one
There aresome things in life nothing can prepare you for, and I was experiencing one of those moments. That, or I was dreaming. No. Scratch that. My imagination wasn’t this good. Normal people didn’t dream about their best friend galloping around the bases at an empty ballfield on the back of a polar bear while screaming“Do you see this, Ma?”at the cloudless sky.
From what Sloane had shared about her parents, they were probably rolling in their graves over her antics.
“How embarrassed are you that you chosethatas your best friend?”
This was more proof I was wide awake. Otherwise, Rían—not Liam—would be standing next to me.
Probably wearing his little crop top tee and those gray capri sweatpants.
Mmm.
No. Bad Ana. Must stay focused. Sloane would break her neck without adult supervision.
Still. Rían would have gotten a kick out of this. Too bad the wards coming down today had rolled him out of bed around four this morning. Not that I had grown so attuned to his softfootsteps, each one meant to shield Goldie from his crazy work hours, that he woke me padding down the hall past my room.
“Thatchose me,” I informed Liam with a smirk, shifting my weight on the boxy red and white cooler I was using as a bench, “and I’m grateful for her every day.”
He gave a noncommittal grunt, but he didn’t take his eyes off her either.
More often lately, I got the feeling he wasn’t watching her for the same reasons as me.
And I don’t just mean so he could film her wiping out in spectacular fashion to share with all his friends.
“How much longer until the wards come down?”
“About two hours.” He clenched his jaw as Sloane attempted to stand between Jess’s shoulder blades like a stunt rider from a Wild West show. “I came to make sure you’ve got your phone on you.”
The fact Sloane was out here acting the fool hadn’t earned me an in-person visit, I was sure.
“Goldie left it out for me.” I patted my right front pocket. “After she added her number to my contacts.”
“That reminds me.” He snapped his fingers. “Fayne is hosting a gathering for the clan later today.”
“I got my marching orders this morning.” I stretched a kink out of my neck, the result of Sloane stealing my pillow last night. “Goldie left me a snack to-do list. I have alotof baking ahead of me as soon as this wraps.”
Walsh clan kids had mandatory attendance so that Rían could explain the new safety rules.
That perked his mood, if the hand on his stomach was any indication. “How long have they been at it?”
“About an hour.” I checked the timer on my cell. “I’m giving Sloane fifteen more minutes before I call it.”
“Probably for the best.” He flinched when her wobbly handstand resulted in her faceplanting against the bear’s fluffy butt. “Shifter healing mends a lot of injuries, but she’s going to break her neck at this rate.”
Hearing him echo my concern was oddly comforting, but I clutched another big-ticket worry too.
“Polar bears overheat fast in this weather, so her neck is on borrowed time.”
“Well, I’ll leave you to it.” He rocked back on his heels. “Keep an ear out for a text from the clan-wide messaging system. It’ll alert you when the wards are down and the tech is up, okay?”
“Hey.” I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Can you give me Rían’s number?”
“You don’t have it yet?” He held out his hand, and I slapped my phone across his palm. “I figured he would have tattooed it on the inside of your wrist.”
“He wrote it on the underside of my bra strap as a safety precaution before I entered Sartori territory.” I had forgotten about it until his question sank in. I tried hard not to think about the day Carmichael struck me for the first time, shattering any illusions I harbored that he loved me and not my potential. “Now that I think about it, I doubt it survived the fallout.”
I hadn’t been in great shape when I got back to Brentwood, and neither had Sloane. She had been in her wolf form, so no clothes. I was sure mine had been trashed after they stripped me down for treatment.
