His words weren’t simply bravado; he meant them. It reassured me, but it also frightened me at the same time.
“You have to remember, Cole’s a fighter,” I said, treading carefully. “He’s well trained, and he fights dirty. He’ll snap yourarm in two, before you even know he has it. That’s just who he is.”
“One on one, yes,” Sawyer agreed. “But three on one?” He leaned back, crossed his arms, and shook his head.
It was sweet, knowing I had three loyal defenders; each of them big enough to give Cole Kane a run for his money. Coincidentally, it was also a huge fucking turn on.
“Look, I’m just thinking of Carter,” I said. “The Refuge is his legacy. His whole life.”
“No,” Sawyer said, swinging his head slowly. “That’s not true at all.”
Now it was my turn to squint in confusion.
“First, we didn’t just get the ‘bar back,’” he explained. “The Refuge has been slipping slowly away for a long while now, even before Carter took it over. It had big problems before you even sauntered in, dressed as the sexiest devil I’ve ever seen.”
The smile returned to my face. “And how many devils have you seen?”
He looked away for a moment. It made me wonder.
“The point is, we’re probably going to lose the bar anyway. Even if Cole stays in Ohio and never comes back.”
I tilted my head curiously. “Why would he never come back?”
“Maybe he stops at a place like this, and gets infatuated with the waitress,” Sawyer shrugged. “He falls hard for her. Switches to stalking her, instead of you.”
“God help her,” I muttered.
“I’m just saying the neighborhood’s changing. They’re going to pave over The Refuge and build townhouses, whether we like it or not. That part’s inevitable. It’s only a matter of time.”
Sawyer bent to the task of scraping up the last remnants of his hash browns. It wasn’t more than half a forkful, but they were so good I couldn’t blame him.
“You ever think of getting the hell away from here?” he asked, casually. “I mean, just pulling up and taking off somewhere entirely new?
“All the time,” I answered.
His head snapped up. “Really?”
“Yeah. I mean sure, why not? I can get PT work anywhere, really. Same goes for volunteering with animals.” I took a slow pull from my coffee, and sighed. “Sometimes I look around and I get a little depressed. All I see are the places that aren’t there.”
“Exactly!”
He looked adorably hopeful, now. Almost boyish in his enthusiasm.
“I’ve been here my whole life,” I pointed out. “Too many ghosts.”
“Carter says the same thing,” Sawyer nodded. “He talks about getting out of here all the time.”
I couldn’t hide my surprise. “He does?”
“Sure. He had a whole different life not that long ago. Before…”
Sawyer’s voice trailed off, strangely. By his expression, I could see he was unsure if he should continue.
“Before what?”
He paused again, but only for a moment. “Before the night everything changed,” he sighed.
If I was going to get answers, now was the time.
