Love Me Reckless (Love Me Dangerous #2)

Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine

SAWYER

When we finally step out of the hospital an hour later, I inhale a breath of the cold, fresh air and pull Kirilee to my chest and hold her. She sighs with me and wraps her arms around my waist. I love how she fits in my arms, like she’s my whole world.

“I think she’s going to be okay,” Kirilee says.

I kiss the top of her head. “She’s lucky to have your support.”

“Thanks for being here.”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

We walk hand in hand to my truck, our arms swinging lazily between us. Even though the circumstances were awkward, and Molly St. Claire was a bit loopy, I felt welcome.

“Sofie texted me. We’re meeting at Glory Holes for breakfast tomorrow, and she asked if I could help her paint one of their bathrooms. Ava and Hutch have volunteered too.”

“That’s great.” Relief sinks through me. I send a silent note of gratitude to Zach and Sofie as I swing open the passenger door and help Kirilee inside.

Once I’m behind the wheel, Kirilee snugs closer to me.

“After tomorrow, though, what happens?” she asks .

“What do you want to happen?”

“All my things are at the house in Grayhawk.”

I’ve been wondering about this too. “Maybe it’s time to get them back.”

“Birch came by the hospital, didn’t he?”

I take her hand and rest it on my thigh, then caress down each of her delicate fingers, bypassing the ring by telling myself it doesn’t matter when she takes it off. “Yep.”

“I’m glad I didn’t have to see him, but I’m going to have to face him soon enough.”

“You won’t have to do it alone.”

She nods. “Sofie said I could stay at her and Zach’s house.”

“What about your bungalow?”

“I think I need to be around people right now.” She rests her head on my shoulder.

“My place is an option too.”

“Thank you.” Her heavy sigh tightens the knot in my chest.

I slide my arm across her shoulders and hug her close. “One day at a time, okay?”

“Okay.”

I lift her chin to mine for a soft kiss. When our lips part, she glances up at me, her sweet face so earnest and kind. A surge of protectiveness washes through me, but I bite it back. It’s too soon to feel this way.

On the drive to my place so I can pick up a few things for work tomorrow, she shares some of what she learned from her brother about what’s ahead for their mom. I secretly hope that part of it includes a chance for Kirilee and her mom to rebuild their relationship. Though what her parents have put her through is awful, I don’t love the idea of Kirilee being estranged from them. It makes me think of my mom. I would give anything for just one more day with her.

When I pull into my driveway next to Carson’s truck, I’m so lost in Kirilee’s story that it’s not until I jump down that a detail about my room upstairs snags my attention .

“What’s wrong?” Kirilee asks, following my gaze.

“My light is on in my room,” I say. “I probably left it on.”

Old fears start to crawl up my spine. My roommates wouldn’t go in my room, would they?

I hurry to the passenger side so I can help Kirilee, my boots crunching on the hard layer of snow that froze overnight.

Hand in hand, we walk through the garage and mudroom. The noise from the TV and my roommates bantering in the living room gets louder as I reach for the door, but when we step into the house, there’s a voice mixed in that shouldn’t be here.

“Hey!” Carson cheers just as I lock eyes with Sheldon. He’s on the side of the couch next to Carson and Brody, holding a bottle of Budweiser. The TV is playing a pro basketball game, the volume loud.

“Big brother!” Sheldon stands and opens his arms in some kind of welcome gesture.

I’m not buying it.

Kirilee’s hand tightens in mine. I try to ground myself in her touch. “Sheldon, wow. This is, uh, a surprise.”

“I was passing through. Thought I’d stop in for a visit.” He walks over, and I realize he’s coming to hug me.

“Wow.” I let go of Kirilee’s hand to meet my half-brother. It’s been almost two years since I saw him last. Not much has changed, though his hair is growing out from his prison buzz cut and his skin looks practically translucent, like he’s been spending a lot of time inside.

Alarm bells start blaring in my mind.

We hug, slapping each other on the back. His body feels wiry and there’s nothing warm about his embrace.

From the TV, the ref’s whistle shrieks followed by rock music. A time-out, maybe.

Could I get one of those right now?

We step back, and Sheldon extends his hand to Kirilee .

She gives him a smile and cradles his hand with both of hers as I fumble, “Shel, this is Kirilee.”

“So great to meet you!” Kirilee says to him.

Brody passes us on his way to the kitchen. “You guys wanna watch the rest of the game with us?”

“Tara’s on her way over,” Carson adds from the couch. “We’re making stir fry for everyone. You and Kirilee want in, we can totally make more.”

Everyone, huh? How long has Shel been here? “Uh, maybe.”

“Want a beer, Kirilee?” Brody calls out from the kitchen.

“Oh. Okay!”

I hadn’t planned on staying, but leaving now is out of the question.

Kirilee walks into the kitchen, giving me a moment with Shel. I use it to flash him a stern glance.

