Page 88 of Better When Shared (Kristin Lance Anthologies #2)

Ryker

We were still on the porch twenty minutes later, and Skylar hadn’t opened the door.

Kiaan paced around the driveway, waiting for Hui to let him knock. Hui sat on the little porch swing, seemingly unbothered by the aftermath of her maniacal plan to spring two men on her granddaughter.

That woman was terrifying.

I felt as antsy and anxious as Kiaan looked, and increasingly desperate for something to do.

“Maybe we should take a walk? Pet some horses?”

“Pet horses?”

Kiaan said, shuddering.

“They’re cute.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I leaned against the porch rail, then almost fell on my ass as it creaked and heaved under my weight. Frowning, I squatted and looked at the wobbly boards.

“This is a hazard. Is there a toolbox somewhere?”

Hui paused her swinging, studying me for a moment with her eyebrows raised.

“I suppose there’s one in the office. Want me to get it?”

“If Kiaan doesn’t want to pet horses, I might as well make myself useful, right?”

As Hui bustled off towards one of the barns, I took out my multi-tool and flipped to the screwdriver, frowning as I got to work. I was self-aware enough to understand that this was a coping mechanism. When my mom got sick, my dad used to come up with hours worth of projects for us just so we wouldn’t have to sit around and worry.

And it worked, kind of. If I stayed moving and did something helpful, there wouldn’t be space for worries or wanting or impossible hope.

Skylar’s porch rail had been wobbly for a while—I could tell from the worn spots where the screws had gradually worked their way out of the weathered wood. So when Hui returned with the toolbox, I got to work, ignoring Kiaan’s judgmental look.

The familiar weight of the drill in my palm anchored me to the moment, stopping my mind from spiraling into guilt and worry.

“You’ve done this before.”

Hui’s observation floated across the porch from where she sat, back on the wooden swing.

I nodded, focusing on the next screw.

“My dad taught me. We used to build things together.”

“Are you close to him now?”

“No,”

I said, not wanting to go into what had happened after Mom passed away and my father had started drowning his sorrows in other ways. I still preferred the frantic handyman projects.

She didn’t press.

“Well, at least you’re being useful. Maybe you can get him to help, too.”

She tilted her head toward Kiaan, who was stalking back and forth across the yard like a caged tiger.

I bit back a smile.

“He doesn’t look like he’s in the right headspace for construction.”

Six years of gaming together, and I’d never seen Kiaan this off-balance. I’d also never realized just how fucking gorgeous he was. He was Indian-American with the bone structure of a male model. Only his curly, chaotic hair and his plush, almost feminine lips broke the stony masculine perfection of his face.

Nothing had confirmed my bisexuality for me quite like meeting Kiaan for the first time. It had shifted and changed my understanding of our group dynamic in ways I really didn’t want to think about.

Crushing on your two best friends was probably the fastest route to devastating heartache and loss.

“This is bullshit,”

Kiaan said, turning and narrowing his eyes at my drill.

“Seriously? She’s upset, and your solution is home improvement?”

I shrugged, tightening another screw.

“Might as well make myself useful.”

I was well aware that my calm demeanor was pissing him off—it always did while gaming, too—but I couldn’t resist.

The flash of panic on Skylar’s face before she’d stalked off and slammed her cabin door kept replaying in my mind. It didn’t match the woman I’d known for five years through headsets and keyboards. The Skylar I knew commanded our guild raids with confident authority, told dirty jokes that made me blush, and once ordered me to edge myself for three days straight during a particularly intense sexting session.

“So you’re going to sit there and fix her porch like some kind of... lumberjack fantasy?”

Kiaan’s voice cut through my thoughts again.

I looked up, unable to control my urge to flirt.

“You have lumberjack fantasies? I could help with those.”

“Fuck off. Why don’t we call a car, find a hotel, and give her space? We could be relaxing at a nice cafe like normal human beings instead of... whatever this is.”

He gestured at me and the tools.

Hui clicked her tongue.

“No hotels! What a waste of money. You stay here. Skylar has space.”

I turned back to the railing, focusing on the next loose board.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Hui waved her hand dismissively.

“Oh, you know Skylar. She’s always so anxious. She probably needs a minute to process.”

The comment made me pause.

“That’s the thing. I don’t think of her as anxious.”

Hui snorted.

“Oh, please. I thought you both knew her well!”

“She’s not. Not online, anyway. In the game, she’s...”

I trailed off, not sure how to explain to Skylar’s grandmother how she behaved in our virtual world.

“Confident,”

Kiaan supplied.

“Commanding.”

