Page 19 of Shadows of You

6

ROAN

“Mr. Grizz?”Nash asked with a choked laugh.

Cady grinned at my little brother. “He’s grumpy like a grizzly bear after hibersnation. Mama and I think he needs a snack.”

Nash couldn’t hold back his laugh this time, and the rest of my family joined him. But I was too dumbstruck to give a damn. The infuriating, tenderhearted woman from the snowstorm was in my parents’ house.

As I took her in, I realized this must be the friend my sister always went on and on about. One whose name I hadn’t bothered to get from G before but now wished like hell I had.

“Mr. Grizz is pretty damned fitting,” Holt said from his spot on the couch.

His fiancée, Wren, smacked his chest with one hand while she rubbed her pregnant belly with the other. “Don’t be mean.”

Aspen’s face flamed. Her porcelain skin gave everything away. I liked that. It was honest. Authentic.

She worried the inside of her cheek. “Sorry, she has a thing for animals.”

Grae grinned mischievously as she wrapped an arm around Aspen’s waist. “You guys know each other?”

“Mr. Grizz helped us save a deer,” Cady chimed in.

“Really?” Charlie asked, hurrying over to his best friend. “That’s so cool. What happened? Was there blood?”

He tugged her off to a corner of the living room to hear everything about our adventure.

Aspen shifted uncomfortably. “A doe got caught in a tomato cage.”

My mom made a tsking sound as she patted my dad’s shoulder. “They’ve got to warn people about what can happen with those if you don’t have deer-proof fencing around them. How’s the poor thing doing now?”

Aspen cleared her throat, but I didn’t miss how her knuckles blanched. She didn’t like being the focus.

“Better today. The vet came out to take a look and gave me some antibiotics for her.”

Maddie let out a low whistle from her spot next to Nash. “Damien Miller?”

Aspen nodded.

Maddie grinned. “Not too hard on the eyes, that one. He’s single, you know.”

I scowled at my soon-to-be sister-in-law.

Nash gaped at his fiancée. “Did you seriously just say that right in front of me?”

Maddie shrugged as she leaned back against the couch cushions. “I’m taken, not dead.”

Nash pounced on her. “I’ll show you taken.”

She shrieked as my brother tickled her sides and kissed her neck.

“There are children in the room, Nash,” Lawson called from his stool at the kitchen island. He shot Aspen a grin. “Welcome to chaos.”

Aspen eased a bit at his greeting, her fists loosening a fraction.

Heat and annoyance swept through me, some sensation that seemed a lot like jealousy. I shook off the ridiculous thought. “She eating?”

Aspen’s piercing green gaze found me again. She wore an emerald sweater that hugged her curves and made the color of her eyes burn impossibly brighter and the red of her hair look deeper somehow. I forced myself to focus on the ridiculous glittery gold headband in her hair. What was she, five?

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