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“To lie to you.”
A slash of pain drifted across her eyes, and he wanted to take it back.
“Gunner was here—” A wave of pain took his head and he winced. Fuckin’ gorilla was a pain in the ass sometimes. He forced his eyes open and looked her in the face while he told her, “He left a note on your counter that said ‘don’t hurt her.’ I smelled him. It’s his writing. He’s been in ten-ten, too. I mean…the replica of ten-ten.”
“You can just call it ten-ten,” she told him softly. “It has been rebuilt with pieces of the original.”
That took him back. “What? How? I thought pieces of ten-ten were spread to the Crews for luck.”
“They each donated pieces back.”
“But…why? Why would they part with them? Those are sacred.”
“Because this Crew needs some luck. It was a decision the Crews of Damon’s Mountains, and Kane’s Mountains, and Harper’s Mountains all made together. They did it for us. For you, too.”
Chills rippled up his spine. Next to him, the coffee maker began dripping coffee into the carafe. The scent was strong and eliminated any last remaining molecule of Gunner’s smell. It cleared his head and the gorilla grew quiet again.
“Does everyone know I’m here?” he asked low.
“Yes.”
“Why is it so important for me to be here?”
She shrugged up her petite shoulders and shook her head. “That is the question. It’s the question that got me to say yes to this place. Cadence led with, ‘we need to bring Lucas back to the mountains.’ And I took a couple days to think about it, and I remembered the boy in the woods who was falling apart, and I wanted to know you now, as you are.” Her cheeks were positively red, and she couldn’t hold his gaze, but she muscled through. “And that’s why I am here. And that is why I put that article in the newspaper, and that is why I helped bring you back to Damon’s Mountains.”
“I don’t like being maneuvered,” he said gruffly.
“Nor do I, and I can imagine this entire time here has been a roller coaster, but since you went against your animal’s confusing wishes and were honest with me, I will be honest with you. I don’t regret it. I like you being here.”
Lucas sighed and leaned back on the counter, crossed his arms. He truly didn’t like being maneuvered, but he was having a hard time holding his irritation when she was so pretty, so earnest, so open about her part in this and the reasons why. It was hard to be mad at her after everything he’d found out—her staying with him in the woods when he was falling apart, her changing her life around to move here just to be a part of whatever storm these mountains were creating, because she wanted to be near him.
The more he learned about shy Jenna, the more important she felt. And if he was honest with himself in this moment…he liked being here too.
“You don’t seem disturbed that Gunner was in your home uninvited.”
Jenna shrugged. “I told you. We are friends. He’s come into my home uninvited a hundred times. Not this one. My other trailer on the outskirts of Ashe Crew territory.”
“Did you…” How could he ask this without sounding like a dominant prick.
“You have history with Gunner and have been hurt by the war over a female before,” she said smoothly, as if she could read his mind. “That is not something you will repeat now. I have never been intimate with Gunner, have never kissed him or held hands or even had a romantic conversation. He calls me ‘sis’, and to me he is like a brother. If he is telling you not to hurt me, it’s the same thing he has told every other male who has pursued me.”
Wait. “What males?” he asked.
She scoffed and reached behind him for a travel coffee tumbler on the counter. “Perhaps I was highly sought after in the years you were gone,” she said cheekily. “I’m very seductive and not awkward.”
“Mmm. That wouldn’t surprise me.” He brushed a strand of her brown waves out of her face and she faced him, cupping the steaming mug of coffee in her hands. “Maybe don’t tell me. Don’t give my silverback names to hunt.”
Her eyes went round. “Is he possessive?”
“Apparently.” He took the travel mug from her and poured the creamer she’d grabbed from the fridge in there for her. “Tell me when.” Sure, she could easily do this for herself, but selfishly he wanted to know exactly how she liked her coffee, and he also wanted to be a part of taking care of a need for her.
Her smile was so damn pretty as she said, “When.”
“Good Lord, woman, you don’t like coffee with creamer, you like creamer with a drop of coffee.”
She laughed and shrugged, screwing on the cap. “I have a big sweet tooth.”
“I could tell from the disgusting beers you drink.”
