I thought about that answer, and then went with, “How long is the drive to your place from here?”
Logically, I should know that answer. But my brain wasn’t functioning in that moment.
“All the way back to Jawbone, almost. That’s generally about thirty minutes on a good day. Why?”
“That’s near Mike’s Pass.”
“Yeah.” He looked at me. “You hike there?”
“Not really, no. But there’s a house up there for sale,” I rambled. “And Shade’s mom, Reyelle, fancies herself a realtor almost. She loves looking up all the places that become available and talk about them. She and her husband own multiple rental properties.”
“She follows it that closely?” he asked. “Knows when someone new moves in?”
“Reyelle is the biggest gossip in town, Creed. If you don’t want her to know it, don’t do anything within fifteen miles of her.”
“Noted,” he said. “The property that I bought butts right up to that trailhead that leads into over two thousand acres of public land.”
I surprised him with my next comment.
“Cody goes out there a lot and goes hunting.” I swallowed.
He winked at me.
“You and Cody are close enough for you to talk about where she goes hunting?”
Usually that’s a well-kept secret, even among family. Well, with our family.
“She never told me, per se,” I admitted. “But I did follow her a few times. At first it was because I was young and wanted to see where the girl that had everything I wanted was going. I was young and followed her out to an area of land. She’d sat down against a tree and just waited there. I think she shot a fox that day. The next couple of times was purely by accident. A lot of times, when the dogs that I work with at the shelter get one last day, they have a fun day. Staff takes them out for a hamburger from McDonald’s or something. Then we take them out to go for a walk. I guess just to make them happy one last time before they’re euthanized. It’s pretty great in a terrible way.” I shook my head. “Anyway, I saw her take the trail off of Mike’s Pass and head that way in the middle of the summer with a crossbow. I went the opposite way as her even though her way was an easier trail.”
Something niggled at my memory, there and gone so fast that I couldn’t hold on to it.
“Does Vito hunt?” Creed wondered.
“Not really.”
“Huh,” he said. “That’s surprising.”
“Why?”
“Well, and not to be sexist here, but girls don’t usually hunt unless someone teaches them to hunt. Or encourages them maybe. A girl just deciding to take up hunting is kind of odd, don’t you think?”
I thought about that for a moment before saying, “Not to be completely an asshole about Cody, but she’s always struck me as odd. And I’ve hated her for the attention she got from my dad for the majority of my life. I can’t tell you what’s really ‘odd’ or not with her, because everything is tainted with jealousy. My vision is practically green when I look at her, even when I’m trying to get along with her, it’s still there in the background.”
He reached out for my hand and squeezed it.
Warm butterflies took root in my belly, and I was reminded of his words at the diner.
“Am I?” I asked.
He glanced at me quickly before returning his eyes to the road. “Are you what?”
“Yours.”
His hand tightened on mine. “I think you’ve been mine for a long time, and I haven’t been willing to admit it.”
I let out a shaky breath. “Creed?”
“Yeah?” he asked.
