“You’re a big brother to her.”

“Thanks for being her big brother.”

For years that’s what I heard from her dad.

It’d be so screwed up if we did something…

I run a hand through my hair, kick away those thoughts, and survey the area. For a random motel stop, a surprising number of cars are parked here.

I just hope the vacancy sign isn’t wrong.

When I enter the office services, I’m hit with an overpowering smell of lavender. Like someone lit the flower on fire and perfume-bombed the room. The scent burns my eyes as I approach the empty desk.

I tap a bell, and while I wait, my phone buzzes. Pulling out my cell, I check the text.

Let me know dates & times when she starts climbing. I’ll pack my equipment & bring Jesse out with me. – Jack

Sulli’s cousins might not be here, but Jack Highland-Oliveira is scheduled to arrive at some point—looks like his teenage brother Jesse Highland will be joining.

Jack—I didn’t really trust at first. He’s just too likable. And he has so many secrets about the families that he could spill. It always put me on edge. Being cautious is a bodyguard’s job.

But somehow, some way, we became friends. Shit, we’ve even gone on double-dates with girls he’s introduced me to. He has an endless supply of acquaintances, contacts, whoever that always show up when we’re out together, even if it’s to grab coffee on a quick pass to say hello.

I’m not even the one who invited Jack here. Sulli agreed for her free-solo climbs to be filmed for We Are Calloway, and he’s in charge of her segments for the docuseries.

A camera is going to be on Sulli while she free-solos. All I can think is that her death might be filmed for the whole world to see.

She’s won’t die.

I believed that.

When she announced her free-solo plan on her dad’s birthday, the reaction was heavily mixed. For the parents, she might as well have announced she was pregnant with the devil’s spawn.

They were horrified.

But I was in the “let her do it” camp. I’m still there. I have to be. Sulli is too determined to drag her to a halt, and I’ve always known her as the girl who goes for gold.

I send a quick text back: For sure, I’ll keep you in the loop. We’re on our way to Yellowstone Country. You won’t need to come out for a few days at least. She still has to practice the climbs with a harness & rope before free-soloing.

As soon as I look up, an older white man shuffles out from the back of the office. Wrinkles sagging his neck, he adjusts a pair of reading glasses on his slender nose. “You need a room?” he croaks.

“Two. Adjoining if you have them.”

“Only have the one,” he says. “Would you like by the night or by the hour?”

By the hour…

That reminds me of Banks.

He told me in high school, he’d fuck in motels if he had the cash to “go all-out” for his date. Pay by the hour, buy her flowers, light some Dollar Store candles.

I never had an issue finding places to have sex.

Perks of growing up wealthy, thanks to my dad’s lucrative job. I was an only child in a humongous mansion-sized home with a nice pool house. Perfect for those nights alone with my high school girlfriend.

Banks slept on a pullout couch most of his childhood. I realize we’re different in a lot of ways, but similar in ones that are needed to protect Sulli.

To the old man, I say, “For the night, not by the hour.”

“Forty. Cash only.”

I slide a few bills out of my wallet and pass them over. Before I can ask how many beds there are, he’s handing me a key. Guess it doesn’t matter anyway. It’s the only room.

But shit, what if there’s only one bed?

That scenario plays on loop with every footfall back to the Jeep. Banks and Sulli are out of view behind Booger, but the closer I approach, the more I hear.

“I bet you I can do twenty,” Sulli says competitively.

“You know what I weigh, mermaid? If I sit on you while you do push-ups, I’d break your back before you hit five. And then Akara will shred me to pieces.”

“He’s not here, Banks.”

I’m right here.

Really, I’m actually still thirty-some feet away. Sulli is just loud. It doesn’t take a lot of strain to overhear her.

With a kicked-up pulse, I vacillate between walking faster. To interrupt them. And slowing down…just to see what happens.

“Tell you what, get on my back,” Banks replies to Sulli. “If I can’t do forty push-ups with you on me, then I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Deal.”

I move faster.

Reaching the Jeep, I round the bumper and see Sulli straddling Banks’ back, his palms digging into gravel as he does perfect military push-ups.

Tags: Krista Ritchie Like Us Romance
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