GRAE
“Thanks for picking me up,”I said as I dropped my backpack onto the floorboard of Roan’s truck and buckled my seat belt.
He simply grunted and started the engine.
I glanced over at my second eldest brother. I’d become an expert in reading his facial expressions over the years. I had to be when his words were so few and far between. “What’s wrong?”
Roan kept his eyes on the road as he pulled into traffic. He didn’t say anything for a few moments. That was the thing about Roan. When hedidspeak, he chose his words carefully. “Worried about you.”
My heart clenched.Crud.I hadn’t thought about how all of this might be affecting Roan. While he had the gruffest exterior of all my brothers, he was the most sensitive. Maybe because he was such an observer of the world and took everything on his shoulders, but he was an empath through and through.
“I’m okay,” I said softly. “I’m being careful. And staying with Caden means I’m behind a ridiculously over-the-top security system.”
The Peaks not only had guarded gates but also people patrolling the grounds. They had to when their guests ranged from billionaires to celebrities to world dignitaries.
Roan’s gaze flicked to me. “How’s that going?”
My mouth curved. “You want to talk about my boyfriend?”
He grumbled something indiscernible under his breath.
I just laughed. Roan wanting to have girl talk wasn’t something I was used to. “It’s good. Really good.”
I couldn’t keep the smile out of my voice.
Roan slowed at a stop sign, studying me more carefully. “He going to stick around?”
My stomach tightened at the question. “We haven’t gotten that far. We’re taking things one day at a time.”
Roan grunted. “Don’t want you getting hurt.”
“Relationships pretty much guarantee you’re going to get hurt at some point. That’s life.”
“Don’t get why people put themselves in that situation,” he mumbled. “Dumb.”
I stared at my brother. He was so kind—gentler than anyone would ever expect—and it broke my heart that he was so dead set on not allowing anyone into his life.
“Sometimes, I think how much we open ourselves to potential pain is the same amount we make ourselves available to joy. You can’t have one without the other.”
Roan’s grip on the wheel tightened as he turned onto the road that led to The Peaks. “I’ve got plenty of joy.”
But I wasn’t so sure about that. It wasn’t that Roan didn’t have good things. He did. He had our family, a job he loved, and a house that was his haven. But I couldn’t imagine that he wasn’t lonely. And that made an ache settle deep in my chest.
Roan slowed at the gatehouse as a security guard stepped out.
“Welcome to The Peaks. Are you a registered guest?” the guard asked.
I leaned across the cab of Roan’s truck. “I’m staying with Caden Shaw.” I handed him my ID.
“Ms. Hartley. Welcome back.” His gaze flicked to Roan. “I’ll need your ID, as well, sir. Just to make sure you’re on the list.”
Roan grunted and handed him his driver’s license.
The man referenced a tablet and then nodded. “Please, go right ahead.”
The gate instantly began to open.
Roan scoffed as he rolled up his window.
