Page 11

I couldn’t see her face right now, but last night I’d had plenty of time to study her while she slept on our couch.

She had a damn near angelic face. Perfect features all around.

Light golden-brown skin, a smattering of dark freckles across her nose and cheeks, full lips and doe eyes I was sure she used to her advantage every chance she got.

They’d certainly worked on my best friends last night.

All they needed to see was the way those eyes rounded with fear when we woke her up and they were fucking goners.

Sad.

Tired of watching her like a creep in my own house, I stepped forward and asked, “Going somewhere?”

Goldyn stilled, her whole body tense. The closer I got, the more a familiar scent overwhelmed me, almost stopping me in my tracks.

She smelled likeme.

That’s when I remembered I’d hastily stocked the guest bathroom closest to the gym with duplicates of all my favorite stuff, thinking no one but me would ever use it.

Now, I had regrets.

I tried to shake the thought away and take smaller inhales. “You break into our house, spend the night, and you weren’t even going to say bye first?”

She spun around then, and I might have imagined it but she did a double take when she saw I wasn’t wearing a shirt. I hadn’t even thought twice about following her without one. Sweat still dampened my chest as her eyes found my face. She cleared her throat, looking contrite. “I didn’t want to impose anymore than I already have. The sun is up now, I can find my way back to the other side of the lake.”

My eyes scan her from head to toe again, and I didn’t bother trying to hide my suspicion.

“I never got to ask you last night,” I started, fixated on her shoes. “You went hiking in sandals?”

For the second time in as many minutes, she cleared her throat.

“These sandals are made for hiking. But for your information, the trail to the lake is on a decline. I didn’t expect to get lost,” she replied defensively.

“Right.”

“Is that all?” she questioned, gaze darting to the door.

I ignored her question and asked one of my own. “How do I know you didn’t plan this break-in? It’s very convenient that you picked our house of all houses.”

It was no secret our lake house had been the talk of the town for the past few months. And even though Sin, Enzo and I kept to ourselves, it was also no secret that people were curious and wanted to see it. Some had flat out invited themselves when wewere out shopping or running errands. And every time Sincere had politely told them to fuck off. This place wasn’t an exhibit, it was ourhome. Even though I suspected an even bigger reason people wanted to see it was to understand our relationship. No-one could quite wrap their head around three men in their early thirties living together in the woods.

“Hello?” A small flicker in front of my face caught my attention and I realized it was Goldyn waving her hand.

Shit, I zoned out.

“Look, I don’t know what elaborate scheme you’re trying to unearth, but you won’t find it. It’s simple, I was lost. This is the only house I saw. I told you, I’ve never been on this side of the lake. I just needed a bathroom and a place to charge my phone. I apologize for how it turned out.”

I didn’t speak as I processed her explanation. There was a southern lilt to her melodic voice that made me want to hang on to her every word. She had a storyteller’s voice. One I could get lost in and listen to all day.

“You’re not gonna say anything?”

“What would you like me to say,thief?”

She laughed dryly and ran her tongue over her front teeth. “It would be nice to acknowledge when someone is speaking directly to you, but I can see now that may be asking for too much decency.”

“Decency is overrated,” I told her, shoving my hands in the pockets of my sweats. “And your parents did you a disservice if you walk around expecting everyone to be just as nice as you are.”

Her tenuous smile fell before she gripped the strap of her bag tighter. Her knuckles turned red before she spoke again and all the forced cheeriness in her voice had vanished. “My parents couldn’t be bothered to raise me. So I guess, in a way, you’re right. They did me alotof disservices.”