Page 161 of After the Burn

I smiled.

Wait until he found out the plan I’d come up with.

CHAPTER THIRTY

ADRIAN

We left Finley and Rory behind at the silo and headed east.

I hated that it had to happen that way.

Not because I doubted Finley could protect Rory. He could definitely do it. And not because the little concrete office was indefensible. It wasn’t ideal, but with both doors barricaded, Max inside, and Finley armed, it was safer than anything we were about to walk into.

I hated it because our group had gotten smaller again, and that never seemed to end well.

Wren walked ahead with Colson, occasionally pointing toward landmarks only she seemed capable of recognizing. “That used to be a Dairy Queen.”

I looked at the collapsed building she indicated. There was no sign or roof, and half the front wall was gone. “Are you positive of that fact?”

Wren nodded her head. “Yep, I got banned from it once.”

Beck glanced over. “Why?”

“I threw a Blizzard at a guy.” She stooped, picked up a rock, examined the colors, then put it in her pocket.

“What did he do?” Taryn asked with concern in her voice.

I knew my girl had given up the battle to keep Wren at a distance, and I was glad. Wren had obviously been through something traumatic enough to lose most of her sanity, but she was loyal to a fault.

Wren tilted her head and was quiet for a few minutes, then she shrugged. “I can’t remember, but I’m sure he deserved it.”

Colson nodded once, accepting her words as fact.

Beck watched him out of the corner of his eye. “I like that guy.”

“I do too.” I looked at Wren. “He’s good for her.”

I heard Lucas laugh quietly and looked ahead. He and Taryn were walking side by side, his hand resting loosely at the small of her back whenever the terrain narrowed.

Beck glanced to see what had drawn my attention, then chuckled at Lucas. "Are you going to let her walk on her own at some point today?”

I studied him carefully, but this time there was no tension behind his expression. Just a look of amusement.

Lucas didn’t bother moving his hand but glanced back over his shoulder with a smirk. “Eventually.”

The three of us had spent so much time circling one another that the sudden ease still felt strange.

Good.

But strange.

It might be that facing near death multiple times while keeping the woman we loved alive eventually clarified everything.

At the end of the day, it was Taryn… always Taryn.

None of us were going anywhere without her. And apparently, we’d all stopped pretending otherwise.

Taryn stopped to examine a plant, and Lucas stepped aside to talk to Beck.