But he’s looking at Kirilee. “Looks like you’re doing well, big brother.”

Cold dread coils in my gut like a hungry snake.

“Can I talk to you a minute?”

The question seems to take him by surprise, but he gives me a sly grin. “Cutting to the chase, huh? Works for me.”

It pains me to separate from Kirilee, but she’ll be safe with my friends for a few minutes. I lead Sheldon into the garage.

“Why are you really here?” I ask once the door has shut behind him.

“Told you. I’m passing through.” His tone has that defensive edge now that we’re alone and his charm light is officially off. This only confirms what my gut already knows.

“Bullshit. Finn River isn’t on the way to anywhere you’d want to go.”

His eyes flash. “How would you fucking know?”

I pull back from taking this bait because it won’t get me answers.

“How did you find me?”

He shrugs. “Wasn’t hard.”

I let this go. It doesn’t matter now. “I heard you got help inside. Is it true?”

He shrugs again, but his face pinches, like my question wounded him. “Yeah.”

“That’s good.” Getting to Finn River from Alaska isn’t cheap, or easy. So him being here is either hopeful, like he’s found work and stability, or desperate.

“Your girlfriend’s pretty. You buy her that ring?”

The walls seem to press on my skull like a vice. “What?”

“You must be doin’ all right,” he says, finally looking me in the eye.

In one motion, I slam him into the fridge behind him, my fist bunched in his shirt. “You so much as look at her and I’ll break you.”

His eyes turn cold. “You haven’t changed.”

“Neither have you. How much do you need this time?”

He shoves me off him and huffs a breath. “Twenty-five grand.”

I’ve managed to set aside a nice little nest egg from my Finn River Ranch paychecks combined with what I saved from the railroad gig, but it’s nowhere near that much. “I can give you ten.”

His gaze shifts in the direction of the house. “That ring’s gotta be worth at least fifteen. If she were to lose it… ”

He’s gotten even more bold. Should I be surprised? “Don’t even think about it.”

“Does she know about Mom?”

My blood fizzles under my skin. I point a finger at him. “I’ll get you the ten grand, and then you’ll be on your way.”

“How do you think she’d take the news? She seems like a sweetheart. Maybe she’d stay with you out of pity. After all, it was only one night. One mistake.”

My anger is a growing inferno, ready to explode. “We settled this, remember? And I ended up homeless because of it.”

“That was before you hooked up with a catch like her.”

I hit him with my right hook to the jaw before I know I’m in motion. The force of it knocks him backward, and he stumbles. I pounce, wrenching his right arm behind his back and shoving him face down onto the workbench. “It was you outside the lake house on Saturday night, wasn’t it?”

He gasps in pain as I wrench his arm up higher.

“How long have you been in Finn River?”

He grits his teeth. “A few days.”

“You been following me?”

“No.”

I jerk his arm up and his face crimps in agony. “You’re going to dislocate my fucking shoulder!”

“Let’s try the truth this time.”

“Yes, okay!”

“What are you mixed up in?”

“It’s not my fault! This guy I met inside.” He pauses to pant a series of breaths. “his brother runs a chop shop in Daytona, said he could cut me in.” His voice has turned panicky and he’s stammering, which he only does when he’s truly scared.

“That’s the twenty-five grand?”

“No.”

“Damn it, Shel.”

“I needed some cash to get down there. I was feeling lucky. I thought I could win it. And… and… I almost did. I was up , Sawyer. You should have seen it. It was… the biggest score I’ve ever raked in. I… I… I was a fucking king .”

I know all too well what happened next. He lost it, but the toxic gambler’s voice in his head eclipsed all rational thought, and he kept playing, betting more than he could lose to reclaim that rush, getting deeper and deeper into the hole.

“You could fight.” It comes out desperate, his voice whiny and high, like when we were little.

“No fucking way.”

“Come on,” Shel says, his voice strained. “You’re so good. Don’t you miss it?”

I let go of him and step back .

He’s pathetic.

“I’ll get you the money,” I say. Somehow . I don’t have a choice—his threat has made that crystal clear. “I might need a few days.”

“That’s fine,” he says, spinning around, still huffing hard. “I can wait.”

The door from the mudroom opens, and Kirilee peeks out. “Everything okay? We heard a thud.”

I shoot a warning glance to Sheldon. “Everything’s great.”

“Totally,” Sheldon says, his lying eyes brightening so fast, like he didn’t just threaten to obliterate my world. The unease tightening my gut makes me feel sick.

Kirilee steps back to let us inside.

She slides her hand into mine as Sheldon slips into the house, where Carson has Tara cornered in the kitchen, a bag of groceries behind her on the counter. His hands rest on her hips and her arms are draped around his neck. She laughs at something he says, throwing her head back. Brody is doing pull-ups on the bar installed in the bathroom doorway down the hall, his exhales a chorus of wheezing grunts over the sound coming from the TV.

