Page 36 of The One With the Mountain Man

Never once did I think about Red's missing sandwich.

"So you got distracted by a pretty little thing and followed your dick for the rest of the night?" he said, completely deadpan.

Gus giggled and finally took the teddy bear, toddling over to the corner to play.

Anger coursed through me like a freight train, and I had to take a few steadying breaths to clear the red from my vision. I wanted to punch Red and tell him to go to hell, but I also didn't want to ruin the only mentor relationship I actually valued in my life.

"I can tell by the look on your face that she means something to you. Sorry to bait you like that." He sat back on his desk and folded his arms over his chest. "Old habits."

"You were testing me?"

Red shrugged. "Travis is easy. He hasn't gotten mad at me once. But you...you were contemplating murder. Don't worry, I won't call her a pretty little thing again."

"I wasn't following my dick either." It was all of me. Whatever spell Marley cast, it had me completely.

Gus tried to shove the teddy bear in his mouth, so I hurried over and scooped him back up. "Karis should be heading home soon. I'm going to get Gus settled in and get dinner started for them."

"I'm sorry I upset you. That truly wasn't my intention. I just wanted to tease you about the sandwich and gauge how serious you are. Sharon and Maeve...they said you were really happy yesterday."

"I am. We barely know each other, but damn it's a good start."

Gus didn't like it when I tried to take the bear away. He let out a gurgling snarl and yanked it harder.

"Take the bear. Sneak it out tonight or something. I don't need it back right away and kids usually move on pretty fast." He rubbed Gus's back. "And you might barely know her in time or facts, but when you meet the right person, you know it because there's something you share, something written into your souls that's exactly the same. And you don't need time to understand that." He ruffled Gus's hair, and then mine, which was strangely comforting. "Teething is rough. You might offer to take the night shifts for a few days until he gets on the other side."

"Will do." It wasn't like I was getting much sleep wishing I was with Marley instead. Might as well do Karis a solid. "Thanks, Red."

"Any time. See ya around."

I started towards the store wondering how I was going to make dinner for Karis, see Marley, and then get back to help with Gus for the night, because I wasn't giving up brownies with Marley. Period.

As usual, there weren't many cars parked in our little town. There were a handful across the street and maybe five on our side of the road.

I froze before stepping out onto the asphalt and did a double take. "What the hell?" Travis was parked in front of the TBR Pile. Normally he parked in front of ODX. In fact, I wasn't sure Travis had ever stepped foot inside the TBR Pile before. After his shift he normally went home to shower or came into the office to report out and get any updates for the next day. There was no scenario I could possibly come up with that put Travis's truck in front of the bookstore.

Gus wiggled to get my attention. "Go."

"You really don't like staying still, do you?" Ever since the fussiness started, he'd been all go, no brakes.

"Go!"

"Want to annoy Uncle Travis?" I was willing to bet the reason Travis was there was because he saw a woman and followed her in. Or maybe one of the ODX guests asked about it and he offered to show her.

Because if Travis was in a bookstore, it was definitely because he thought it might get him laid.

Gus wiggled some more so I set him down, keeping hold of his chubby hand, and let him wander down the sidewalk to burn off some of this energy.

As we got closer, I realized there was a smaller truck hidden on the other side of his. A black F-150.

No.

I hiked Gus back up and stormed the rest of the way. "It's just a coincidence," I muttered to myself. I needed to calm down. There was no way that Travis, my best friend, was flirting with my—

—my, well whatever the hell we were becoming, she wasminenot his.

A bell jingled as I threw the door open and scanned the store. Willow shot me a look from the cash register. Christine sat curled up on a couch with headphones on and her full attention on her laptop.

"Can I help you, Huk?" Willow asked, her eyes growing rounder the closer I got.

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