Chapter 14
TRACE
Wolfe was acting unsettled and nervous that night. It was a stark departure from the relaxed and adorably blushing version of him I’d left hours earlier.
On the outside, he was friendly and smiling. A little reserved in the larger group, which was how he’d always been. But otherwise, seemingly fine.
Except he kept rubbing the far side of his index finger with the top of his thumbnail—a sign of anxiety he’d picked up years ago.
Before leaving Montrose that afternoon, I’d picked up a foldable camp chair so I could sit next to Wolfe around the fire. But now that I was here among his new friends and sitting next to him, it still didn’t seem close enough.
I reached over and put my hand over his worrying fingers. “Would you rather I not be here?” I asked softly. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”
His eyes widened in surprise. “No! No, that’s not… I’m glad you’re here.”
I could feel eyes on us, so I quickly removed my hand. “Talk to me. You’re upset about something.”
“I’m not,” he lied, going right back to the little finger movements without realizing what he was doing. “How was the rest of your day?”
There was so much I wanted to say to him—about Fletcher Coe, about how proud I was of his talent, about how the hell he was handling the secrecy and fame—but this was definitely not the place to do it.
“Interesting,” I admitted, trying to relax back into the stiff new camp chair. “I went into Montrose and got some work done.”
His eyes flicked to the fire in the center of the group. “You must be anxious to get back to SERA.”
“Not at all,” I admitted. “I’m happy right where I am.”
Wolfe’s eyes flicked to mine, the mossy green looking striated in the shifting light from the fire. “You always did like camping.”
I laughed. “I’ve just spent the past six weeks living in a tent in subzero temperatures. Believe me, it’s not the camping I’m here for.”
His cheeks darkened, but before he could say anything, a woman about his age snuck up behind him and put her hands over his eyes. She looked familiar, and the only reason I was able to place her was because I’d seen the brightly colored school bus pull in a half hour ago.
“Guess who, babydoll,” she said with a big grin.
Wolfe had frozen at her touch, but the sound of her voice must have been familiar. “Lena!” He stood up and gave her a hug before moving to the woman next to her. “Good to have you back.”
They chatted happily with him before shooting me a curious look.
Wolfe stammered, “Oh, uh, this is Trace. A friend from home. Trace, this is Lena and Imani. They’re in that skoolie over there.”
I gave them a smile and a little wave. “Nice to meet you.”
After they chatted for a few more minutes, the women moved around the ring to settle into their own chairs.
Wolfe leaned over and lowered his voice. “Everyone here knows me as Will. You probably picked up on that, but…”
“No problem. I understand,” I murmured. It was no secret he’d been uncomfortable with being recognized, and it made sense he’d want to be anything other than Jude Marian’s son while on this trip.
He met my eye and smiled. “Thanks.”
I sucked in a breath. Fuck, what that sweet face did to me.
Until now, I hadn’t realized just how much the distance between Montana and California had protected me from temptation.
Every time Wolfe and I had been around each other in the past six years had been in the presence of Jude and Derek, which had made it very easy to shove my attraction to their son into the deepest, darkest corner of my mind.
But now that they weren’t here? It was impossible. My attraction to Wolfe Marian flared bright and hot. There was no escaping it…
And I was beginning to realize I might not want to anyway.
“Will!” Brennan called from across the fire, where a large folding table was set with various dishes and a portable grill. “Settle a dispute between me and Thierry about how long to cook this salmon fillet for.”
Wolfe stood to join him when I noticed a new vehicle pull into Wolfe’s own campsite. The pickup’s driver door opened, and the man from the bar stepped out.
I watched Jake’s eyes find Wolfe immediately. There was no trace of a smile on his face, only a look of pure calculation.
Stop being a jealous asshole.
I blinked and tried not to assess the man from a place of significant bias. He was good-looking. Very. And he strode toward the group with confidence.
Jake walked directly over to Wolfe and leaned in to press his lips to Wolfe’s cheek in a greeting that lasted several beats past polite. The stiff canvas of my camp chair creaked as I shifted my weight forward.
I knew better than to get involved in Wolfe’s friendships, but I still didn’t like this guy. My own jealousy aside, Wolfe had only been in Hush for a few days. Whatever territorial claim this guy thought he had on Wolfe was inappropriate and lightning-fast.
Wolfe’s cheeks turned a deeper pink as he introduced Jake to the people around him. Brennan looked happy to see Jake, and the two older men by the grill seemed pleased also.
