Page 50 of Brambles and Bellflowers
How should I act when we found Miles? What should I say?
Andhowwould Miles explain his abandonment?
“Let’s go,” Brayden said, turning from me and crossing the few feet between us and Bryce. He pulled on Bryce’s arm.
Bryce was startled, Brayden’s touch bringing him back into reality, and he dug in his heels. “But what about the Snallygaster?”
“It’s fine. I’ll give you the play-by-play in the car,” Brayden replied, already steering Bryce to the vehicles.
Bryce pulled away, his jaw set. “We can’t leave her behind. She’s my wife!”
Brayden froze mid-step, his hand dropping. Slowly, he turned back to Bryce with a look of sheer disbelief. “Please don’t ever say that again. Ever. It’s creepy.”
“But it’s true,” Bryce insisted, clutching at the collar of his shirt. “And if a dragon eats her, I’m the one who’s going to look bad!”
“I swear to you,” Brayden muttered, his voice dry, “if a dragon eats her, it’ll have nothing to do with you.” He gave Bryce a firm push, attempting to guide him forward.
Bryce stumbled but shot Brayden a baffled look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You heard me.” Brayden shrugged.
Titus—whohadbeen paying attention after all—frowned at the two of them. “No dragon is going to eat her. Don’t you trust me?”
Brayden gave Titus a slow, deliberate once-over, his eyes narrowing. “Idid. But I’ve been rethinking a lot of things lately.”
Damen clapped his hands sharply, stepping between them. “Enough! You’re holding us up.” He made a shooing motion toward Brayden and Bryce.
“It’s not safe for her to go!” Bryce said, ignoring Damen entirely as he threw an arm in my direction. “She should come to the hotel with us while you run after him. And don’t give me this ‘he won’t come out unless she’s there’ garbage. What is he, five? Besides, it’s improper and dangerous.”
Damen narrowed his eyes. “Are you insinuating something?”
But Bryce’s attention remained on me. The disapproval in his gaze caused my ire to rise. Little did he know that wilderness survival was nothing new to me. Meanwhile, I doubted a single strand of his overly conditioned hair could survive such harsh conditions. In fact, I bet that myleft pinky toeheld more survival experience than he contained in the entirety of his overly muscular frame.
What a waste of manliness.
“Now she’s angry at you again.” Brayden stepped between us. He pushed the other man’s shoulder hard enough to cause Bryce to fall back a step. “We should leave before she tosses you off a cliff. Besides, if they want to chase Miles through the mud, letthem. We’ve got a five-star resort waiting for us. It even has a twenty-four-hour bar.”
“I’m not drinking.” Bryce frowned at Brayden.
“I’m not talking about you.” Brayden smirked, then narrowed his eyes as he looked at Damen. “But Damen, it’d be such a shame if they misplaced a certain brand of whiskey while we’re there.”
Damen froze, his frown deepening. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Brayden’s grin widened. “Try me. If she even gets a scratch, I’ll make sure you can’t find a single drop of liquor for the rest of the month. Think of it as motivation to get her back to the resort safely.”
“Are you threatening me?” Damen’s tone was low, his gaze narrowing as he studied Brayden.
“I don’t make threats.” Brayden tilted his head slightly, the innocence in his voice at odds with the challenge in his eyes. “I make promises.”
Titus confidently ledus through the trails for at least two hours. It’d been some time since the once-wide pathways narrowed down to a point where only one person could pass through at a time. It was just around that length of time that Damen had started cursing loud enough for me to hear even from his place behind me in the trails.
However, not even Damen’s mouth could ruin the tranquility of the moment. It’d been a long time since I’d been so deep into the forest, and soon after our journey began, my anxieties had faded. I could almost imagine the rustling of the leaves, and my skin hummed as the earth cushioned my steps.
I’d missed this.
Titus glanced back, lips curling as he held another flexible-looking branch from the path.
Very nice.
