Page 102 of Mountain Grump
I’ve never been able to read anyone like I can read Tilda.
Her eyes are filling with hesitancy. And I know she wants to talk to me. I can feel her need to explain herself.
But we can’t do that here. Not in front of her family.
So, I raise my brows. “Today, then?”
The tip of her pink tongue slides out and wets her lips. “You’re sure?”
Sure I want to call you Wife?
Sure I want to drag my thumb across your lip where your tongue just was?
Sure I want to be reckless in a way I’ve never been reckless before?
Sure I want to be your Good Boy…
I lean in closer until our mouths are just inches apart. “I’m sure, Starlight.”
Tilda squeezes my hand, and her exhale dances across my lips.
“How do we know this isn’t some kinda setup?” A male voice cuts into our moment.
I turn to face the man.
He’s in his thirties.
Average like the rest of this group.
I tip my head toward the man. “This him?”
Tilda sighs. “Yeah. That’s my cousin Ralph.”
I hum. Then I let go of Tilda’s hand.
Chapter 63
Tilda
Ethan stopsa foot away from Ralph.
And I swallow.
Ethan dwarfs him.
His height. His muscles. His aura of intensity.
Ralph has to tip his chin up to maintain eye contact.
And I wish so badly that I could take a photo of this moment without breaking it.
“I had a cousin.” Ethan’s tone is conversational as he unbuttons one cuff. He shrugs and starts to roll up his sleeve. “Second cousin, technically. Last I heard, he went missing in Eastern Europe. That was a few years back. Might still be alive. If anyone could do it, it’d be him.”
Ethan shifts and works on his other sleeve.
Ralph takes a step back. “What does your missing cousin have to do with anything?”
“When I was a kid, my parents left me in his care for a weekend. He took me hunting.” Ethan takes a step forward. “I was too small to carry a rifle, so he gave me a knife. And when he shot a deer, he taught me how to clean it. I slaughtered the second one on my own. In under ten minutes.” Ethan slides hishands into his pockets. “I cut myself a few times, trying to work that fast. Blood makes things… slippery.”