Great. Everyone is happy. Excellent.
I forced myself to remain seated. To not do exactly what I was annoyed at Jake for doing by going over there to piss in a circle around my… around Wolfe.
Instead, I turned to the woman sitting next to me and struck up a conversation. Claudia Reynoso turned out to be a lovely woman, happily telling me about juggling homeschooling with running an accounting firm with her husband from the road.
It was easy to lose myself in the interesting story of their lives as digital nomads, prioritizing adventures and travel with their kids over the comfort and stability of living in one place.
By the time she was called away to help one of her kids with their hamburger, Wolfe was standing in front of me with a plate in an outstretched hand. “Hope you don’t mind. I made you a plate.”
I glanced up at him, touched at the gesture. “Thanks, ba—Will. I appreciate it.”
He shot me a soft smile and nodded. “Be right back.”
After he headed back to the food table, Jake walked up with his own camp chair and unfolded it right between mine and Wolfe’s. I had to lurch sideways to keep the corner of the chair from knocking my elbow and spilling my food. “Hope you don’t mind me joining. Wolfe invited me.”
I opened my mouth to mutter something when his word choice caught me off guard. “Wolfe?”
He nodded and then looked around to make sure no one else had heard. “Oh, sorry. I forget he doesn’t want anyone else to know.” He tossed me a wink.
Something about his ridiculous posturing suddenly relaxed me. There was no way Wolfe would fall for someone like this.
All of Jude and Derek’s kids had been through years of good therapy, and I knew without a doubt that Wolfe would recognize a control freak when faced with one.
Jake was manipulative and territorial, and I’d bet it wouldn’t be long before he did or said something controlling that made Wolfe feel like a child.
Been there, done that.
I decided to sit back and watch it happen.
Jake settled into his chair as I took the first bite of food. Eduardo Reynoso had made a giant vat of spicy mac ’n’ cheese, which everyone had been raving about, so I started with that.
Just as I was enjoying the flavor, Jake spoke up. “So, I hear you’re headed out in the morning. Where is it you live?”
“Montana,” I said between bites.
“Oh. I… oh. I thought you and Will were from the same place.”
I wanted to ask if he knew where that place was, exactly.
Instead, I shrugged. “Originally. But I moved away a few years ago.”
“Ah. What do you do for a living?”
“Wilderness emergency rescue,” I said, not wanting to give more specific details than that.
His eyebrows lifted as if I’d surprised him, and maybe he was impressed against his will. “Must be interesting. I’ll bet you have plenty of stories.”
I nodded and took another bite. I noticed Wolfe glancing worriedly at us as he approached, so I shot him a reassuring smile.
“Hey,” he said, taking his seat on the other side of Jake. I felt a little sorry for him having to juggle the two of us together.
“Eduardo’s mac is amazing,” I said. “I might need to ask him for the recipe.”
He snorted softly. “As if you cook.”
I grinned at him. “Hey, I cook. There’s no DoorDash in the backcountry.”
He leaned around Jake, who seemed to be leaning forward just to make it more difficult for Wolfe and me to speak to each other.
“Your version of trail pasta includes orange powder,” Wolfe accused with a knowing grin. “Tell me things have changed in the past ten years.”
“Now I add spices,” I said with a wink. “And I don’t see why I can’t swap those out for these ones.” I took another bite of the mac and groaned appreciatively.
Wolfe’s eyes widened, and his cheeks once again turned pink. At this rate, he was going to have blood pressure problems from how many times he’d gotten flush-faced tonight.
“I don’t think it’s just the spices, Trace. He uses a combination of cheeses and probably adds—”
Jake cut him off when he reached over and ran his fingers through the back of Wolfe’s hair. “Are you going to play for us tonight?” he asked with an affectionate smile. “Shay couldn’t stop talking about how well you play. I told her I’d take a video and send it to her at her friend’s house.”
Wolfe froze before gently shrugging away from Jake’s touch. “Oh, er. I guess? I mean, yes. I can if people want. Lena—she’s one of the people we camped with before—she really likes to sing along when I play.”
I tried to distract myself from Wolfe’s discomfort by turning back to Claudia to ask about her favorite travel destinations.
Every instinct in me fought to protect Wolfe from Jake, but I kept reminding myself that Wolfe was safe here in this big group.
He was also an adult, as everyone and their brother had been reminding me lately.
I hoped Wolfe knew that I’d gotten that message loud and clear. Hell, it should have been obvious, considering what we’d done earlier in his van.