Page 42 of My Wild Mountain Man

“He’ll have to eventually deal with it.”

“But—“

“Trust me?”

“Of course, I trust you.”

“Good.” His smile turned brighter, almost excited. So big his dimple made an appearance. “Let’s shower and grab something to eat. We got stuff to do.” He grinned, and I didn’t even ask what.

I was okay with letting him surprise me.

Suddenly, the future felt a little brighter, and with hope that grew with every step I took while I followed him to the bathroom.

I was excited about the future, our future, together in a way that even though it had the potential to be messy, I knew everything would be okay.

bash

. . .

Our hiketo the spot where she had found me had been great. Our conversation had been both heavy and lighthearted. We’d laughed and shared. And when we reached the waterfall, we had gone skinny dipping.

The image of my shy, sweet, innocent, pretty girl in the nude with the sun shining and breeze in her hair would be ingrained in my memory for a lifetime.

We’d returned to my place, where I made dinner, and we’d sat outside in my backyard and made s’mores over the little firepit I had. The night had been perfect. I didn’t take her again. I knew she was sore, and I wanted to let her body rest. It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep.

I lay there for a moment. Staring at the ceiling fan as it whirred around and around. How many times since I’d seen her back from school had I lain there thinking about that very situation? Now, my daydreams were reality and so much better than I could have ever imagined.

But there was one thing hanging over me.

Onyx.

He needed to know what was going on, and he needed to hear it from me. I glanced at the alarm clock on my nightstand. Carefully, I slipped out of bed and left Raven a note in case she woke up. I texted Austin to see if they were both at the brewery, and he responded they were. Dressed in gym shorts and a shirt, I drove out to them. It was already closed to the public, but they were cleaning up.

“Hey, Bash!” “Night, Bash!” a couple of employees said as they walked out, and I waved goodbye to them.

Both Austin and Onyx were sitting at a table when they spotted me. Onyx started to chuckle.

“Jesus. Not even two days off, and you came back? Worried we’d set the place on fire or something?”

“Something like that,” I muttered, taking a seat in front of Onyx. Austin was weirdly quiet, probably sensing why I was there.

“What’s up?” he asked. His eyes bounced from me to Austin, then back to me. Automatically, he could tell something was off as he sat up straighter. “What’s the matter?

“Nothing’s the matter.”

“I think I should get—“ Austin started to say, but I shook my head and pointed at him.

“Stay.” We’d always discussed things as a group, and if me being with Onyx’ sister was going to change things, Austin would need to be here. “I need to talk to you.”

“To me or us?” Onyx asked. I could see him putting a mask over his face, making him unreadable. It was a quality that served us well when we were negotiating with the ski resort but one I really didn’t like in that moment. He’d never given me that look.

“You. But Austin should hear this, too.” Austin cursed under his breath, and Onyx crossed his arms over his chest. Tensionmounted for a moment, and I sat up, linking my fingers on the table.

“We’ve been friends for a long?—“

“Cut the bullshit and say whatever it is,” Onyx cut me off, his voice clipped and deep. My eyes bounced to Austin for a second, and I breathed in deep. My dark gaze locked with Onyx’. “I want to talk to you about Raven.”

“Raven? he repeated. “Raven. My baby sister, Raven?”

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