“Well, I suppose she’s a different person behind the screen,”

Hui said.

“The real Skylar is shy. But the real Skylar needs genuine connections. Not just pixels and text messages.”

“I find a genuine connection over text, too. There’s still a human being on the other side. And our friendship is strong. Has been for years.”

“If our friendship is so strong, why did she run away?”

Kiaan asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure as hell going to wait around and see if she’ll tell us. You guys have been there for me through a lot. Even years ago, when my mom was sick. You both stayed online with me when I needed it, and when it finally happened. I was...”

I swallowed hard, remembering the blind panic, the way breathing became impossible when I was overwhelmed by grief.

Hui’s eyes softened.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“I’d been expecting it. Mom had been sick for a while. But I guess you can’t really ever...”

I shook my head.

“Anyway, you can’t tell me there’s no genuine connection there. Skylar talked me through panic attacks for months after. Kiaan stayed up late to raid with me when I couldn’t sleep. She and Kiaan are the reason I finished my firefighter training instead of dropping out.”

Across the yard, Kiaan had stopped pacing, watching me with an unreadable expression.

I tightened the final screw, testing the rail one more time. Rock solid now. I moved on to the next section.

“She doesn’t know how much she saved me,”

I said simply, meeting Kiaan’s eyes.

“Neither of them knows. So, even if she doesn’t want to see me now, I want to make sure she’s okay. And I’ll wait, even if it takes a few hours. I have time.”

Kiaan broke eye contact first, pacing away.

“She has every right to be upset. We showed up unannounced because her grandmother decided to play games.”

Hui laughed, waving her hand.

“I wouldn’t call them games. Just a push in the right direction.”

He huffed and walked out to the end of the driveway, then circled back. Hui pulled out her phone and started reading something, and I went back to work, checking every board on her small porch railing, then tightening the screws on the steps and the decking.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when we finally heard a sound from inside, but the sun was way lower in the sky, and Kiaan had wandered all over the property—though never within petting distance of the horses. We all went quiet for a moment, and I glanced towards the cabin door just as it creaked open.

I nearly dropped the screwdriver I was holding.

Skylar stood in the doorway, arms crossed tightly over her chest like armor. I’d seen her a thousand times through pixelated video calls and profile pictures, but they hadn’t captured the details, and I drank those in. The slight upturn of her nose or how her bangs fell across her forehead, teal highlights catching the afternoon light. My mouth went dry as I took her in—all five-foot-two of her compact frame radiating a mixture of annoyance and resignation.

Her dark eyes moved from me to Kiaan and back again, lingering momentarily on the newly repaired railing. A flush crept up my neck as she studied my handiwork. Something about her scrutiny made me feel more exposed than I had, even during our late-night text sessions, when she’d coaxed confessions from me I’d never shared with anyone else.

“So.”

Her voice was huskier in person, with a slight rasp that sent warmth spreading through my chest.

“My grandmother invited you both here without telling me. And I’m guessing she was crafty enough that you thought I wanted you here.”

It wasn’t a question, but I nodded anyway, heat crawling up my cheeks.

“I’m so sorry,”

I said, meaning it.

“We didn’t know that she invited us without your permission. We would never have put you on the spot like this.”

“I wasn’t crafty! But I may have stretched the truth a little,”

Hui said, standing up and brushing off her skirt.

“Well, you three have fun. I’ve got errands to run!”

“Nainai, you can’t run away from this drama!”

Skylar yelled after the old woman.

“What was that? I don’t think you need a pet llama?”

Hui sprinted for her car and jumped in, zooming off before any of us responded. She was spry for an old lady.

Skylar blinked, then glanced at me with a sigh.

“She pretends her hearing is going out when she wants to avoid conflict.”

“Maybe she could avoid conflict by not doing crazy stuff?”

I suggested, my lips twitching as I held back a laugh.

Skylar burst out laughing.

“We could only hope.”

At the rich, warm, familiar sound of Skylar’s laugh, Kiaan froze, staring at her with an intensity that made me wonder if he remembered to breathe.

Skylar sighed, uncrossing her arms to push her glasses higher on her nose.

“Well, you’re both here now. Might as well come in before my grandmother comes up with a new plan. How did she even get your numbers?”

I frowned.

“She said you gave them to her.”

Kiaan cursed.

“You messaged me in a DM, asking for the info. You said you were going to have your grandmother reach out to us. I’m sorry. I should have been suspicious of all of it.”

He groaned and buried his face in his hands.

Skylar went pale.

“She was in our DMs? Fuck, I hope she didn’t scroll back to the filthy stuff.”

