Page 113 of Whispers of You
“Good God, I can’t take much more of this mushy lovefest,” Nash moaned. “I’d almost rather see you and Little Williams making out.”
Dad choked on a laugh. “We’ve really traumatized him today, haven’t we?”
I leaned forward, clamping my hands on Nash’s shoulders, and giving him a shake. “It’s good for you. Gotta work on that emotional intelligence.”
Nash cast an affronted look in the rearview mirror. “I have plenty of emotional intelligence, thank you very much.”
Dad hid his laugh behind a cough. “Sure, you do.”
“How about when he hooked up with Grae and Wren’s friend sophomore year?” I said with a grin.
Dad shook his head. “That poor girl.”
Nash gaped at us. “Poor girl? What about poor me? After one kiss, she made a photo collage of us by pasting my head on other people’s bodies. She basically stalked me!”
I couldn’t hold in my laughter now. The girl hadn’t been shy about showing her affections, but a person would’ve had to be blind not to see that she was in love with Nash before he even looked her way. She’d gone to every basketball game, painted his number on her T-shirts, brought him brownies for good luck. It was sweet, but Nash was not a commitment kind of guy, especially not in high school.
The breakup did not go well.
Dad grinned. “You inherited your old man’s charm. It’s a blessing and a curse.”
Nash scoffed. “Katie was off her rocker. I’m pretty sure she’s the one who slashed Maddie’s tires.”
My eyes widened. “Seriously?”
He nodded, the scowl deepening on his face. “What is wrong with people?”
“Broken hearts can lead us all to stupid decisions.” Dad’s lips twitched. “I don’t think Grae ever forgave you for costing her a friend.” He glanced at me. “It’s a miracle she didn’t stand in Holt and Wren’s way.”
Because Grae knew how I felt about Wren. Knew that I’d been in love with her forever. Before I even recognized the emotion, our friendship slipping into more, intoeverything, so seamlessly it was as easy as breathing. I’d dated before Wren and I got together, but it had never feltright, and it had taken that wrong to make me realize what was right in front of me.
“Holt always was her favorite,” Nash grumbled as he pulled into the parking lot at the trailhead.
I chuckled. “I don’t know about favorite, but I didn’t shamelessly flirt withallher friends.”
“That’s because you don’t have game.”
“It’s because there’s only one girl who has ever felt right.”
Something passed over Nash’s face, but he hid it quickly with a grin. “So, what you’re saying is that you’ve basically been whipped since birth.”
I shrugged, opening my door. “Happily.”
Nash gagged, but my dad gave me anattaboy.
Grabbing Shadow’s leash, I motioned for her to follow me out of the SUV. “Do you have maps of the area that we can go over?”
Nash nodded. “In the trunk.”
I moved around to the back hatch and opened it. There was a cylinder that I knew housed what we needed. It took me a minute to find what I was looking for. “Tell me the range of coordinates her parents gave.”
Nash leaned over my shoulder. “Law talked to her dad, and he said she could be anywhere from Mystic Springs to Sage Hollow.”
I frowned as I looked at the map. “That’s a hell of a range. Even if they hadn’t spoken to her in a week, they should have been able to narrow it down more than that.”
Nash shrugged. “Maybe she was planning to stop along the way for a couple of nights. There are some beautiful sights around there.”
Dad moved in at my other side, running his finger along the path. “Holt’s right. We need to see if the parents can narrow it down a little more.”
