Page 89 of Secrets in the Deep
Thank God. He’d been worried she’d go back to the inn. Knowing one of the guys was in the same house made him feel so much fucking better.
Ryan: Thanks.
Zac: Where are you? Need company?
Ryan: I’m at Trap. And no, I don’t want company. But thanks.
For the next twenty minutes he just sat there, letting every word that had been said between him and Emily run through his head. Basically, rewatching a trainwreck he couldn’t look away from. Then the text from her…
I need you to feel it as an absolute certainty—that every version of tomorrow is unthinkable without me in it. Because that’s how I feel about you.
“Are you okay?”
Ryan glanced up at Dusty behind the bar. “No.”
The older bar owner frowned as he shined a glass. “This about a woman?”
“This is about me making bad fucking decisions and having zero capacity to stop.”
“Being a bit hard on yourself, aren’t you?”
“Or not hard enough.”
Dusty glanced over Ryan’s shoulder. “Maybe some company will help.”
The chair beside him pushed back. “Ah. So this is where you go in this small town to drown your sorrows.”
Ryan looked at his sister. “What are you doing here, Nora?”
“Well, it’s good to see you too, big brother.” She smiled at Dusty. “Hi. I’m Nora, the better half of this sibling combination.”
“You gonna pull him out of this funk?” Dusty grumbled.
“I do consider myself a magic worker. But we’ll need two shots of whiskey first.”
“Nora—”
She held up a hand to stop Ryan’s next words. “Nope. You’ve had your turn. Pretty sure your bottle didn’t offer any answers. Now it’s my turn.”
“We’re gonna find answers at the bottom of a shot glass?”
“Here.” Dusty set the glasses in front of her. “Work your magic.”
As Dusty walked away, Ryan sipped his beer again. “How’d you know I was here?”
“I told Zac to text and ask. I knew you’d tell him and not me.”
“Because I knew you’d come.”
“Ouch.” She lifted both glasses and turned to face him. “Take this.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Nora—”
“You try to fight me right now and I will take you to the floor in a headlock.”