I cleared my throat.

“Wait. You’re also exchanging filthy DMs with Kiaan?”

“Just come inside.”

She turned and walked into the cabin.

Kiaan eyed me as he brushed past, following her inside.

I put the tools away and secured the toolbox closed, processing my feelings about the fact that Skylar had been sexting both of us as I finished up the work. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. On one hand, it stung, but on the other, more bisexual hand... holy fuck did it give me some hot fantasies.

I turned and carefully opened the door, aware of entering Skylar’s private space. The tiny house was compact but thoughtfully arranged, every inch utilized with the same efficiency she brought to raid planning.

The main living area was dominated by a large sectional sofa in charcoal gray, facing a wall-mounted TV surrounded by gaming consoles I recognized from our conversations. Bookshelves lined one wall, filled with technical manuals, sci-fi novels, and what looked like antique programming books. Another wall was blank, with a few boards leaning there like half-finished projects. A small kitchen occupied one of the far corners, and behind that, a small hallway led off to another space, probably her bedroom.

Everything smelled faintly of coffee and something citrusy—her shampoo, maybe. The scent made my chest tighten with a strange sense of discovery, a sensory knowledge of Skylar I’d never had before.

Kiaan was already moving around the space, examining everything with the enthusiasm of a kid in a candy store.

“Holy shit, is that the limited edition controller I told you about? I can’t believe I’m finally seeing your setup.”

His excited chatter filled the small space as he pointed out gaming equipment, moving from one item to the next without pausing for breath. It was how he got when we raided together—a constant stream of strategy and observations that sometimes overwhelmed the voice chat.

I hung back, watching Skylar’s face as she tracked Kiaan’s movement. Her expression was guarded but not cold—a crease between her eyebrows that I wanted to smooth away with my thumb. When her gaze shifted to the window, I followed it to the repaired porch rail visible through the glass. Something in her posture softened.

“You fixed it,”

she said, not quite looking at me.

I shrugged.

“It was loose.”

“It’s been loose for months.”

Her mouth quirked in what might have been the start of a smile.

“Makai kept promising to look at it.”

“Makai?”

The name caught in my throat, unexpected and unwelcome.

“My business partner.”

She glanced at me then, something unreadable in her expression.

“He was the guy I was with outside, with Hamish and Imogen, his... romantic partners.”

The relief that flooded through me was embarrassing in its intensity. Her eyes met mine across the room, and I quirked my lips up in acknowledgment of the strange situation we’d all found ourselves in.

For a moment, something in her expression shifted, the defensive wall lowering enough for me to glimpse the woman I’d spent countless nights talking with, laughing with, confiding in.

She turned to face us both, hands on her hips.

“It’s getting late, and there’s a big wedding at the local hotel, the Cannery, so I’m sure they’re booked. Makai’s girlfriend works there, and has been talking about it for weeks.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“Which is probably a complete coincidence, not a carefully orchestrated scheme on my grandmother’s part.”

She didn’t look like she believed what she was saying.

Kiaan stopped his exploration, looking uncertain.

“We could drive to Friday Harbor? There must be places there—”

“Not worth trekking all around. You two can crash here tonight, and we’ll figure out the next steps in the morning.”

My heart leapt at the small victory—she wasn’t kicking us out.

“Both of us?”

Kiaan glanced at the sofa, then at me, his expression a mixture of challenge and uncertainty.

“Everything in my house has dual purposes, and the sectional is designed to double as a guest bed. If you take the pillows out, each half is basically a twin bed. Unless one of you wants to sleep in the yard with the raccoons.”

Skylar’s tone left no room for argument.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to have a word with my grandmother about boundaries and respect for privacy.”

She moved past us toward the door, pausing with her hand on the knob.

“There are clean towels in the bathroom if you want to shower. I’ll be in my bedroom, making a sternly worded phone call.”

The door closed behind her with a soft click, leaving Kiaan and me alone in her space, surrounded by pieces of her life. I sat on the edge of the sofa, feeling the weight of everything unsaid between us.

“Well,”

Kiaan said, breaking the silence as he dropped onto the opposite end of the sectional.

“That could have gone worse.”

I nodded, surprised to find myself smiling.

“Could have gone better, too.”

“True.”

He leaned back, studying the ceiling.

“But she didn’t kick us out.”

“No,”

I agreed.

“She didn’t.”

“So, how often were you sexting her?”

Kiaan asked, flopping back on the couch and trying to look casual, but missing by a country mile.

“How often were you?”

I countered, not entirely sure I wanted to know the answer.