“Aubrey would murder me. You’re off limits.Youare the walking red flag, notme.” He pulls at the back of my red tank top.
Ha. Fitting.I snort at the coincidence in color.
“So. You wanna tell me about it? Or you want me to ignore it? I’m good either way. I get it.” I walk a few steps ahead of him, giving him the space to make the decision.
“Jack shot me when I tackled him on his way to Aubrey and Cooper. I couldn’t let him get that far.”
This time, I stop moving, and he slams into me, his hard-as-fuck chest taking me out. Warm hands wrap around my hips, steadying me before I can go down.
“You’re the cop who needed surgery. You had facial paralysis?”
“I see my reputation precedes me.” He laughs half-heartedly.
I shake my head almost imperceivable. “No. Aubrey felt like shit you got hurt. I was so thankful for you. You saved my best friend.” A tear manages to make its way to my eyes.
“Just another day on the job.”
Turning around in his grasp, I look him in the eyes, and reach out to trace the scar with my finger. “No. Not that day. Don’t downplay what you did for her. This scar is a sign of what a badass you are.”
He lets me go, backing away. I don’t know if my touch bothered him or the compliment. But I’m willing to bet on the latter.
“It was nothing really. Tell me about yourself. You’re here for college right, education?” He keeps moving along the trail covered by tall pines.
“Uh, yeah. I’m going online though.”
“Oh. I thought Aubrey said you moved out here to go to school. Why couldn’t you do remote in North Dakota?”
Shit. Fuck. Why did Ryder give college as a background?
“To be honest with you, I’m not really on board with what my family wants from me. I don’t see a reason to ring up a bunch of debt when I’m not that interested in education.” I look away from him, not wanting him to see the truth in that statement.
“What is it that you want to do?” We take another turn, and the trees disappear on one side of the trail, exposing the rocky descent to the water.
“Wow. This is absolutely stunning,” I breathe out.
Stopping, I take in the beginning of a sunset over the horizon. “Montana has some beautiful sunsets, but this is a million times better.”
“One of my favorite spots.” He smiles.
Finally getting back on the path we begin walking again. “So you grew up in Montana then with Aubrey?”
Montana? Shit. I just said Montana and not North Dakota. Double shit.
“Yeah. Moved to North Dakota in high school,” I lie.
“That’s hard I bet. Moving and losing all of your friends, as if high school wasn’t hard enough already.”
I scoff. “As if you had any trouble in high school. Oh my gosh, please tell me you had a chubby acne phase. There’s no way you get to look like this in high schoolandadulthood.”
“No. Looks have never been my problem, Goddess. Academics is where I struggled. Maintaining just enough of an average to play football. Or convincing the teachers to give me extra credit my g— my friend would do for me.”
I groan. “Of course you played football. I’d say you did pretty well for yourself somewhere along the way to have the home you have. Cops in this town must pay pretty well.”
He opens his mouth to answer me, but instead he reaches out, stretching his arm across me and stopping me. Holding a finger to his lips, he points with the other hand over to the left.
“Deer!” I whisper-shout.
“Don’t try to pet these ones, okay?” He chuckles and then reaches down, grabbing a stick and tapping on the tree next to us.
