“Then you pretend to love it anyway,” Kai says with a grin. “It’s tradition.”
One of the clinic nurses is stopped at a stall a few ahead of us. She hasn’t noticed our group approach, but she will in about a few seconds.
“Plus, people might assume some things if they see us all shopping together,” I point out softly, gently extricating myself from her hold on me. I hope my tone conveys that I’m not embarrassed of her or wanting to avoid contact, but I don’t want to ignore the need for our pack status and her designation to remain a secret. “Unless you’re ready for what it means for us to go public.”
Holly considers this for a moment, then nods decisively. “Okay, I need to look around. Alone. While shopping for myfriends.” She says the last word so loudly that several nearby shoppers turn to look. “I’ll meet you all at the food stalls in an hour!”
Before any of us can respond, she’s gone, disappearing into the crowd with surprising speed for someone her size.
“Subtle,” I mutter, unreasonably amused by just how cute she is.
“This was supposed to be a date,” Kai complains, watching her go. “Our first public outing as a pack.”
“We agreed to keep things quiet for now,” I remind him. “At least until Holly figures out how she wants to handle all this. She has a lot to lose if the wrong person discovers her designation.”
Mercer’s already suspicious, or at least paying closer attention to Holly than I’m comfortable with. The last thing Holly needs is for the entire town to find out that she’s a bonded before she’s ready to deal with the fallout.
I glance around, suddenly realizing we’re down a member. “Where’s Grayson?”
Kai rolls his eyes. “Three guesses, and the first two don’t count.”
I scan the crowd and spot a familiar bandanna-covered profile moving in the same direction Holly just went. Of course. Grayson’s shadowing her, just like he’s done since she arrived in town.
“Should we stop him?” Kai asks.
I consider it, then shake my head. “She’s probably safer with him watching over her, anyway. I doubt anyone will notice. Ghost is pretty good about keeping a low profile.”
“Fine,” Kai sighs dramatically. “But I came here for a date, so I hope you’re up for sharing one milkshake with two straws.”
“In your dreams, Trujillo.”
We wander through the fair, stopping occasionally to examine potential gifts. I find a hand-carved walking stick for Holly, though the price makes me want to accuse the booth owner of mistaking me for a tourist.
“So,” Kai says casually as we walk, “have you thought about what happens after Holly’s rotation ends?”
The question hits a nerve I’ve been trying to ignore. “Not much to think about. I can’t make any decisions for her.”
“I mean, she has a whole life back in New York. A residency program to finish. She’s not exactly going to want to stay in Heat Mountain forever.”
I’ve thought about this more than I care to admit. Holly’s brilliant—she belongs in a major hospital where she can use all her skills, not stuck in our tiny clinic.
“I know,” I admit. “We’ll figure something out.”
“There are places to snowboard in New York,” Kai says, examining a display of hand-carved wooden animals with unusual intensity.
I stop walking and stare at him. “You’d move to New York?”
“If that’s where we end up, yeah.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “I stayed in Heat Mountain because it was the closest thing I had to home after my parents died. Going forward, home is wherever our pack decides to go.”
I feel a little bad about how surprised I am to hear that. “What about your house?”
“I’d sell it or we could use it as a vacation property,” Kai replies with a shrug as if it doesn’t matter to him either way. And maybe it doesn’t. “I bet they also have houses in New York.”
And emergency medicine physiciansgoes unspoken.
Because he’s right. I’d already tried and failed once to leave Heat Mountain. The only thing holding me here are the people I now realize have been my pack all along—Kai, Grayson, and now Holly.
“Of course,” Kai continues, “this is all assuming Holly actually wants to keep us. I’m not convinced she won’t wake up one of these days and realize she made a terrible mistake.”
