Chapter 10

Valery

T he signal in the house isn’t great, so I wander outside with my phone in the air and run into Koran, who stops abruptly in his tracks with a set of wide eyes.

“Hi again.” I offer him a smile.

“Hi, uh… do you prefer V, Val, or Valery?” He stuffs his hands in his cargo pockets, his shoulders rounded as if that somehow makes him smaller.

Not even possible, buddy.

These men are huge. He’s got to be at least six-three, maybe taller, but not as tall as Karter. I’m nearly five-seven and he’s a head taller than me.

“I’ll answer to all three.” I wave my phone in the air. “Which carrier do you have? My reception sucks.”

“Give me your phone. I’ll put you on our Wi-Fi.” He takes my cell, taps a few keys, and hands it back. “You should be good now.”

“Thanks.”

“Well, I have to go.” Koran takes a few steps back from me. “But I hope to see you later. You’re hanging around, right?”

“I don’t know. Karter said he’d take me hiking tomorrow, so I guess I’m staying the night. After that…” I shrug because what else can I say?

There is something about your brother that feels like home, so I’d love to stay and marry him even though we only met this morning.

That sounds insane.

“You should stay, or if you have to go, take Karter with you. It would be good for him to get out of here for a while. You know?” He chews on the inside of his cheek, his brow furrowed.

“I don’t know.” I slowly shake my head.

“Yeah, I guess not.” He sighs and looks at his watch. “Shit, I really have to go. See you later.”

Without waiting for my response, he turns and sprints into the woods—destination unknown. I lean against Karter’s tailgate, trying to distract myself with emails and social media posts because reading into that comment might make me crazy.

Take Karter with me? Would he leave here? It seems like he is the glue holding his family together.

And why would we embark on a journey together?

For that matter, why wouldn’t we?

This really has been a weird day full of emotions I’d normally push down and file away for another time. And yet, around Karter I feel safe enough to let the feelings in. I’m not sure what and why that is. It makes absolutely no sense, and if I had time to think about it, my logical mind and sheltered heart would battle it out.

Instead, I think I’ll submit myself to mindlessly scrolling reels on TikTok.

I’m not sure if two or ten minutes pass, but I’ve shifted to YouTube and am watching the newest video uploaded by the anonymous bear videographers when the other two brothers—Kason and Kit—stroll towards me with devious grins on their faces. “Man, that’s a sweet van, V. Did you do the modifications yourself?”

“No. I bought it off someone, and considering I’ve only had it for a few weeks and it’s already broken down, I’m regretting not knowing more about the guts and how it all works.”

“If you stick around a while, we’ll do a top-to-bottom inspection and fix anything that isn’t one hundred percent.”

“I don’t want to know what that would cost me.” I snort and put my phone down near my thigh.

Kit shakes his head. “It wouldn’t cost you anything.”

“Why not?”

“Because we take care of our own.” Kason also shakes his head—a damn near carbon copy of his brother—and looks at me like I asked the stupidest question ever.

Kit’s gaze zeros in on my phone where the video is playing on a loop. “What are you watching?”

“Oh, it’s these bear videos I found a couple months ago. Supposedly they’re somewhere in this area, which is what brought me here.”

“Why would bear videos bring you here? Are you thinking about hunting them or something?”

“God no! I’m not a hunter. I don’t think I could hurt an animal if I had to. But there’s something about them. It’s like I told your brothers, they made me smile when nothing else could.”

Kason and Kit look at each other. “You showed Kade and Karter these videos?”

“Yeah, at the diner. They agreed they could have been filmed in this area.”

“Shit. He’s going to kill us,” Kit mutters.

“We might as well make it worth our deaths.” Kason turns to me and grins. “Do you want to go to a party?”

I eye both of them wearily. “I think Karter and I are going out.”

“Karter’s going too. It’s his party,” Kit interjects.

“He didn’t say anything about it.” I slip my phone into my bag.

Kason waves his hand in the air. “It’s really the town’s party. Every full moon we build a bonfire and hang out, play music, eat food, drink beer, and chill. He’s the organizer. But no worries, we’ll text and let him know we took you with us. He’s got to be there, anyway.”

I glance over my shoulder at the porch and screen door. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, we’ll tell you about the bears on the walk over. We know something about them.” Kit grins and waggles his brow.

I narrow my eyes, but play along. They’re obviously up to something, but what? Karter did say they’d flirt with me to make him jealous. Is that what this is? “What do you know about the bears?”

“Can’t tell you unless you come with us.” Kason shrugs and backs up a few steps, an equally devious smirk on his face.

“You two are trouble.”

“Yeah, but we never mean harm and we’ll protect you with our lives,” Kit says.

