Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I bolt upright, my adrenaline spiking so violently black specks obscure my vision as I spot the top of my brother’s Blazer through the window.
My stomach drops. “Oh my God, he’s going to kill us.”
Ryker shoves my discarded clothes into my hands. “Noah’s not going to fucking touch you. Get dressed and I’ll go talk to him.”
“ Talk to him ?” I choke out. “Absolutely not. You can never tell him about this.”
Ryker stares at me, lips turned downward and eyes moving rapidly across my face like he doesn’t understand what I’m saying.
Outside, another door slams. Shit. If that’s Noah getting his bags from the trunk, we have seconds before he walks through the front door. The rapid tempo of my already erratic pulse rises to an even dizzier pace.
“Ryker, we have to hide.” Panicked and still only wearing a bra, I shove my arm through the head hole of my shirt and end up getting trapped inside. Footsteps sound on the porch while I desperately try to claw myself free. But then I’m being tossed in the air and thrown over Ryker’s shoulder, my bare ass and arousal-drenched inner thighs catching a chilling blast of arctic AC as he starts walking.
“Ryker,” I plead, bobbing up and down while trying to escape from this stupid straight jacket of a shirt. “Noah’s going to freak?—”
“I said I’ll handle it.” His tone is clipped and hard, but he sets me down gently, and a moment later, the sound of the shower fills the room.
Holy crap. He’s a genius.
The second I finally manage to get my shirt on straight, I throw myself against the bathroom door, trapping Ryker in here with me.
“Hello?”
Fear racks my body as Noah calls out to us from the living room.
The steady stream of the shower pounds the tile, the heat of the water making the air dense, humid, and difficult to breathe. Beads of sweat gather on my neck, slowly trickling down my thundering chest.
“Ryker? Wills?” The sound of my brother’s chipper voice is so close it scrapes across my already raw nerves.
Ryker’s gaze connects with mine, and I shake my head, silently pleading with him to stay quiet. Jaw hard and immobile, his attention strays from me to the door.
“ Please ,” I whisper, sliding my shorts back on and nearly falling over in the process. “Noah will never forgive me and he’ll kick you out of the house.”
Ryker’s nostrils flare but his breaths are even, his upper body hard and unmoving.
“ Fuck . Fine,” he finally concedes, the muscle in his jaw feathering so forcefully I’m surprised I don’t hear his teeth grinding. “I’ll keep my mouth shut on one condition.”
“Anything,” I breathe.
The corner of his mouth kicks up. “Leave your bedroom door unlocked tonight.”
Ryker nearly breaks his ribs shimmying out through the bathroom window, and I spend the next few minutes trying not to vomit as I talk to my brother through the door—repeatedly reassuring him that I have no idea where Ryker is. Even going so far as to suggest he check with Old Man Dan.
I should be relieved when Noah leaves, but when I crawl into the shower and sit fully clothed beneath the spray, all I feel is the massive burden of guilt lodging in my chest. Guilt for betraying my brother’s trust. Guilt for asking Ryker to lie to his best friend. And most of all, guilt for knowing, beyond a shadow of a doubt, I’d do it all over again.
This is so stupid. Being around Ryker makes me feel alive, and I’m leaving Deadwood in less than two weeks anyway. Don’t I deserve a few happy memories from this horrible place?
Maybe if I came clean about some other secrets, I’d feel less guilty about this one?
Not wanting to lose my courage, I rise to my feet and strip off my soaked shirt and shorts, then throw them against the wall where they drop to the floor with a splat . An electric current fans out from my fingertips as I trail them across my lips and between my breasts, reveling in how my body no longer feels like a cage of pain and shame but something beautiful and strong.
I wash my hair and body as quickly as possible, barely wasting time wrapping a towel around myself before heading straight for my brother in the kitchen. Ryker is there, too, leaning against the counter, looking like a sinful dessert with his arms folded over his chest and bulging biceps on full display.
My heart skips a beat, and I quickly avert my gaze.
Noah’s smile fades when he sees my exposed shoulders, the water dripping from my hair and the heat from the shower probably making my scars more prominent than he’s used to seeing. He closes his eyes tightly and swallows.
A few weeks ago, his reaction would’ve had me running back to my room. Today, I feel nothing. If my brother has a problem with my scars, that’s his burden to bear, not mine .
I tap my wet foot against the worn oak floors. “I need to talk to you.”
Ryker shoves off the counter, subtly positioning himself so he’s within arm’s reach of Noah. I give him the tiniest shake of my head, but not a single muscle in his rigid posture uncoils.
Noah groans. “Do you want to put some clothes on first?”
“This will only take a second and it’s important.”
“Fine,” he laments, eyes locked on the ceiling. “Hurry up, though, because—” His phone rings, and he holds up a finger in my direction when he answers. “Hey, man. Yeah, Ryker’s going to shower real quick and then we’ll be over. It’s just you and your cousin, right?”
My grip on the towel tightens, rivulets of water snaking down my arms and legs to form a tiny puddle on the floor as I furrow my brow. He’s been home for all of twenty minutes and he’s already going out? I glance around, noting that while he has on clean clothes, there’s a trail of mud from the front door to his discarded boots and a massive pile of laundry has been dumped in the hallway.
“Noah,” I clip, trying to convey my annoyance so he’ll end the call. When the finger he’s holding up turns into an open-faced palm gesturing for me to wait, my blood begins to boil.
“Noah Dunn,” I screech. “I’m trying to tell you something important here.”
He sighs. “I’m going to have to call you back— Yeah, we’ll be there in less than thirty.” He finally hangs up, mustache twitching as he glares in my direction. “Wills, you can’t seriously still be pissed about me picking up more hours on the rig?”
“What? No, of course not.” I clutch my towel, head cocking to the side. “Wait, why are you home so early?” His normal fourteen-day stint shouldn’t be over yet.
“I’ve been home for ten fucking seconds and you’re already interrogating me?” Noah throws his hands into the air, jutting his chin out with an impatient shake of his head. “Can’t you just say whatever it is you came out here to say and then go get dressed? ”
“Noah, lay off,” Ryker interjects. “If you stop jumping down her throat and give her a second, I’m sure she’ll tell you.”
My brother rolls his eyes, boredom leaking through every pore in his body as he makes a circular motion with his hand for me to get on with it.
My pulse stalls. Moment of truth . I take a deep breath. “Dad’s been acting a little cagey. I also found a weird note in the garden, and then someone broke into the house and left another one?—”
Out of the corner of my eye, Ryker bristles and takes a step toward me, but the seething look I toss his way thankfully stops him in his tracks.
When I glance back to Noah, he’s yawning and looking at his phone. “Was that it? We’re meeting up with Marco in like thirty minutes and I still need to change and take a shit,” he says, not bothering to look up as he types.
Okay, gross , and what the hell ? I just told him a stranger was in our house and this is his reaction? Ryker opens his mouth to say something, but I beat him to it. “No, that’s not it. I also wanted to tell you I got into the Un—” My voice cracks and my lip starts to quiver, but Noah doesn’t notice. He’s too busy smiling at something on his screen, not listening to a word I’ve said.
I lift my chin. “You know what, yeah. That was it.”
The front door swings open. “Hey, kiddo. I saw Noah’s Blazer in the?—”
I stomp off to my room without hearing the rest of Dad’s greeting, kicking my door closed and locking it for good measure before remembering what Ryker said in the shower…
Leave your bedroom door unlocked tonight.
A shiver dances up my spine, and without a second thought or an ounce of guilt hanging over my shoulders, I reach for the handle and unlatch the lock.