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Cora searched her friend’s face in surprise. “I am?” For some reason, having Suzette agree with her was difficult to process, and it felt an awful lot like disappointment, though Cora refused to examine that. Suzette had been Liam’s biggest champion until now, so if she’d fallen off the Team Liam wagon, then there really was no hope. What could’ve happened to make Suzette change her mind?
“I spoke with him at Dante’s the other night,” Suzette confessed. “And don’t get mad, Cora, but I asked him about his feelings toward you.”
Cora groaned. “Suzette—”
“I had to! It was the quickest way to get answers, and I was tired of watching you throw so much of your good energy into him. I needed to know if he was even worth it.”
Cora didn’t want to ask. The sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach already told her the answer. She suddenly wanted to turn and bolt down the mountain, jump in her car, and drive away. Just keep on driving like in those scenes in movies where the car drives off into the distance and the credits roll. The end. She needed to put this whole thing with Liam behind her. Why was it so hard to do? Why did every bone in her body seem magnetized to him every time he entered a room?
“I’m so sorry, Cora,” Suzette said gently. “He said he likes you, but not enough to try for anything permanent. Apparently, there are too many fish in the sea, and he doesn’t want to be tied down. Maybe not ever.” She curled her lip with a moue of disgust. “Who knew he’d be such a walking cliché?”
“Right.” Cora pretended to brush it off, telling herself the supernova-sized ache behind her sternum was relief, and nothing more. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d embraced a lie when it came to Liam.
“He’s so not worth it,” Suzette said with feeling. “I can’t believe I ever thought he’d be good enough for you. I think you should just write him off and move on to better things.”
“I already have.” Cora tried to sound casual and light, as if her feelings for Liam were just a passing fancy. Maybe if she pretended hard enough, she’d eventually believe it.
“Good,” Suzette said with a bright smile. Too bright. Cora could tell Suzette was trying to help her pretend, which only made it worse. Both of them knew she was heartsick about this. “Speaking of better things,” Suzette said in a valiant effort to rally. “Is Finn still planning to move to New York City at the end of the summer? Because I definitely think he’s a great—”
“Suze,” Cora said with a telltale hitch in her voice. She hoped her friend wouldn’t notice. If Suzette started singing Finn’s praises like Liam did, Cora knew she wasn’t going to be able to hold it together. “Can we please talk about something else? I came out here this morning to feel peaceful and think happy thoughts. I just need to clear my head and focus on things that are good for me right now. And if Liam really feels that way, it’s fine. I’m totally okay with it and just want to move on.”
Suzette studied her for a long moment, and Cora was afraid her friend could see straight into the very heart of her. To her infinite relief, Suzette gave her a decisive nod and started to back away. “Come on. Let’s blow off some steam. I’ll race you to the top. Last one there has to pay for breakfast.”
Cora stood and dusted off her shorts, then loped up the trail after her. She could see Suzette’s red ponytail swishing as she rounded a bend and disappeared. Instead of hurrying to catch up, Cora chose to walk in steady, measured steps, trying to ignore the piercing stab of sadness inside her every time she faced the facts.
Liam didn’t want her.Stab.
Her instincts about him were dead wrong.Stab.
All those strange moments of déjà vu, the fragmented dreams where they seemed so connected, all of it meant nothing at all.Stabbity stab stab.
Cora’s shoe caught on a stray tree root. She stumbled, grabbed a tree branch, and gave herself a mental shake. This wasn’t working. She couldn’t let the train wreck of her feelings for Liam ruin the peace she’d sought when she came on the hike this morning. Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and forged on. For now, she was going to enjoy the beautiful foliage and breathe the fresh air, and just revel in the natural wonders of—
A rumbling growl came from her left as a dark shadow stepped out of the trees.
Cora let out a startled gasp.
Bear, the hulking man from the Booze Dogs’ motorcycle club, looked just as surprised as she was. Surrounded by foliage in his namesake’s natural habitat, he seemed even more intimidating than the last couple of times she’d seen him. The snaking tattoos around his muscular neck and arms only added to his menacing appearance. If not for the ripped blue jeans, bandanna, and faded Iron Maiden T-shirt, he could’ve been a barbarian warlord in one of those fantasy adventure movies from the eighties.
“What are you doing out here?” Cora asked, tamping down her surprise. She took a step back and did her best to sound cheerful and unassuming.
Bear’s Neanderthal-like brows lowered into a scowl, and for a split second, Cora’s self-defense training kicked into high gear. Knees slightly bending, she kept her arms loose and ready to move, making quick note of his areas of weakness: eyeballs, throat, kidneys, instep. He had no beef with her, as far as she knew, but it was hard not to feel nervous running into such a giant beast of a man in the woods like this.
After a slow perusal of her body, in which Bear took in her spandex running shorts, yoga tank, and hiking boots, his foreboding expression melted into a sly grin, which was so unexpected it was almost more alarming than the scowl. “Reckon I’m doing the same thing you are, sweet cheeks.”
Cora ignored the nickname, keeping her weight balanced on the balls of her feet. “Hiking and enjoying the scenery?”
His grin turned almost feral as his gaze flew over her curves and crash-landed on her cleavage. “That’s right.”
Cora’s back stiffened, and she crossed her arms to block his view. “I guess I didn’t take you for someone who likes to exercise.”
Now he looked incredulous, and maybe even a little offended.
“Outdoors,” she added quickly. “In nature, I mean.” Obviously, the man hit the weight rack. He looked like he ate kettlebells for breakfast.
“You don’t know me, lady.” He lifted his arm to rub a hand across the back of his neck, sending muscles rippling in places Cora didn’t even know you could have muscles. She suddenly thought of Finn as an angry young teenager trying to fight Bear during that bar brawl. Cora marveled that Finn had the nerve to go up against the man. His sheer bravery and recklessness were undoubtedly what caught Eli Shelton’s attention all those years ago.
“You’re right. I don’t.” For all she knew, Bear could be a nature lover or a conservationist or an avid bird-watcher on the weekends. She glanced at his dirt-stained knuckles and the deep scrape on his forearm. Or maybe he just liked to uproot trees with his bare hands and haul them up the mountain for kicks.
