Page 3 of The Triple Play

“Damn, too bad. Hey, you remember Oli, right?” Kyle reaches for me, dragging me forward. Of course, I’m caught off guard and stumble, my hands flailing about for a split second until I grab onto a pair of muscular arms, stopping my fall.

It’s not often I have to look up at anyone, but Denver is tall enough that I have to tilt my head back to meet his gaze.

Big mistake. His dark eyes are warm and full of life. A light scruff covers his jaw, and good lord, I never thought I’d find a moustache so sexy. But of course, if anyone is going to pull it off, it’s this man.

“Of course, I do. Hey, Pixie.”

The nickname instantly takes me back in time. It was Halloween, and my brother convinced me to dress up and go to a party with him and his friends. Of course, I went as a woodland creature, more Baba Yaga than sexy fairy. But I loved my costume, especially the cup I fashioned out of a plastic funnel to mimic the pixie cup lichen I was obsessed with at the time.

When Denver first called me Pixie a couple of days later, I thought he was mocking me. After all, at five feet, ten inches tall, I’m far from tiny. Not pixie-like at all. Then he said something about the cup I had made, and I realized he hadn’t been making fun of me. No, instead, he’d paid attention when I had described my costume.

Not only that, but he still remembered, even after all these years. It makes me feel all gooey inside, which is so unlike me, it takes me by surprise.

I belatedly realize I’m still clutching his biceps and take a step back, dropping my hands to my sides.

Oblivious to the fact that I almost crashed into his friend, Kyle drapes his arms over both our shoulders, squeezing us in some sort of weird sideways hug. “This is great, right? Together again. You’re gonna watch out for my big sister, eh, Foxxy? Make sure she gets out and has a life outside of the trees and her lab?”

“Kyle,” I hiss, mortified. The last thing I need is Kyle’s friends feeling like they have to babysit me.

Denver just grins, drawing my attention back to that darn moustache. “You’re gonna love it here, Olivia. Cedar Creek is great. Plenty of trees for you to get lost in.” He winks.

“Don’t tell her that. Getting lost in the forest is her fantasy.”

Oh lord. Do brothers ever stop harassing their sisters? Apparently not.

2

GRIFF

Drawing in a deep, cleansing breath of cold air, I continue my hike along Cedar Creek toward the waterfall that feeds it. It’s not a busy trail, given the steeper sections, and at this time of year, when it’s a muddy, wet, sometimes snowy mess, it’s rare to come across someone else when I’m out here. Still, the sound of a dog barking doesn’t come as a complete surprise.

What is surprising is the dog itself when it comes bounding around the corner on only three legs, a bright turquoise jacket-looking thing covering the grey fur of its back, tongue lolling out of a wide smiling mouth. The familiar block-shaped head of a pit bull never fails to make me smile. They’ve been my favourite breed for as long as I can remember, despite never having a pet of any kind growing up.

“Hey buddy, where’s your human?” I let my hand relax as the dog comes right up to me. I’m assuming it’s friendly, based on the body language, but better to be safe than sorry. I clearly have nothing to worry about when it lifts its one front leg up to place it on my leg and licks my outstretched hand.

I chuckle. “Well, okay then, guess you’re friendly.”

“Trip!” A frantic female voice sounds from the direction the dog came from. “Trip? I swear to god, you’re gonna be fired as my assistant if you don’t come back right now!”

I look down at the still-smiling dog leaning against my leg. “Are you Trip? Sounds like you’re in trouble, bud.”

Bending down slowly, I place my hand on his collar so Trip doesn’t decide to get away. “I’ve got him.” I raise my voice to call out to whoever it is. “He’s fine.”

Seconds later, a tall woman with blonde hair sticking out from under a knit toque comes jogging around the corner. “Oh, thank god.”

Trip barks, and I release him. He runs over to the woman and jumps up to place his muddy paw on her leg, making her laugh in relief and frustration, I’m guessing.

“You are such a bad dog.” She bends down and kisses his nose. “Good thing you’re cute.”

I clear my throat, stuffing my hands in my pockets. The woman looks up and recognition hits me in the gut. “Liv?”

Her mouth falls open, her already pink cheeks darkening. “Griffin. Hi.”

My lips curve up. “Hey. I heard you’d moved to town. Welcome.”

Fuck, she’s beautiful. I thought maybe I’d romanticized the memory of her from university, when she was my buddy’s off-limits older sister. But no, she’s just as stunning now as she was then. I was disappointed I didn’t get to see Kyle when he was here helping Olivia move in, and now, seeing her in person for the first time in ten years, I really wish I had been at that dinner.

Our eyes are almost level, which was always a huge turn-on for me. Her hair is longer, but still the same pale blonde. Icy blue eyes are framed by long lashes, and full lips with just one dimple on her left side, only visible when she truly lets herself relax and have fun.