"Has he?" I asked. "Or do you chase him out of town the first moment you see him? Would you even listen to him if he told you he wanted to explain?"
They both grunt-laughed.
"We don't want to hear anything he has to say," Connor said. "Chances are, he'd try to spin some other story. More bullshit. Some reason why they didn't find any sign of a kidnapper."
"Aliens," Riley said ominously. "Or a giant Kraken, rising up out of the river to snatch her."
"Or maybe she was eaten by a moose," Connor said dryly. "Or a beaver."
"Or disappeared into a magic book." Riley seemed to be enjoying this a bit too much.
"Have you tried giving him a chance?" I asked, trying to get the conversation back on topic.
"What for?" Connor shrugged one shoulder. "The damage is done. Nothing he says is going to change anything. Besides, he's an asshole. He belongs up there on the mountain, not down here in the hollow."
"And that's why you should stay away from him." Riley stepped closer to me. "If he tries to come near you, I'm personally going to see he ends the way Coral Clarke did."
"Only if you get to him first," Connor said darkly.
"We can do it together," Riley told him. "It'll be more satisfying that way."
"You did not just threaten to murder someone," I said.
If I thought they were serious, I'd be more worried. But these two were more bark than they were bite. I suspected the same could be said of Josiah Lachance.
"You don't get to decide who I spend time with and who I don't."
"Don't we?" Riley placed his hands on the counter, to either side of me.
14
LEAH
I tilted my head back,my gaze settling on his. Heat radiated off him. Half a step forward and we'd be pressed against each other, chest to chest.
"No, you can't," I said without flinching. Desperately trying not to let on that he was getting to me. He smelled of pine and leather, earthy and heady at the same time. And something else. Soap? It seemed like an innocent smell compared to the rest of him. The contrast had my mind in a spin. Who was this guy really? Who were either of them?
They prided themselves on being assholes. That was a mask. A layer I wanted to peel back to see what was underneath. Not just their clothes, but them.
"You hear that, Con?" Riley said over his shoulder. "She thinks we can't tell her who she can spend time with."
"I heard, Ri," Connor replied.
Riley leaned in closer, still not touching me. His mouth was a centimetre or two from my throat. His breath was light and warm on my skin.
The pulse between my legs raced. I pressed my thighs together and kept holding his gaze. He was the predator and I was the prey. I shouldn't be the one to blink first.
I blinked.
One minute he was right there, then he was stepping away, grabbing my hand to pull me with him.
"Come with us." He smiled, all the way to his eyes, like a boy who wanted to have some fun.
"Where are we going?" He wasn't tugging me in the direction of my bedroom. Instead, he opened the front door and led me outside.
"Same question." Connor followed us out and closed the door behind him.
"Do you trust me?" Riley asked.
