Page 148 of Five Mountain Daddies

I smile back and my heart picks up. “Okay,” I say. “I mean, you don’t have to. He’s gonenow.”

“I’m here, so I might as well.” He eyes my couch. “Doesn’t look any worse than the bed I’m sleepingon.”

I laugh a little bit and get up. I find him a blanket and a pillow then toss them to him as I come back into theroom.

He catches them and puts the pillow behind his head. “Thanks,” hesays.

“No, thank you. You really don’t have tostay.”

“Yes, Ido.”

I stand there, suddenly very aware that I’m in a skimpy little tank top and some old short shorts, my hair a mess from sleeping. He’s giving me this look that sets my whole body on fire and I’m suddenly afraid of what I just let into mylife.

“Well, make yourself at home. I mean, have whatever you want.” I gesture aroundme.

“And what if what I want is in your room?” he askssoftly.

My eyes go wide. “I,uh…”

He grins at me. “Justkidding.”

I nod and laugh a little uncertainly. “Sure, right. Well, goodnight.”

“Night.” He stretches out on thecouch.

I stand there a second, wondering at that comment. Is he saying that he wants to come into my room and sleep with me? But no, I’m just Atticus’s annoying little sister, and he’s still Wyatt Reap. He doesn’t want anything to do with me, not like that. He’s just being a good person rightnow.

Still, he’s giving me that look, and I know what it means. He’s thinking about what’s on underneath my tank top… and I think he knows it’snothing.

There’s a hunger in his gaze that shocks me. For a second, I want to tell him to follow me back into my bedroom. He’s so handsome, so intelligent, funny, and smart. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a man, and he happens to know me really well, or at least he used to. We have a lot of historytogether.

Instead, I turn and walk quicklyaway.

I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I don’t know why. This has been such a strange night, starting with the night terror, and now Wyatt sleeping on my couch. He’s going to be out there in the morning, or at least I think he will be. Saturday morning with Wyatt Reap sounds so incredibly…nice.

I get back into bed. I leave my bedroom door open a crack for some reason, maybe as aninvitation.

But if he notices, he doesn’t do anything about it. I fall asleep not too long later, and fortunately the night terrors stayaway.

8

Wyatt

Ishould have had her just call the cops. I didn’t need to go rushing over there like some fucking knight in shiningarmor.

I get up just before the sun rises and sneak out before she wakes up. I head back to the motel and shower there, trying to figure out what the fuck I’m doing back in Mason working this goddamn murdercase.

I spend most of the day at Starbucks in the next town over, using the WiFi and doing some research. I don’t hear from Cora, which is fine by me. I check in with her around noon, just to make sure she’s okay, and she texts back rightaway.

I flip through Facebook pages, using Atticus’s account. I’m trying to find anything that stands out, any strange connections, any odd messages. His password was in the folder that Cora gave me, so I’m guessing she already went through this process with his account, but it can’thurt.

It’s a bizarre exercise. There’s not much on his page, since he clearly rarely used Facebook, if ever, but there are so many people I recognize. I don’t have a Facebook anymore, since I think Facebook is creepy as hell, but Atticus clearly added everyone from school at some point. It’s so strange, and soon I find myself skipping through a ton of pictures, totally forgetting about what I’m supposed to bedoing.

Hours slip by, and I have to buy a couple of coffees just to keep the baristas from glaring at me. But as I’m passing through some pictures, I spot something odd. I have to go back and stare, before I realize that Atticus is in thebackground.

I exit the pictures. The guy’s name is Reggie Ryan, a dorky kid I knew back at school. He was the kind of guy that everyone basically ignored, not because they were mean, but just because he was so forgettable. He did good in school and I guess I assumed he moved out of town already, but apparently he’s still inMason.

And regularly drinking at a bar calledHottie’s.

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