27. Wilder
By the time we leave the city behind, the roads are swallowed by thick pine forests, the sky already fading toward that deep blue-gray color you only ever see in postcards for places like this.
Reed sits beside me in the backseat of the SUV, with his eyes once again fixed on the window.
He’s watching the mountains, not his phone, not his laptop, not the constant flood of notifications that usually hold his attention.
No, just the mountains and our surroundings, and I can’t stop watching him watch them.
Casper, Knox, Beck, and Bobby, are all in the car ahead of us, which means the group chat has been unusable for the last hour, because they’ve spent the entire drive sending voice notes arguing about who would survive longest in the wilderness.
Bobby claims we’d all die immediately and honestly, he’s probably right.
Caden made their car go first, and his eyes have been fixed on it since we left the terminal.
He’d probably surgically attach himself to his twin if it wouldn’t damn him to an eternity in hell at his side.
I’d say I don’t know why he didn’t insist on riding with him, if he was only going to sit and penetrate the SUV the whole drive, but I know why.
He’s checking on me, seeing how I am since I became aware he murdered my brother, and it should offend me, but I know him too well for that.
Still, his hand has been resting firmly on his waist since we got in the car, and I don’t have to be a genius to know there must be a gun tucked away beneath his jacket.
I mildly wonder who he had to pay off at customs to be able to smuggle it in, not that it matters, not to him.
He’d do anything to protect his twin, hence why his stare remains unwavering.
Honestly, aside from his typical crazy, it’s so fucking good to see them all, even him. I’ve missed them more than I’d ever admit, and I’m grateful I not only get to spend a few days with them, but that I also get to share my EWC journey with them.
My eyes move back to Reed, as I watch him take everything in with nothing but awe.
I’m surprised a pretty posh boy like him hasn’t been here before.
Isn’t snowboarding and skiing one of those rich people activities they love to indulge in?
Who knows. All I know is, dressed in his thin cashmere sweater and dark trousers, he looks good enough to eat.
My eyes find the ring on his finger again and a possessive thrill shoots through me.
He’s not taken it off since I gave it to him, and it makes me primal in a way I never have been before.
It also makes me wonder how he felt about my other gifts.
Did he wear the robe? The slip? The chain?
Fuck, I had fun picking them out and imagining what he would look like in them. How the blue robe would look against his hair, how the silk would feel against his skin, how the chain would be perfect to hold him against me.
“You’re staring again,” Reed says, quietly interrupting my thoughts, his eyes still fixed out the window, and I feel Caden’s gaze flicker ever so slightly in his direction.
I know he is more than intrigued by him, especially considering how much I have been on his ass to get me more information about his father, but I haven’t given him anything.
Ignoring my cousin, I concentrate on the blond beauty next to me. “Would you rather I look somewhere else and find some trouble instead?”
His mouth twitches despite himself, and fuck, I love it when I manage to pull that look out of him.
“I’m off the clock, so whatever trouble you find, you’ll be dealing with it alone,” he tosses back, still not giving me his attention, and it takes everything to not lean toward him and snatch his chin between my fingers.
“Don’t worry, Blue, I’ll be sure to avoid balconies and yachts while I’m here,” I toss back, finally dragging his stare to me, only to be rewarded with that perfect fucking blush of his.
“You two are insufferable,” Matteo hums from the other seat, not even looking up from his phone, but the anxiety it induces in Reed’s stare only pisses me off.
“Matteo,” I warn, pulling his stare to mine.
“What?” he asks innocently. “I’m just supporting your hobbies.”
Caden snorts from beside him. “Obsessing over his publicist isn’t a hobby.” That killer instinct I’m sure he feels every second of every day, suddenly burns inside of me.
“PR assistant,” Reed corrects automatically, as if it makes a fucking difference, and I smirk.
“I don’t think his obsession cares about your title,” Caden snaps back darkly, and I see Reed look at him warily. Then he huffs out a laugh before he can stop himself, quickly looking back toward the window like he regrets it immediately.
The closer we get to the lodge, the quieter the car becomes, but Reed’s focus remains unwavering through the glass.
He looks completely carefree, like the deeper we get into the mountains, the less stress he feels.
