Page 73 of Never the Same

I went over to a pair of boots she had in front of the closet, forcing myself to transition back to operator mode. I picked them up and checked the size. “They’re a match. European 39.” I set them back down. “As soon as we hear from Constantine, I’ll let you know.”

I forgot about my own shoes and went to the door, hoping to exfil before she’d try to stop me. Because if she asked me to stay? I didn’t trust myself that I wouldn’t. One of us had to remain strong, and it had to be me, the one who remembered our past.

I unlocked and opened the door, my heart thudding up into my ears as I went into the hallway, grateful she hadn’t called out for me. No pillows thrown, either. I left Ranger with her and shut the door.

My chest burned as I walked away from her, and the house hummed with too many voices. I needed everyone gone, which was what I announced the second I made it back to the kitchen.

“She okay?” Audrey asked after I’d given my order to leave.

I held up my hand, a request not to ask anything. “Please, just . . . go.”

Alex closed his laptop, shooting me a worried look, and I prayed with everything I had in me that he wouldn’t poke or press.

“Let me know if Constantine learns anything,” I managed.

Ryder scrutinized me before relenting. “We do need to talk to her family. At this point, we don’t have a choice.”

I folded my arms, glancing at my watch. “First thing tomorrow, we’ll make the call.”

“Or just send them a text about Tristan?” Seraphina suggested. “And then don’t answer when Gideon calls fuming. We won’t have to talk to them. They’ll even come to us.”

Ryder peered at his wife, a quick smirk cutting across his lips at her smart idea.

“Destroy the phone after the text, of course, to protect this mystery brother of theirs,” Seraphina added as Ryder laced his fingers with hers.

He had Seraphina.

Alex had Audrey.

And what’d I have?

Right . . . Hollis’s dream that will never come true.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Reed

The quiet had been my idea, but after two hours of Hollis being alone in the bedroom and no updates from the team, the silence was officially deafening.

I poured two fingers of Buffalo Trace. It’d be enough to take the edge off, not enough to dull my guard. The bite scorched my throat, but it didn’t touch the storm in my head.

Footsteps padded across the hardwood, and I didn’t look up until Hollis was in front of me, plucking the glass from my hand. “The three-foot rule is on hold again.”

Here we go.

Ranger came in behind her and curled up in his doggy bed in the living room as Hollis raised the glass to her lips.

Her eyes held mine the whole time as she drank. When she lowered the bourbon, her voice was steady despite the slight tremble in her hand. “We have to talk to my family, don’t we? Tomorrow?”

She indulged in one more sip, and I tipped my head yes for an answer. I took the glass from her and finished it off, and turned around to add more.

Her short nails skimmed over my shirt and up my spine, and I slowly set down the glass and bottle. “Why are you touching me?” I squeezed my eyes shut, hating how a single scratch could light me up.

“I feel bad about earlier. I pushed you. It’s just . . .”

That didn’t explain why she was still touching me, causing my entire body to break out in chills. If all our arguments ended in back scratches, then I might have to . . . Nope, don’t go there.

“You’re probably right.” Those words would’ve had to be pried from her mouth in the past. “I’m focusing on us because that dream is all I have. Well, aside from movie trivia, I suppose. But I don’t have my memories, so I’m clinging to the one thing I do have.”