Dangerous, that awareness.
I cleared my throat. “All right,” I said. “You need a nap and a snack, and we need reinforcements.”
Her mouth quirked in amusement. “Do I?”
“You do. Find that snack and have a lie down. I’ll get everyone together and figure out when and where we’re meeting.”
“You’re very bossy for a man with no authority,” she muttered.
“Comes from being right a lot,” I said.
She rolled her eyes, but there was no real heat in it. “Fine. I’ll try to sleep. Call me when you’ve got details.”
“I will.”
I headed for the door, pausing there with my hand on the frame.
“Madden?”
“Yeah?”
“You didn’t fail me today,” I said. “Whatever else you think you’ve done in the past—you didn’t fail me today.”
Something flickered over her face. “Don’t you dare start making it easy to like you, Carrera,” she said softly. “I don’t have the bandwidth for that.”
I flashed a quick grin. “Too late.” And stepped out onto the dock before I could see her reaction.
Eighteen
MADDEN
The drive to Sutter House took less than fifteen minutes, but my nerves managed to age a decade with every mile. Rios didn’t say much, and strangely, that helped. The silence between us wasn’t hostile anymore. It was… bearable. Companionable, even—if I didn’t look at it too hard.
But that didn’t help the swooping sensation in my stomach when he pulled up in front of Sutter House. I’d been here before, years ago, for one function or another, back when Willa’s grandparents had effectively run the island. But I’d never been here as part of the group. Rios, Sawyer, Ford, and Jace had all been older. Willa and Gabi were younger. I’d gone to school with all of them, grown up on the fringes of their orbit. Always Gwen’s cousin. Always the one who preferred rules and routines to bonfires. Never quite inside the circle. Never hated exactly, but not beloved either. I hadn’t fit. Not with them. Honestly, not really with anyone.
Now I was walking into what amounted to their inner sanctum beside the man they all knew I’d once maligned.
Fantastic.
Rios cut the engine and looked at me. “Ready?”
“No, but I’m good at faking it.” I blurted it out before I could think better of it.
He huffed something like a laugh, and the warmth of it skated over my skin like a touch, dragging my brain back to what it had been like to be wrapped up in him. A hug. A completely platonic friend sort of thing to do. A gesture that had shaken me more than I knew how to admit, not just because of the inconvenient attraction I was struggling to deny, but because I simply wasn’t accustomed to physical affection and support.
Which was probably a terribly sad commentary on my life overall.
Realizing he was now standing in front of the truck, one brow arched in expectation, I slid out and followed, adjusting the strap of my bag. Why had I even brought it? As if I was going to show up with a PowerPoint? I tried to match his unbothered stride as he headed for the side entrance.
Just before we reached the porch steps, his hand slid to the small of my back. Barely a touch. Just a warm anchor guiding me forward.
My breath stuttered. He didn’t seem to notice he’d done it.
I absolutely did.
The kitchen door swung open before either of us reached it, Bree’s voice barreling out ahead of her. “Finally! We were two seconds from—oh.” She stopped when her gaze landed on me. Not hostile. Not warm. Just… taking my measure. “Hey, Madden.”
“Hi,” I managed.