Like this place is letting him breathe easily, and I shouldn’t notice that, shouldn’t care, but I do, too fucking much.
Once the lodge comes into place, I even sit up higher at the sight of it.
It looks like it has been designed for someone with too much money and too many secrets.
It has floor to ceiling windows to give the perfect view of the mountainside, and massive terraces that wrap around the top level.
“Holy shit,” Matteo breathes, leaning forward to get a closer look, as both SUVs come to a stop, and that’s how you know it’s nice, because it takes a lot to impress him.
Knox is the first to climb out the front SUV, as we file out of the back one, his eyes already scanning upward. “Fucking hell, Cade,” he says slowly. “How much money are you making?”
Cade barely glances at him as he climbs out and heads for the trunk. “None of your fucking business.”
Casper barks out a laugh, while Bobby mutters something about nosey assholes under his breath.
I look back up toward the lodge. “Who even owns this place?” I ask him, grabbing my own bag from beside his.
Cade adjusts the collar of his coat, entirely unbothered. “Some rich psycho fucker,” he shrugs, as if he truly doesn’t know, but I know him better than that. He wouldn’t let Casper stay just anywhere, which means whoever owns this place is someone like him.
“You’re a rich psycho fucker,” I point out.
He rolls his eyes but shrugs slightly. “It’s friend of a friend type shit, it’s not relevant.”
Which, translated from Cade language, probably means the owner is either in organized crime, or has definitely killed someone before.
Still, I’m not about to complain. Especially not when Reed steps out in front of the car and literally stops walking to stare up at the place.
For a second he looks so happy, not the fake happy he usually looks, but really happy
“Oh no,” Casper says quietly beside me, his stare burning into me.
I don’t look away from Reed, but I do groan internally. “What?”
“You’re down horrendously,” he drawls, nothing but pure amusement in his tone, and I can’t believe a part of me actually missed him.
“Shut the fuck up,” I snap, but he only cackles more.
“You’re looking at him like he personally hung the moon,” he teases, and I grind my jaw.
“I look at everyone like that.”
Bobby snorts at that like a fucking traitor. “Oh yeah? Because I don’t remember you ever looking at me like you want to rip my clothes off.”
Cas smiles at that, slinging an arm around Bobby’s neck before I can respond. “That’s because you’re an ugly fucker, Bobs.”
“Get fucked,” Bobby snaps, pushing him off.
“By you? No thanks, I’m not that desperate.”
“Enough,” Caden snaps. One word, and the two of them instantly shift from their amusement.
I see nothing has changed since I’ve been gone.
Inside, the lodge is somehow even more ridiculous.
There’s a sunken living room big enough to host a small concert, a kitchen stocked with enough alcohol to kill a horse, and a stone fireplace that I’m sure would crackle warmly against the cold outside during winter.
It’s a mixture of modern and classical style, that can only come from someone with exquisite taste, and I mildly wonder who owns this place.
We all dump our bags in the hallway so we can check everything out, and I watch as Reed slowly turns in a circle taking everything in. “This place is insane.”
“Yeah,” I murmur, only looking at him.
His eyes flick toward mine briefly, and for one dangerous second something shifts between us again. That same pull that’s been building for weeks now, since the moment we met if we were being honest, but whatever we are, it’s anything but honest.
Then Knox cannonballs onto one of the couches, ruining the moment instantly. “Dibs on the bedroom furthest from Casper, before he tries to cuddle again.”
“I only cuddle emotionally unavailable men,” Casper shoots back.
“You know your twin doesn’t count, right?” Beck adds, dropping onto the sofa beside Knox, and from Casper’s smile, I can tell he has truly missed the two of them.
Cade is too busy texting on his phone to notice anything else, while Bobby claims ownership of the kitchen, despite the fact I have never even seen him make himself anything but cereal.
Still, it doesn’t stop him from swooning over all the state of the art appliances and checking inside of all of the cupboards.
“Okay,” he says slowly. “Maybe Cade does deserve human rights,” he muses, seeming satisfied by our temporary living space.
“I regret inviting you already,” Cade mutters to his best friend, still not looking up.
“Hey, I told you to leave me behind, but you said Levi is good enough to hold down the fort,” Bobby recalls, looking at my cousin firmly, and Caden finally snaps his attention up.