4. Grayson

CHAPTER 4

Grayson

I grab an extra lock out of my bag and remove the old lock and plate on the back door. I drill into it and grind my teeth, pissed as hell. Raine called Colt and he's standing with me.

"How the hell did this happen, Colt?" I growl at him, furious beyond anything I've ever felt before.

"I don't fucking know. She just told me about all this shit. I didn't even know that that's why she moved." His cold eyes narrow. "I should have know that there was something up though. She just called me out of the blue and said that she decided to move on out here to be closer to me."

I glance at him as I screw the new plate on and start putting in the new lock. "And you didn't find that weird at all? Since when has Raine ever wanted to be near you?"

He grunts and glowers at me. "Dude, you're being rude here."

"It's not rude when it's true."

"Fine. Yes, I know that I should have been more suspicious than I was."

"Yeah, that's pretty obvious."

"Okay. Well, now we just have to get this figured out so that Raine is safe again."

"Right."

I glance up at him and I'm surprised to see him staring off into space. "What's going on with you?"

He avoids my eyes. "I just can't stand that I didn't realize what was going on right under my nose and how scared Raine must have been. She's my baby sister and I didn't realize what was going on." He closes his eyes and I stand up, hitting him on the shoulder…hard.

"Steady on, man. She's here and there's no way in hell we'll let anything happen to her. Hell, I'm right next door. I promise you that I will move heaven and earth to make sure that Raine stays safe."

He hugs me and then swiftly backs away. "Hey! I guess that means you're staying. You didn't tell me that part."

I grin and squat back down on the floor, my hands tackling the familiar task easily while I nod at him. "I don't tell you everything, asshole. You're a bigger gossip than a teenage girl."

"Humph!" He snorts at me. "Pot calling the kettle black." A frown creases his brow again. "I hope I did the right thing asking you to come here."

My heart trips against my ribs. I've got a lot going on here right now and poor Colt doesn't know the half of it. I've been waiting for a long time and this may be the only shot I ever get at getting closer to the girl I've wanted for so long. But if I screw this up, I could lose my best friend in the whole wide world and the new home that I'm looking forward to building here in this little town that Colt seems to love.

And I will not do anything that will piss him off or mess up this chance. He's all the family I have left except for my little brother that moved away with my mom when my dad and her split up. So Colt has always been like a brother to me.

Those aren't the feelings that I have for Raine though. Hell, that I will always have for Raine. I felt the first sight of her like a shot straight to my body, a gut punch that stole my breath and had my heart jackhammering around in my chest until I was breathless, my dick punching at my zipper, desperate to get to her.

But that can't happen if it will fuck things up for me. And then there's the tiny little problem of a stalker. One that seems to have been around for awhile now and that's extremely disconcerting. Because I usually think of stalkers as opportunists. They see something they like and if it's not too much of a hassle and it's readily available, they will do everything they can to keep an eye on their property. It's also a bit of a territorial thing. Like a dog pissing on a piece of furniture in its home.

But she left and went across the country and he followed her. That's more than opportunity. That's obsessed. And obsessed people are more dangerous than any other kind in my book. They know what they want and they're willing to break every rule, throw out every lesson they ever learned and cross every line that society tells them is the norm to get to what they want.

It's destructive and psychotic and unpredictable as hell. And if there's one thing on this planet that I hate it's a psychotic person. Had enough of that growing up. Got the scars to prove it.

"Hey! Where's your mind at?" Colt's voice tugs me out of old, painful memories. It's a place that I hate going so I shake my head and a smirk tugs at my lips.

"You miss me? You sound like a jealous girlfriend."

That does the job. "Humph!" He snorts and glowers at me. "You are a sick son of a bitch sometimes! But I'm super-glad that you're here and you're gonna help me with this. I wouldn't trust anybody but you with my baby sister's safety. You know that."

And just like that all the dirty feelings that filled my mind from the second I saw Raine again tumble to my feet and float away like dust in the wind off the mountain.

What kind of a sick bastard am I thinking about my best buddy's little sister like this while he's standing right there and she's facing danger with her little chin pointed straight at it. Like the fighter she is.

I stand up and fiddle with the lock for a second to gather my thoughts. I close the door and flick the lock, watching to make sure it works right. I glare at the door like it's my mortal enemy. I really don't like how flimsy this stupid-ass door is.

But this is what I have to work with so I'll make the best of it. The best of all of it. I can't mess this up.

This is my best buddy and his little sister. Hell, she might as well be my little sister.

My gut tightens and I smile sickly up at Colt, my head bent to my task.

"I promise you, Colt. You will never regret calling for me to help you. I got this and I got you. Your sister is going to be more guarded than a pop singer with an entourage going into a gig."

He grimaces and flicks his eyes towards the doorway. "I just wish she was happier about it. I don't understand why the two of you fight like cats and dogs. You're the two people that mean the most to me and I've never been able to get you two in the same room together without World War 3."

You've heard of fight or flight. This is our version of fight or fuck. It's a defense mechanism and it's worked thus far.

I just have to try and keep my damn head straight until we get this mess straightened out and then I'll decide what to do about how I feel about Raine Showers.

Because I will not let anything happen to Raine on my watch. Never again.