Page 78 of Running Winter

Part of me envied him, but I had to let that go.

Rayna belongs with Chase.

Mom fixed her gaze on me, and I groaned.

"What now?”

"Your cousin loves that girl, and she loves him. So where does that leave you?" Mom asked, lacing her fingers together.

Why is she so sure I’m meant to be with Rayna?

"Uninterested? I'm happy for them both. But, honestly, I know what you think, and it's not the case."

It was true.

Maybe in another time, another place, Rayna and I might've had something. But the circumstances didn't make it right, and it was clear to me she was meant to be with Chase. So I was happy for them both, and that was the end of that.

It had to be.

"Alright. Well, look after them both. Chase needs you."

I nodded, aware that the reason Chase had come here was because he needed me. He may be my cousin, but we had grown up side by side in the same schools, spending all our spare time together.

Chase knew it wasn't a question of me being there for him. That went without saying.

He was my brother from another mother.

THE ONE

C H A S E

Lucas was going to deal with it.

Seven words that could spell out the end of Leigh Hurley's life—snuffed out—just like that.

Poof. Gone.

Rayna gazed at me anxiously, clearly wondering what the hell was going to happen. I laced my fingers with hers, bringing her towards me. I sighed with content when she rested her head on my chest, allowing me to create haphazard sections in her hair with my fingers idly.

"I'm concerned, Chase. Leigh hasn't messaged me in days."

I purposely hadn't asked about Leigh's fate, and Rafe wasn't forthcoming if he knew.

So all I could do was be honest with Rayna—I didn't know what had happened to Leigh.

"Maybe he paid him to go back to New York," I suggested, my heart lurching when Rayna lifted her eyes to meet mine.

"Yeah, right. Why would your uncle do that for me?"

"Because we care about you, and that matters to him?"

Rayna dipped her head then, and I tilted her face, so she was looking at me once again.

"You can't steal shit from your parents, and he shouldn't ask you to," I said gruffly, my eyes dropping to her lips.

They were flushed and slightly swollen from our earlier make-out session, but I didn't care.

I wanted to kiss them relentlessly.

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