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He didn’t say this, of course, but I figured he arranged this alternative hike. He kept making these accommodations, and it was blowing my mind right now.
And then him on the trail…
He kept checking in with me, and I was sure everyone knew hiking in the fucking woods wasn’t my strong suit. These people were built like beautiful machines, but Wolf was there with me the whole way. Even when his family got a little ahead, he held back, and Sloane was often back with us too.
“Yeah, I’m not a runner,” she was quick to admit, laughing. Everyone was resting by a creek, and she had her hands on her hips. “I’ve been training, though. I even beat Ares in a foot race once.”
“Fuck. Really?” I asked, the guy chuckling over by his dad and Dorian. His mom had to take an urgent call, which was one of the big reasons for the break. She hadn’t taken any calls since we’d left the house, and I think the only reason she did now was because she said it was an emergency.
“Yeah, and once I won that shit, believe you me I rubbed it all up in his face.” Sloane laughed, pocketing her hands. “I also wasn’t stupid enough to challenge him again, so I got that win for life.”
Smart girl, and something I totally would have done if I, well, fucking ran. I didn’t, though. Definitely not my wheelhouse. I was active enough with my travel photography, but nothing like that.
I’d spent most of my summers on a bus. My camera and I just went wherever the stories were. We went wherever the people were, and I continued the work my father and I had done before he’d passed. He used to be the yin to my yang.
My everything.
I wished I’d taken my camera now, my gaze gliding over to Wolf. He stood on a rock, just chatting with his dad and Dorian, but what I wouldn’t give to capture him on film. He had his hair down, his curls wild and his face flushed. He was too beautiful for his own good, and maybe even too beautiful for my camera.
I grinned away, but it fell upon noticing Sloane. She had a knowing smile in my direction, but let me off the hook when she noticed her brother.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she said, her smile a subtle one. “Here for him? He’s smiled more during this hike than I’ve seen him in months.”
He had?
“You’re good for him, and I was wrong,” she said, her voice serious. “And I never apologized for that. How I treated you…”
“I definitely didn’t give off the best first impression.” I rubbed my hands on my knees. “I could have been better that night. I hate that I made you think less of me, and I really do care about your brother.” I did, which was crazy.
I mean, I wasn’t even lying to her.
I rubbed my legs again, glancing up at Wolf. Sloane sat beside me on my rock, which effectively cut me off from my viewpoint.
I was glad.
Using my sneaker, I kicked some pebbles into the creek, and Sloane studied me.
She chewed her lip. “I guess I was just worried before. About you coming around? Being in his life...” She stared at her brother. “This whole family has been through a lot, but especially him.”
I wondered if she was referring to his last year, which was definitely something he didn’t talk about.
I wanted to ask her about it, but how could I? He’d been so cool about my bullshit, my trauma.
My lip moved over the other. “I’m sure that was hard.”
I didn’t know why I lied and played it off like he’d told me.
My gaze flicked to Wolf, but this time, we clashed. His sight on me, we were like two mountains colliding into the other, two volcanoes ready to explode, and I wondered how long we’d both maintain being dormant. We had our shit stacked in a house of fucked-up cards, but at least some of his was out in the open. He had people in his life to vent to, people hewantedto vent to.
I guessed therein lay the difference.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
Ares
Red did good today, and when I knocked on her door that evening, I had full intentions of telling her that. She called me in, and I edged a grin inside. “You decent?”
What started as a joke ended with me watching her pull her sleeve over her tatted shoulder. She wore an oversize shirt and tiny shorts to bed, something I’d seen her in before since I lived with her but tried not to notice more often than not.
