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“I’m making rounds like a fucking doctor,” Cade said under his breath.
“Please,” I replied. “I see at least five guys you’d play doctor with if they asked.”
“Save a motorcycle, ride a biker,” he whispered. I snorted into my drink. He cocked a brow. “Ride two bikers? Three? Four? What’s the correct number of bikers to ride before that equation is right?”
“At some point that becomes a fucking train,” Declan pointed out.
“No, if he’s saving a train then he’s fucking a conductor,” Lucas said.
“Or,” Raven began with a widening smile, “you just save a tree and climb a lumberjack.”
“Girl, if I had my own fucking lumberjack, I’d climb him,” Cade retorted.
“Is the peanut gallery fuckin’ done over there?” Cole demanded, glaring at the lot of us.
“Not on your life!” Declan exclaimed. “I’m funny.”
“You’re drunk,” he shot back.
“That’s also true! But I’m a lumberjack.”
“Jesus fuckin’ Christ.” Cole shook his head. “I should’ve started this shit earlier when y’all weren’t so goddamn drunk.”
“Boo!” I joined in the collective and dismissive commentary from the rest of us.
“Wranglin’ y’all is like wranglin’ toddlers,” he snapped. “Now, look. Forget all the other shit I was talkin’ about because none y’all seem to fuckin’ care.”
“I care!” Finn yelled.
“I’ll bury your ass in the fuckin’ desert, Byrne, if you interrupt me one more time,” Cole snarled. At this point, we were all just being obnoxious, but it was the Fall Games after all. “Six months ago, I visited the Ironwoods and joined one of their fight nights. I got my ass kicked.”
“Yeah, you did!” Roan chimed in loudly.
“And from what I hear, y’all were fuckin’ pissed that you missed out! So what do you say we start fight night off with a little rematch between me and the bounty hunter?” he shouted. The excited cheer was deafening.
“Who’s the bounty hunter?” I asked, leaning back into Nolan so he could hear me. He said nothing, only offering me a tight-lipped smile as he glanced to the other side of the big circle. I followed his gaze and wished I hadn’t.
Oh…
The warmth rushed from my body when I saw him move apart from the rest of the crowd, and the air was sucked right out of my lungs.
Killian.
Killian was here.
Nolan said something next to me, but I couldn’t hear him over the rapid pounding of my own heart. My wolf nudged up against my skin, feeding on my desperate need to flee. But I couldn’t. My feet were frozen, and my head spun.
Oh, he looked… different.
The man I stared at wasn’t my Killian. He wasn’t my husband. Dark hair swept across his forehead and matched the thick stubble along his jaw. His body was a sculpted plane of muscles—was that a six-pack? My Killian was soft and warm with a love for lazy Sundays and donuts. This man took care of his body—worked hard to maintain muscles most women dreamed of getting their hands on. Abs, arms, thighs. There wasn’t a single part of him that wasn’t toned, defined, and built to perfection. And the tattoos. Half his chest, ribs, and side were covered in an intricate tattoo depicting rolling waves, rocky shores, and thick trees. It trailed over the curve of his shoulder and covered his entire arm in a beautiful design. He had others—ones I couldn’t quite make out—on his neck, hand, and other forearm.
But those eyes…
The minute his gaze drifted through the crowd and met mine, we collided. My world ended. My heart nearly burst out of my chest, and my wolf begged to take over. I couldn’t breathe. Those deeply midnight eyes stared straight through me, destroying every little barrier and wall I’d worked so hard to build over three years. I felt myself shatter, even as his gaze left mine. He took another drag of his cigarette before passing it off to Roan—unfazed by me. Laughing, joking. At ease.
Did he even care?
“You knew,” I whispered, unable to look at Nolan. His hand tightened on mine, but I pulled away. I didn’t want him touching me. “You knew he’d be here.”
