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“Why?”

“You keep looking at me like that and I’m going to forget I’m supposed to be emotionally damaged.”

“You can multitask.”

He laughs, then kisses my forehead and somehow that feels more intimate.

He keeps hold of my hand as we walk back inside.

Last night, I was ready to give Ryder something I’ve never given anyone.

Today, I know the part of him he most wanted to hide.

And I still want him.

Maybe more than I did before.

Chapter 9

Ryder

By the time we get back to Devil’s Peak, half the town thinks I fucked the librarian.

For once, the gossip is wrong.

Barely.

Clara finds this hilarious.

I don’t.

We stop at The Devil’s Diner twenty minutes after riding into town, and the place goes quiet when we walk through the door.

Not completely quiet.

Devil’s Peak has more subtlety than that.

But I notice the pause.

The glances.

Then everybody starts talking again a little too loudly.

Clara takes off her sunglasses. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“You have that look.”

“What look?”

“The one where you’re considering punching someone.”

“That’s my face.”

“Your face is very hostile.”

“You liked it at the hotel.”