“Yeah, well, I think we’re past the point of professionalism, don’t you?” I point my gaze over to Grayson, who remains stoic in the corner, before training it back on Hunter.
“You’re right. How about we try this again?” His voice is full of hope, and my shoulders drop in relief. I don’t know what I would’ve done after I walked out of this room if he hadn’t stopped me, but I wouldn’t have stopped.
I refuse to allow people in this town to hold my pastover my head a day longer.
CHAPTER 4
KILLIAN
The heat from the firepit licks across my face, warming my cheeks as Noah pulls a beer from the ice chest next to him and passes it to me.
“Thanks, man.” Twisting the cap off, I suck half the contents down before leaning back in my chair and stretching my legs in front of me.
Hunter and Grayson join us, taking the last two available chairs around the firepit that’s situated in front of Grayson’s house. We don’t often come down here because Gray prefers his privacy but there’s the odd occasion, like tonight, where the four of us gather, drink our body weight in beer and shoot the shit.
I’m halfway through my second beer when Hunter turns his attention to me. “So, how are you finding it having Daisy back in town permanently?”
I’m not at all surprised by the dip I feel in my stomach, or the spike in my heart rate at the mention of her name. What does surprise me, though, is that it took them this long to pry.
I feign indifference, keeping my attention focused on the label of my beer and shrug. “I haven’t seen her much, to be honest.”
I haven’t seen her at all, actually. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was avoiding me. And doing a damn good job of it, too.
“You know she interviewed for a job here as a groomer?” Noah asks, his voice filled with something that resembles disdain.
My head snaps up, my eyes immediately flicking between Hunter and Grayson. “She did?”
Hunter nods. “Yeah. And I offered her the job. She has great references from the three years she spent in Montana.”
Montana.
All this time she was merely a few hours away.
I’d laugh if it didn’t anger me so much.
“So that’s where she went, huh?”
Noah leans forward in his chair, and I feel the heat of his stare against the side of my face. “You didn’t know that?”
I shake my head, keeping my attention on the flames in front of me. “No.”
Of course I didn’t know that.
If I had known where she was, I’d have been right there with her, begging for her to come home with me. I spent those first months after she left driving the streets night after night hoping for a glimpse of her. I called her phone and left messages until her voicemail box was full and when the number was disconnected altogether, I finally came to the realisation that; wherever she was, she didn’t want to be found.
Hunter’s voice drags me out of my thoughts of the darker time in my life. “Well, I hope it doesn’t make you uncomfortable that we hired her.”
“Nah, man. It’s good that she’s putting down roots here.” I throw back the rest of my beer and reach for another, hoping that the liquid will douse the hope burning a path through my blood.
“She moved in with Bella and Liv,” Grayson announces, speaking up for the first time and all three of our heads snap his way.
Noah bites first, his tone teasing. “And how would you know that?”
Gray grumbles something back and Hunter chimes in, taunting his younger brother and I sit back and watch as the two of them give him shit.
Grayson’s scowl grows deeper with every jab, so I sit forward, offering him a reprieve when I change the subject to Hunter’s favourite topic. “Where’s Savannah tonight?”
Taking the bait like I knew he would, Hunter turns his focus to me, his eyes lighting up like a kid on Christmas at the mention of his girl. “It’s girls’ night and Mom offered to have Reign for the night so that we could each have the night to ourselves.”