Kason nods enthusiastically. “That’s a guarantee. You’re as safe with us as you are with Karter.”

“Maybe safer,” Kit adds.

I cross my arms over my chest. “Text Karter right now so he knows where to meet us.”

Kit pulls his phone out, his fingers flying over the keys. “Done.”

“Maybe I should grab a sweatshirt?” I say to stall and give Karter time to read and react to the message. I trust these two, if for no other reason that they are Karter’s brothers. Probably not the smartest reason, but again, I feel safe with them.

“Got one in my bag.” Kason pats his pack. “Now come on. We don’t want to be late.”

Glancing over my shoulder, I figure if Karter doesn’t want me to go with them, he’d be stomping out the front door to stop us. After three minutes pass without his arrival, I push off his tailgate. “Lead the way.”

“Right on.” Kason and Kit high five.

“Why are you two so interested in taking me to your party?”

“The truth?” Kit asks.

“Of course.”

Kason snorts. “You’re the most exciting thing to happen to Fortune Falls in like a decade.”

“Probably a century,” Kit adds.

“I seriously doubt that.” I hang my head. “I understand you don’t get a lot of tourists, but there’s nothing special about me.”

“Karter thinks you’re special, and he’s never thought that about anyone.”

“Did he say that?” To my surprise, the words come out a bit desperate.

“He didn’t have to.” Kit grins.

We head in the direction Koran ran earlier, no discernible path through the readily thickening trees. How do they know where they are going or how to get back especially in the early twilight of evening?

“So V. Tell us everything we need to know about you in the next five minutes.”

“I thought you guys were telling me about the bears?”

“We know them,” Kason says plainly as if he’s talking about the neighbors down the street.

“Seriously? Do you think they’re still active or hibernating for the winter?”

“These bears don’t hibernate. If you stay around long enough, you’ll probably see them yourself.” Kit shrugs while sharing a knowing smile with Kason.

I sigh dreamily. “That would be amazing.”

“The videos really made you happy, huh?” Kason murmurs thoughtfully.

A wistful smile takes over my face. “They really did. I don’t know why, but there’s something so innocent about them. They’re curious and adventurous and completely unconcerned with what’s going on around them. You can tell they’re used to humans, because they don’t seem to be worried about someone chasing after them or—God forbid—hurting them.”

“Those bears are too smart to be worried.” Kit snorts.

“And too dangerous to be chased.” Kason fist bumps Kit.

“That’s a weird flex.” I eye both of them as music and elevated voices pierce the night sky.

“Stick close and we’ll introduce you to everyone,” Kason says as Kit steps ahead, pushing through the oak scrub brush.

As I step through the bushes, it’s like a needle scratches across the grooved planes of a vinyl record. The cacophony of music and verbal merriment stops as Kason and I step into a cleared pit with a raging bonfire. All eyes are on me and once again I wonder if I’m supposed to be here.

“What happened to the music?” Kit shouts.

“Who’s your friend?” A tall, lean guy with black hair and a broody presence waltzes toward us. His jade green eyes travel over my body as he licks his lips. “Aren’t you a pretty one?”

“Back off, Siren. This one’s with Karter and she’s our family friend,” Kason growls, accentuating the word family.

“Karter, huh?” Siren ignores Kason, his eyes on me as his smile widens. “Where is my least favorite Barrington?”

“He’ll be here any minute.” I narrow my eyes, annoyed by the inflection used to emphasize his slight of Karter. Least favorite —who the hell does he think he is? “And who are you?”

“I’m Siren James. A much better option, if you’re interested.” He sniffs the air and takes in a deep breath. “You’re definitely available.”

A couple of people chuckle around the bonfire.

Fake yawning, I roll my eyes. “I’m not available, but thanks for asking.”

“Ohhh, I like you, cupcake. You’ve got fire.” He grins and waves his unlabeled glass bottle in the air. “Can I get you a drink?”

I’ve known guys like this in college and in my corporate life. They feed off the intimidation of others and think they are God’s gift to all women. Yuck. The best thing to do is meet them in the eye without blinking or backing down.

“Sure.” I snatch his bottle out of his hand and take a deep drink, the liquid fruity and carbonated like an energy shot.

He chuckles, his eyes shifting to two women with long, fawn colored hair walking over from our side.

“You talk too much, Siren,” one says while the other pushes him aside. “Hi, I’m Alyssa and this is Lana.”

“Hi,” I say as a rush of adrenaline floods my veins. Wow, what was in that drink? It didn’t taste like liquor, but suddenly I feel like I could run a marathon.

Turning my gaze to Kason, I smile when Koran walks up, his jaw tight and eyes narrowed on his brothers. “You two are in big trouble.”