Page 45 of Brambles and Bellflowers
I grabbed Titus’s sleeve, and when he looked at me, I asked, “Did you do something?”
He pressed his lips together, and I knew—shielding my emotions hadn’t been the only thing he’d been doing.
But why?
“You’ll never find the path without my help,” Troy said, shrugging. “You have five minutes before I leave, and your buddy gets to spend another day in the wild while you waste time trying to find him. It’s your choice.”
I touched my fingers together as I watched him leave through the front door.
“Fuck that guy.” Damen stalked over to us with a scowl. “We’ll figure it out. It can’t be that hard; there’s only two million acres.”
Julian and Titus nodded in response, and as Bryce and Brayden began to converse with them, Finn appeared at my side.
I did my best to ignore him but finally looked at him after he nudged my elbow. “What?”
“Don’t be dramatic,” he said, and before I could speak again, he shoved a small square of chocolate in my mouth. I paused, sucking on it, as he continued. “It’s not like you to be deterred from a mission.”
A mission!
The candy melted in my mouth as I stared at him. He was right, of course! This was no time to be afraid of the stranger’s prying eyes. We had to find Miles! That was the utmost priority.
I looked at the door. We didn’t have a lot of time—Troy might leave.
My view was blocked as Finn shoved a floppy beige hat over my head.
I touched the bottom of the hat, pushing it above my eyes, as I glanced back at him.
“So how are you going to convince Damen?” he asked. “He’s dead set on doing this the hard way.”
It did appear that way. Damen was holding his phone out to Titus and Julian, seemingly planning to extend our trip. Meanwhile, Brayden had left the group and was perusing a wall of brochures.
Bryce, however, was watching Finn and me with the most disturbing expression.
But his opinion mattered little to me.
I returned my attention to Damen and frowned.
I didn’t care whose pride I had to hurt; I would not lose this chance to find Miles. There was nothing wrong with asking for directions. Besides, it wasn’t like we couldn’t put up with Troy for ten minutes, and then, once his usefulness wore off, we could dispose of him.
I slipped away from the group as they continued their heated discussion, my nerves making me act before I could change my mind. Despite the way Troy made my skin crawl, we needed his help.
Troy stood at the foot of the stairs, silver eyes flashing as he glanced back at me.
“S-sorry,” I stuttered as my footsteps slowed. “We’ll follow you. Please wait.”
“What, by yourself?” he seemed almost eager. “The loud asshole didn’t seem thrilled.”
It was true that Damen was loud, and that he was not thrilled, but he would learn to deal with it. He couldn’t always get his way.
Disappointment was a part of life.
Calling him anasshole,on the other hand…
But I didn’t reply before Bryce stepped onto the patio. “All good?” he asked, crossing his arms.
“Yeah.” Tension I wasn’t even aware I’d been holding fell from my shoulders. “Are they coming?”
“Now they are,” Bryce replied, the corner of his mouth lifting. “You didn’t give them a choice by coming out here without waiting for Damen’s decision.”
