Outside, where the air was fresh and clean. Where he’d breathed it in and said no.
The kitchen was empty, as was the yard. Porch boards creaked under their feet, and in the distance, a horse whinnied.
Chaos was curled on the porch like a sentry. She lifted her head as they came out, and when they sat down, she settled herself at Colby’s side, nudging his arm until he dropped a hand onto her neck. And then all three of them sat quietly.
TRISTAN
They stayed on the porch longer than he’d meant to—long enough for the sun to swing across the sky, for Jesse to wander pastgrumbling about goat prints on the roof of the chicken coop, and for Chaos to doze against Colby’s leg like a hairy little heat source.
Tristan went inside when his stomach reminded him they’d skipped lunch. Colby stayed out there, and Tristan was both a little sad and pleased that Colby no longer felt he had to follow his lead in everything.
By the time a familiar truck rumbled up the long driveway, the light had started to change, edging toward sunset. Tristan glanced out the front window and felt something loosen in his chest—Bryce was home.
He went out to meet him, instead of waiting for him to come inside. He’d like to have this conversation where Colby wouldn’t overhear it. Not because he was saying anything he was ashamed of, or wanted to keep secret from him, but because he thought Colby might be embarrassed to know they were talking about him.
“Hey.” He descended the front steps before Bryce reached them. Bryce looked worn and tired, with dark shadows under his eyes, and Tristan remembered he’d patrolled through the night before heading to work.
He also remembered the way Bryce had stood against Nico, the cold, pulsating fury and the command in him that—well, Tristan was kind of glad he hadn’t seen it in Bryce before, because otherwise he’d always have done his homework on time. Bryce was so much more than simply Tristan’s source of comfort, and he’d never really known it. Not until now.
“I’ll get you a coffee in a sec, but can I have a word first?”
Bryce, easygoing as ever, just shrugged. “Sure. Let me sit down—might fall down otherwise.”
Once settled on the porch, Tristan found he wasn’t sure quite how to broach the subject. “Thanks for this morning,” he said, once the silence had gone on a little too long. “I don’t know how you found us.”
“Followed the yelling,” Bryce said with a tired smile.
“How the hell did he get past Matt and Karl?” Tristan asked.
Bryce sighed and rubbed at his forehead. “You know how many hundreds of acres we have to cover, and he’s pretty damn skillful. Not Karl-level, but not far off. I guess he waited and made his move when Karl and Matt called it a night.” The fine wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were suddenly more pronounced. “I’m still not sure why I didn’t go back with them, but thank God I didn’t.”
“Yeah,” Tristan agreed. “If you hadn’t come along, I’m not sure what would have happened.” He shivered suddenly, something cold trickling down his spine.
Bryce glanced at him. “One thing I know, you wouldn’t have been hurt. Colby wouldn’t allow it.”
And there was his opening. God bless Bryce, who always seemed to read what someone needed. “Yeah, about that,” Tristan said softly. “You said he was ‘one of ours’ this morning.”
“Meant it,” Bryce said. “Still do.”
Warmth flowered in Tristan’s chest. Bryce had finallyseenColby for who he was—brave and beautiful in the way that, despite his fear, he'd stood solidly between Tristan and danger. But even with that warmth, Tristan shivered as he thought about that morning.
He thought he’d known what Nico was capable of, but up close, it had been worse even than his imaginings. Both ugly and intimate, and deeply personal. That moment when Nico had stepped toward him, when his voice had gone quiet, when he’d promised Colby would hear every scream—Tristan had felt it. Not just fear.Terror. It wasn’t gone yet. And he couldn’t say awordof this to Colby, who’d somehow lived with it for three years.
“Nico looked at me,” Tristan said quietly, almost more to himself than to Bryce, “like he was already deciding what he’d do to me.”
Bryce didn’t say anything. He just sat there beside him, his presence solid and comforting.
“I thought I understood what he was,” Tristan added. “But I didn’t. Not until today.”
Bryce let out a slow breath. “You shouldn’t have had to find out that way. Hell, you should never have had to find out atall.”
He bumped Bryce’s shoulder with his, knowing Bryce would understand the gratitude and love behind it.
“Anyway,” he said. “What I meant to say was, you weren’t completely wrong.”
Normally, Bryce would have been all over a statement like that, protesting at Tristan’s grudging admission—they both knew Bryce was always one hundred percent right. But now, he simply raised his eyebrows encouragingly.
“I mean, about Colby,” Tristan said. “You didn’t see him clearly, not all of him, but you saw what I couldn’t. He’s got a harder path to climb than I understood.”
