Page 148 of Where Broken Wings Fly

The blare of a hand slamming down on a car horn marks Killian’s impatience. I pull my long hair up into a ponytail, smoothing my sunflower-spotted blue dress. It’s another sweltering day outside. The cabin is stuffy with heat.

“Willow!” Killian barks.

He’s hanging out of the truck, glaring at his cousin lounging in the passenger seat. Zach’s smoking a cigarette and blowing it straight in Killian’s face. I grab my handbag and lock the cabin door, racing over to the truck to climb in the back.

“Morning, grumpy.”

I lean between the seats to peck Killian’s bearded cheek.

“I’m not grumpy,” he defends.

“Tell your face that.”

“This moron has been blowing smoke in my face for ten fucking minutes. What took you so long to get ready?”

“I couldn’t find a hair tie. Arianna keeps stealing them all.”

Moving to kiss Zach’s cheek next, I wrinkle my nose and decide to skip him. His mouth turns down in a dramatic pout. He quickly tosses the cigarette aside and drags me closer for a lip-smacking kiss that ignites my core.

“Mornin’ babe,” he whispers.

“Good morning, Zachariah. What have I told you about smoking?”

His pout intensifies. “I’m down to two a day. That’s an improvement. Where’s my gold star?”

“Arianna probably stole it.” I snort.

“Little tyke, I’ll get my revenge later.”

“Yeah, good luck with that.”

Killian throws the truck into gear and takes off in a peel of rubber. We’re heading into the city to pick up the curtains we ordered last month. They had to be custom made to fit the massive glass windows that span the entire cabin.

After winding out of Briar Valley and down the steep, wildflower-lined slopes of Mount Helena, we begin to enter back into civilisation. Zach cranks up the radio and rolls the windows down, letting the warm breeze flood into the car.

“You think it’s warm enough to swim in the lake?”

“Oh yeah,” Zach answers. “Best time for it.”

“Arianna’s been bugging me about it. She wants lessons.”

Killian meets my eyes in the rear-view mirror. “I can teach the sassy little shit, but she has to stop making me play dress up with her.”

“Got a problem?” I tease him.

“I spent an hour trying to remove nail polish from my toes the other day.”

“You’re the one that let her paint them.”

“I’ve got to defend my reputation as the favourite somehow.”

His fire-lit eyes narrow on me in the mirror, and I fail to hold back a giggle. We all know he’s the biggest softie for Arianna in the whole damn town. No one else can coax Killian’s allegiance like she does.

“I’m her favourite,” Zach pipes up.

“Like hell you are.”

“You’re both as bad as the other,” I accuse.

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