Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 138588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
The sheriff winced. “Well, I am friendly with him. I like the kid, but I get your point. If it gets back to the Horde he’s hanging with law enforcement, they might get the idea he’s talking. I didn’t even think about it. I took one look at Wyatt and wanted to make him comfortable because he’d obviously had a break, and it was easy to see why. I know the feeling.”
“I think this was about more than accounts,” Sawyer admitted. “I think this was always going to happen. Look, Wyatt’s been cagey with me and I understand why. He thinks if he talks, he opens anyone who knows to his brother’s wrath. I think if it was only me, he might, but not Sabrina. It doesn’t matter how cool she was last night, how competent. He won’t ever expose her. It’s why we told his brother last night we’re lovers.”
Max burst into laughter and then noticed no one else was joining him.
Poppy frowned his way. “Uncle Max is rude.”
“Hey, I wasn’t being homophobic. It’s cool if dudes want to do other dudes,” Max said quickly. “But you have to admit they would look weird together.”
“So body shaming,” Henry added.
He did not need this shit. Any minute Nell would show up with a bullhorn. “I don’t care. I don’t think it’s going to work. Wayne is going to talk to those guys and he’ll start to think about it, and in the end even if Sabrina is nothing more than a friend, she’s an easier target than me. And he knows Wyatt wouldn’t be able to sacrifice her to save himself,” Sawyer explained.
“So we make her a harder target,” the mayor said, sitting up.
“We’re going to take care of Sabrina,” Mel promised. “And you and Wyatt.”
Yep, his chest hurt. He was having a heart attack.
Or feelings, as in more than one. It was weird to have more than one. He wasn’t sure he liked it.
But damn he liked not being alone. It was something he could get used to.
Chapter Fifteen
It had been a weird day. Sabrina hadn’t known how much weirder it could get. “This is a bounty of feminine products, Sawyer.”
He shrugged a big shoulder as Bella sat down beside him. She’d spent most of the day at the bar with Lark watching over her. When they’d picked her up, she’d acted like they’d been apart for five hundred years. “Wasn’t sure what you would want. It would have been easier if there were way less choices.”
He was oddly sweet, even with a grumpy expression on his face. He couldn’t help it. He had resting grump face. “Well, thank you, but you know I could have picked some up when we stopped by my cabin to get fresh clothes.”
Sawyer and Wyatt had been waiting for her the minute class was dismissed for the day. Sabrina had walked out to the front drive where pickups occurred, and in addition to the usual moms and dads, Sawyer and Wyatt had been waiting. Wyatt had brought her lunch but he hadn’t stuck around to eat with her.
She was kind of surprised he’d been standing there with Sawyer. She’d half expected him to find a ride out of town and not even leave her a note.
“It was his quest today,” Wyatt replied, holding himself back a little.
“And what was yours?” Sawyer asked, a hint of challenge in his tone.
Wyatt huffed and started to pace beside the sink. “Beyond trying to figure out why two kids kicked me today and then Sabrina’s new dad forced me to eat a beet? I drank the juice. I shouldn’t have to do it again. A raw beet, Sabrina. It was disgusting, and I think my teeth are purple.”
“He did what?” No wonder he’d been quiet. And she was going to have such a word with Paige Harper. She was sure Paige hadn’t lied when she said she wouldn’t do it. It appeared she was simply ordering other kids to do it. A menace.
“I was at the Trading Post helping Teeny with their point-of-sale system and Mel walked in. He walked right up to the produce section, picked out a beet, talked to it for a weirdly long time, then held it up for a minute. Teeny sighed and said she’d get me some water to wash it down, and before I could ask her what I was washing down, he was on me.”
“Mel jumped you?” Sawyer asked but he sounded kind of impressed.
“Not exactly,” Wyatt admitted. “But he did put that thing up to my mouth and told me he would never allow an alien in his family, and then he listed all the exceptions because apparently there are good aliens out there, but that’s not as dramatic a way to force a beet on a man.”
“So you took the physical beet?” She should have known. “Apparently there’s a ritual and it requires eating a raw beet. It means he thinks you’re serious about me. When you think about it, it’s kind of sweet.”