Joshua nodded, his thick black hair blown back from his forehead by the sea breeze. His dark brown eyes fixed on the horizon. ‘Maybe he’ll mellow with time.’
‘Maybe.’ Or maybe, Lucas would keep saying lovely things then freaking out until one day he ran away and didn’t come back. ‘Are you doing alright?’
Joshua’s gaze dropped to his apron covered lap. ‘I know it’s stupid because every day is another day closer to Cob coming home and there’s not even that long left now, but I feel so sad without him here. Somehow, I’m sadder than when it was almost a year until he would be home. How does that make any sense?’
I thought it was safe to press my shoulder into his. Joshua leaned into my side.
‘Emotions aren’t governed by logic. If you’re sad, you’re sad.’
Joshua heaved a sigh and straightened. ‘You and me have got to wait it out. Things will get better.’
He swung his legs over the seawall and walked towards his and Bonnie’s cottage at the far end of the row. I tried to appreciate what he’d said, rather than giving in to bitter internal mutterings.
It was easy for him to say that. Joshua knew his twin was coming home. I had no idea if things with Lucas would get better or continue getting worse.
A piercing yowl startled me so badly that only werewolf reflexes stopped me from toppling over the seawall and into the freezing water below.
Kat stood on the front step of Island Books, her fur ruffled in high indignation. A genuine smile fought its way over my face for the first time today. She couldn’t talk and tolerated snuggles on her own terms, but at least one creature on the island preferred me over everyone else.
Even if it was because I provided her food, I’d take it.
CHAPTER SEVEN
LUCAS
I’d had a surprisingly non-awful day in the mountains with Callum.
He looked freaking intimidating. I didn’t hear him say a single word the night I arrived on the island. He’d sat next to Aster in the mayor’s kitchen-diner, his huge muscles flexing each time he passed a bowl of vegetables. Then he’d whisked my best friend away into the mountains for sex I’d hear far too many details about later.
Callum didn’t give off less of a scary vibe when he met me at the foot of the mountains this morning, but quickly it became clear that the packaging didn’t match the squishy insides. Aster had told me hundreds of stories about this guy. Not a single one made sense until I looked past hunched eyebrows that screamed he could murder me with one pinkie and had thousands of places to hide my body, and actually paid attention to what Callum said and did.
His voice was gruff, but he’d quietly asked if I was happy to roam around the mountains together to check on the wild pygmy goats that populated the island. Then he’d proceeded to askquestions about my time training as a vet and what London was like and stories of growing up with Aster.
It took until we’d stopped for lunch beside a babbling brook for me to fully realise Callum was as lovely as Aster claimed. He seemed as nervous as I was about making a good impression. I’d worried about connecting with him since he was now part of the Aster-package, and he’d apparently been doing the same.
I’d chatted more freely in the afternoon. I wasn’t too worried about saying something weird, since this guy had fallen for Aster. I asked about growing up on a tiny island and what it was like to date my bestie. By the time we walked to his cabin, I’d even seen him smile a couple of times. It transformed his face from that of a hardened killer to something more like a shy kid.
The door of the cabin crashed open as we neared. A couple of pygmy goats hopped outside, quickly followed by my best friend. I’d been smiling as I told Callum about Aster’s firm insistence in primary school that the numbers 5 and 9 were besties who deserved to be counted one after the other, but quickly forced my expression into one I hoped conveyed the depths of my displeasure.
‘I’m mad at you,’ I called across the shortening distance between us.
The bright smile on Aster’s face collapsed. Exactly the reason it was impossible to stay mad at him.
‘No. No no no.’ He hurried over to meet me, his panda print socks sinking into the lush summer grass. His hair was longer than it had ever been when he lived in London. The light brown strands fell every which way with slightly more decorum than my wild thatch. His freckled skin never tanned, instead became so intensely covered in brown dots that at a quick glance he could have been considered sun kissed.
He held up a hand before my face, then beamed at Callum.
‘Hello, Aster.’ The huge mountain man pressed his forehead into my best friend’s. Aster was at least a foot shorter, so Callum’s broad back bowed.
‘I missed you and I love you and I made a start on the stew so you should go sort that hot mess out.’ Aster pecked Callum on the lips. He dropped his hand from in front of my face, then his pulled into an exaggerated grimace. ‘I missed you and I love you and you can’t be mad at me.’
I might have been terrified Callum would rip my arms off for challenging him for Aster’s affections if I hadn’t spent the day seeing how tenderly he treated the teeny goats across the island. Plus Aster had probably told him everything about me, which included how unromantic yet undying our love for one another was. Callum shook his head fondly and walked to the cabin, leaving me to berate Aster outside alone.
‘Why couldn’t you have kept your mouth shut when I accidentally thought Kit was Callum?’ I grumbled, even as Aster stepped into my space and wound his arms around my waist. It was hard to glare at such close proximity, but I did my best. If Aster hadn’t kicked things off so badly between me and Kit, then maybe I would have been able to salvage a budding friendship despite my inability to say normal things in his presence.
‘I’m sorry.’ Aster pressed his face into my neck. ‘I promise no one cares and you’re absolutely not the only person who thinks Kit is a hottie. That dude is model-level gorgeous.’
‘Yeah, I guess,’ I hedged.
