’s gaze flicks over me, assessing. “Grayson says you’re new in town. We were starting to think no one ever moved out this way unless they were running from something.”
A dry smile curls my lips. “Something like that.”
My eyes snag on the wall behind them. A framed photo hangs above the couch. In it, Grayson has a wide smile on his face, his arm slung around a brunette who glows like summer itself.
Brielle.
The air rushes from my lungs. My palms dampen, and my pulse hammers against my throat like a drum.
Tom and Anita keep talking, their voices little more than background noise. My vision narrows on that picture, staring atthe girl I can’t stop thinking about, smiling beside the man who calls her his “kiddo.”
Footsteps echo softly down the hallway, in rhythm with the erratic pounding of my heart. And then Bri rounds the corner.
Her hazel eyes lock with mine. She stops dead in her tracks, the color draining from her face.
The friend beside her doesn’t notice. She grips Bri’s arm, grinning. “Wow. Who’s the hot guy?”
Bri’s head snaps toward her, her glare sharp enough to cut.
Grayson gestures casually. “Come here, Bri. I want you to meet Everett.”
She moves stiffly, but her eyes never leave mine. Each step feels like it’s pulling the ground out from under me.
“Everett,” Grayson says, smiling, oblivious. “This is my daughter, Brielle. Bri, this is my buddy, Everett.”
“We’ve met.” Her lips part. Shock flashes across her face, like the words spilled out before she could stop them.
The room goes still.
Grayson blinks, surprised. “You have?”
Bri’s voice shakes as she blurts, “He’s the guy who helped me after I hit the deer.”
CHAPTER 21
Brielle
Dad’s facelights up when I blurt out who Everett is. He claps Everett’s back with a grin. “You’re the one who helped my daughter? Hell, I like you even more now. Thank you.”
Muffled voices swirl around us—Tom and Anita chatting, Meghan saying something from beside me—but I barely hear any of it. My entire world narrows to Everett. Those warm brown eyes are locked on me, steady and piercing, and it takes everything I have not to splinter apart under the weight of them.
The doorbell rings.
I glance at Dad. “Who could that be?”
His grin is too smug. “Ah. Your surprise is here.”
