Rich Prick – Tijan Page 0,26

I went, who I was with—all that shit, just to warn you.”

“And you have to tell him?”

I thought a moment. “Zeke can be a douchebag, but he’s been a good friend to me. Doesn’t feel right to totally lie to him.” Alarm moved across her face. “But I won’t say shit about your family. And I could give two shits who your brother is or who he’s friends with.”

“Oh.” Her shoulders sagged. “Thank you.”

I nodded, watching her lips as she took a sip of her drink.

My dick twitched, and I tried to ignore that.

“Good?” I asked.

She smiled and nodded. “Yeah.” She went back to watching the fire. “Nate’s not the brother I used to go camping with.”

I watched her and sipped my drink. I could do this all night long, and it would be a great fucking night. This level of contentment was alien to me, but I wasn’t thinking about that crap. I just listened.

“We had another brother—Owen…” She stopped, looking down.

A moment.

Her voice grew hoarse. “Owen and I camped together.”

That was it. That was all.

Didn’t need to read between the lines to figure out something had happened to Owen.

“That’s why you go camping?”

She nodded, her tone tight. “I usually ‘feel’ him, if that makes sense.”

I raised my eyebrows. “That frustrates you?”

“Well, this time I’ve not been feeling him. Does it make me crazy that I’m pissed about that?” Her voice took on a distant tone. “Camping’s like air to me. I need it to... I just need it.” Her eyes found mine, hardening. “You can’t take that away from me. I won’t let you.”

I held her gaze, reading a promise there. It hit me that she could disappear. She could easily pack up and take off, and I’d not know where she was until she decided to show up.

Well, fuck.

That just meant I had to sneak another app on her phone, ’cause if it came to that, she’d delete the other one.

I nodded. “Got it.” Yeah, right. She wasn’t going camping alone, not ever again. Was I an extra asshole for worrying about her? Who were the assholes that knew she did this and let her go? ’Cause they were the real assholes.

But she seemed appeased and nodded, lifting her drink again. “Thank you.” Then she frowned. “What are you doing out here anyway?”

I gave her a crooked grin. “Hiding. Same shit as you.”

ASPEN

I jolted when he said that.

Hiding.

Yeah, I was hiding, I guess. I was hiding from school, from my parents. I was hiding from being alone at the house. But I wasn’t only hiding. Who was this guy to come in and declare that I couldn’t do it anymore? He was the dick I’d heard stories about, that’s who. He wasn’t God. He didn’t get to decide these things about my life. He wasn’t my dad or my brother.

I mean, yeah, we’d kissed, and those were some amazing kisses, but that was it.

Were we even friends?

I had no clue.

All I knew was I was confused.

I’d been doing my own thing and then bam, Blaise DeVroe was in my life in a big way. He was at my campsite. That was about as big as it got for me, and he was here, shoving his weight around.

I sighed.

I missed Owen.

Why wasn’t I feeling my brother? It always happened when I went camping.

He’d abandoned me, and Owen was the one that never abandoned me.

I was nuts. That was the only answer for this. But I wasn’t. I was fine. It was normal to do something you’d enjoyed with a loved one to carry on the tradition, and with the idea that they were still with you, just on the other side. I wasn’t crazy for believing in that stuff. There were enough signs when Owen was around—like his favorite song coming on the radio or hearing his voice say my name.

“What are you thinking about over there, weird girl?” Blaise tossed a piece of bark at me.

I frowned, tossing it on the fire. “Don’t call me that.”

“Weird girl?”

“It’s insulting.”

“Okay.” He smirked. “How about Hottie? Hottie with the legs? Legs?”

I tried to glare at him, but I kinda liked the names.

“What?” he mocked, grinning. “Want me to go with Colorado? Colo? Asp? That sounds weird.”

“How about just Aspen?”

“Nah. I’ll go with Colorado. Or I can go with Tree? Birch?” His grin turned wicked, and I could almost imagine the next word to come out of him.

I held up a finger. “If you dare call me a female dog, I