Page 97 of Little Bird
And how much do I care, honestly?
How much do I really want to keep her friendly?
I look up and see Taryn staring at me like she knows exactly how much I’m fucking up. A smile is caught in the corner of her mouth, and her eyes are sparkling, and despite myself, I start to grin, feeling like we’re in the middle of some sort of inside joke.
And Gabby and her feelings suddenly seem very insignificant.
“Sorry, Gabby, I don’t actually have much time right now,” I say. “Can I call you back later?”
Her silence suddenly becomes less expectant and nearly violent in its intensity.
“Call me back later?” she sneers. “Why, so you can go flirt with that little bitch? She’s still there, isn’t she? Is she sitting in front of you right now? Tempting you with that fake smile?”
My temper rises so quickly it leaves me lightheaded, but I don’t let that stop me. No one attacks Taryn.
No one.
“Leave the girl out of this, Gabby. She has nothing to do with you, and you know it as well as I do. But now that you bring it up, I do think I’m going to be spending more time here at the house rather than at yours. With my family.”
I put more emphasis on the last word than I meant to, but I leave it there.
After all, Gabe and Taryn are my family, and I’m allowed to choose them over anyone else. Including Gabby. And if she was the person I wish she was, she’d understand that and leave me to it.
Unfortunately, she’s not.
“You just made the biggest mistake of your life, Gunner Hawke,” she says quietly. “And something tells me that girl isn’t going to be a problem much longer.”
She hangs up before I can ask what the fuck she means and I look up to see Taryn still staring at me, her eyes now worried and afraid.
Like she knows that I just fucked something up.
I just wish I knew what it is. And what it means for the girl I’m supposed to be protecting.
Taryn
I shuffle through the ingredients on the counter, trying to get my brain to focus on the dinner I’m trying to cook, but the intrusive thoughts are winning today.
Honestly, they’ve been winning since yesterday, and I’m having trouble being upset about that.
Two days ago, I climbed into my stepbrother’s lap and kissed him like I meant it, and then I made love to him like I’d been planning it for years. And he held me to him like my body was a wish on his tongue, and one he’d never dared to whisper until I arrived back in his life. It was the most beautiful moment of my life, and I came back to the house thinking nothing would ever compare.
Then Gunner happened, with his surprisingly sweet touch and the absolute fear in his eyes when he brought me down on his cock, and though I was still treasuring my moment with Gabe, Gunner had eclipsed it with the pure desperation of his movements. I went from thinking he didn’t love me to knowing that he loved me so deeply he could barely stand it and was terrified that I might reject him.
And though so many girls would have tried to choose between them, figure out which man had her heart, the truth was they both chose me when the chips were down. Last night when my life was in danger, death thundering toward me as the snow slid down the mountain, both of those men had rushed to save me. Put their own lives in danger to make sure the snow didn’t take me.
And then brought me home and made love to me in ways I had never even imagined.
I smile softly and let my gaze brush over the great room. The Christmas lights are all on now, reds and greens and golds standing out against the deep blue green of the tree and the rich browns of the walls and floor. Decorations line the walls and holly drapes off the ceiling. We tied mistletoe up in all the corners—Gabe’s idea—and draped garland from the banisters.
That was Gunner’s addition.
Stockings are hung by the chimney with care—three of them, and though they don’t carry names, we all know which one is our own. The tree is decorated to within an inch of its life and even that stupid stuffed reindeer looks like it’s smiling.
The room looks nothing like it did when I first arrived, because now it looks like a home where people actually live and love and laugh.
The same change has been happening in my own heart. I came here thinking it was just a place to hide while I needed shelter, with people who would be at least kind enough to shelter me. I didn’t expect to walk into a house where no one talked to each other anymore and the rooms felt empty and cold.
I didn’t expect to feel myself open up and start to shine the moment I got here, doing everything I could to fill those rooms with my light, and the hearts of the Hawke men with love.
