Page 38 of Found by the Pack

“Sadie,” I say, “how bad’s the headache?”

“Seven out of ten.”

“Okay. Can I give you something?”

She hesitates, then nods.

I get the ibuprofen and pass her the pills and a fresh glass of water. She takes them without protest.

A minute later, she says, “Thanks, Shepard.”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing.” She’s looking at me differently now. Less guarded. More raw.

“Gus likes you,” I say.

She smiles. “Yeah. I noticed.”

And I find myself saying, “He doesn’t like most people.”

“Me either.”

That makes me laugh. A real, small laugh that catches me off guard.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” I say, quieter now.

“I might not be if you hadn’t stopped.”

“You’d have figured it out.”

She shakes her head. “No. I don’t… I don’t always figure things out.”

I don’t know what to say to that. So I just sit with her. Quiet. Still. Letting the storm settle around us both.

And I try not to think about how good it feels—just being here. With her.

CHAPTER 8

Boone

The second I spot her truck—cracked windshield like a web of warning—I curse under my breath and grip the wheel tighter. Rain’s slicking the asphalt, painting Driftwood Cove in wet gold and bruise-gray.

Of course Shepard’s too nice to call it in. Of course I’m the one speeding across town like a damn vigilante medic.

I park half-crooked in front of the apartment building and jog past my own floor, taking the stairs two at a time up to the second.

I knock once, then let myself in.

Sadie’s on the couch, curled into a ball beneath an oversized sweatshirt, her legs tucked tight, one sock half off. She’s absently rubbing behind Gus’s ear like she’s done it a hundred times. But she’s swaying a little, eyelids heavy. Woozy. Pale.

Shepard meets me halfway across the living room.

“She hit a ditch. Squirrel jumped across the road. Her forehead caught the wheel—there’s a cut, but no gash. She’s been confused, nauseated. Didn’t want the hospital. Said if the mayor finds out about the crash, he’ll pull her contract.”

Goddammit.

“I gave her some Gatorade,” he adds. “She asked for painkillers, but I just offered her some ibuprofen since she’s still got a headache.”