Situation normal. Only… not.

“Are we staying for dinner?” Kirilee asks.

“Is that okay?”

“Of course,” she replies, giving me a curious look.

I’m torn between wanting to whisk her away from here and the risks Sheldon represents and sticking around so I can protect my friends. Because Sheldon wouldn’t think twice about stealing from them if he got the chance.

I wish I could warn them. I wish I could get Shel to leave without raising the alarm. Instead, he’s going to charm his way into their good graces, only to betray them somehow.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

To channel my frustration, I volunteer to get working on dinner. I’m chopping like a madman when Carson slides over to me .

“Is it true she ditched her own wedding last weekend? You don’t have to tell me, but Tara is going apeshit.”

“It’s true.”

“With you?”

“Yeah.”

He exhales into his cheeks, eyes wide. “And nobody’s chopped off your nuts yet?”

“Not yet.”

He glances over his shoulder to where Sheldon and Brody are talking and watching the last of the basketball game, their backs to us. “You don’t seem too happy he’s here.”

“It’s just, um, been awhile.” I set aside the sliced peppers and start in on the carrots. “What did he tell you?”

“He drove down through Canada. Wanted to surprise you.”

If this is true, where is his car? “Huh.”

During dinner, Sheldon’s a model citizen, laughing at my friends’ jokes, using the impeccable manners we were raised with to impress. After we finish eating, Sheldon rolls up his sleeves and makes a big show of starting the dishes but my roommates refuse. With a laugh, Shel returns to the table, cracking open another beer he must have snagged from the fridge.

“What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?” he asks after taking a long pull from his beer.

“Work,” I say.

“Aw, I’ve come all this way,” he protests. “You can’t take a day off?” His drinking has made him cocky.

“I could show Sheldon around tomorrow,” Kirilee says.

“No.” The word comes out firm.

“I don’t mind,” Kirilee says, shooting me a puzzled look. “I’m a good tour guide, remember?”

I think back to that first night at the vacation house, when Kirilee rattled off itineraries for each member of our group.

“Sounds good,” Sheldon says, tilting the neck of his beer in my direction. “After work we can all meet up again. ”

“Wonderful,” Kirilee says.

That night, I set up Sheldon on the couch. “No shenanigans tonight,” I say in a low tone. “I mean it.”

“You’re cute when you’re bossy. I bet she loves that, huh?”

I clench my fists. He’s just trying to fuck with me. If I don’t keep my head on straight, I’m going to do something I can’t fix.

“Goodnight,” I say over my shoulder.

“Nighty-night, big bro. Try to keep it down up there, will you? I need my beauty rest.”

Fuck this. I spin back to kick his ass but he’s laughing like this is all one big joke. “Kidding! Jeez, lighten up.”

With a hot exhale that might as well be dragon fire, I march upstairs to my room, flicking off the hall light on my way.

Before I slip into my room, I send Zach a text.

Sheldon’s here

He replies right away

The fuck?

Just showed up. Kirilee offered to show him around tomorrow. Can you keep an eye out?

On it

I reply with a thumbs up, then pocket my phone.

In my room, Kirilee is sitting on the edge of my bed. With her bare toes turned in and her long hair loose about her pretty face, she looks so fucking adorable in here that my heart thuds into my throat.

“Sorry that took me so long.” I shut the door behind me.

“It’s okay. It gave me a private minute in here.” She leans back on her hands and glances to my bookshelf, a coy expression on her face. “You lied to me. ”

My face cools as blood drains to my feet. “What?”

“Making me think like you only read boring diesel mechanic manuals.”

“Who says they’re boring? And I never lied. You just didn’t ask the right questions.”

She laughs. “Maybe so. I was excited, after all.”

I scoop her up and flatten her in the middle of my bed. She squeals with delight, gazing up at me with that mixture of playfulness and trust that I love so much.

Like she’s seeing through me to the good underneath. The person I’ve always strived to be.

“What got you so excited, princess?”

Her grin lights up her whole face. “Talking about books with a hunky stranger who paid attention to me. I had to get myself off later.”

My cock jolts. “Is that right?”

“Jealous?”

“Hell yeah.” I poke her sides and she squeals again, wriggling beneath me in a way that’s sending all systems go messages to my dick. “Just for that little crack, you’re going to show me.”

She laughs again. “Mmm. Maybe you should make me.”

Fuck yes. I rip my shirt over my head and lower to her lips for a lusty kiss, then move lower. I slide her pants down and tug her to the edge of the bed so I can kneel for my feast. “After you come on my face.”

When I’ve exhausted Kirilee and she’s slumped against my chest, her breaths heavy in sleep, I stare at the dark ceiling, unease creeping into my thoughts.

There won’t be any sleep for me tonight.