“Fuck,” he repeated in a softer voice.
He folded it back, careful to keep the creases just the same as she had made, and set it on the kitchen counter right next to a glass jar of trail mix. He popped open the lid, but he already knew what he would find. Inside, there were individual sandwich baggies of snacks, and the M&Ms had all been removed, leaving only the parts he liked. It meant more than she would ever know that she’d taken care of this small thing. In the fridge, there was a Tupperware container with a sandwich stacked high with meat, spinach, and tomatoes and a nectarine on the side. Beside that was a baggie of green olives and a bottled water.
Kamp huffed a breath and gripped the handle to the fridge door tighter. No one had made him a lunch since…well…he didn’t even know when someone had cared that much.
His mind on her like a satellite circling, he showered and got ready for work. Grim wouldn’t care if he was late. He didn’t even care if he showed up or not, and Rhett was probably sleeping in, too. They were all going to get fired, but today was going to be different. Why? Because she’d told him to make it different by finishing the shift. And he owed her. For one entire night, he’d felt normal. He’d felt okay. He’d felt accepted and unbroken. And that was a gift. Remi hadn’t even realized the present she’d given him. For one entire night, he’d had a break from his own head.
Sack lunch and snacks in hand, Kamp made his way outside and up the hill. He didn’t make it a hundred yards before Rhett sauntered out of the woods like a creepy stalker and started walking beside him.
Kamp narrowed his eyes at Rhett. The trail was too small for them to both walk side-by-side like this, and they were both hitting trees. “Piss off.”
“I slashed her tires.” Rhett said it so calmly Kamp didn’t know how to react. “I slashed them and she still left, and everything is horrible. We can’t keep anything nice. I hate this Crew.” And then the psychopath walked off into the woods toward his log cutter, pulling his yellow hard hat on as he went.
Well, Rhett was right for the first time ever—everything was horrible.
Now he got to miss his kid and the girl who got away, because that’s what Remi was. She was special. He felt it down to his bones, but he was here, and he couldn’t make her stay for more than one night. Fuck everything.
He climbed into his machine and turned the engine. It caught. Hallelujah, it was a miracle.
Finish your shift.
Okay, he would. He didn’t even care what Grim and Rhett accomplished today. He wanted to make Remi proud, even if she never knew.
Chapter Nine
Kamp’s ex-girlfriend was good at hiding.
All Remi had to go on was a first name, and she’d just spent three hours online searching for anything on her. The woman didn’t even have social media unless she went by a different name now.
Blowing out an explosive breath of frustration, she connected the call she’d been putting off.
“Hey, String Bean,” her brother, Weston, answered.
Remi grinned, “Hey, Gym Rat.”
Weston snorted. “You wouldn’t call me that anymore if you saw me right now. I’ve been working myself to the damn bone.”
“So you look emaciated now? I call bullshit.”
“Atta girl, call bullshit on everything. When are you coming up to visit? You know the whole Crew would love to see you.”
“Ha, I’m nowhere close. I’m actually staying at a little one-star hotel outside of Tillamook, Oregon right now, and I’m about to beg a favor, so prepare yourself.”
“What do I get in exchange.”
“Extreme gratitude from your baby sister?”
“Boring. I want those yams you make at holidays. The buttery cinnamon ones? Ship that shit, I have a craving.”
“Typical Weston, thinking with your stomach.”
“Who do you want me to track?”
“Ha. You already know why I called.”
“Yup.”
“I’ve got a first name only. Sophia. She’s human and paired up with a hyena shifter. Has a little lion cub about four years old named Raider.”
“Hmm,” he grunted thoughtfully. “What’s this to you?”
Remi shrugged like he could see her through the phone. “Peace, I guess. A way to do something good for someone with no strings attached.”
“You okay, sis?” he asked in a somber tone.
“No, but I will be.”
“Kagan was a piece of shit who didn’t deserve you. You know that, right? You protected him and hid all the bad parts, but all those changes in you? The changes you made for him? Find a man who likes you just how you are.”
“And what if I don’t even know who I am anymore?”
“Then figure out a way to get back to that girl, Remi. And then let someone love you who actually deserves your time.”
“Easier said than done. I don’t even know how to find my old self.”
“Step one…do something good for someone with no strings attached.”
There was a smile in his voice as he repeated her words, and she swallowed hard before she responded so he wouldn’t hear how choked up she was. “Tell Avery hi for me.”
“Okay, I will. Tell Kamp hi for me.”
A shocked sound bubbled up from her throat, but Weston only laughed and hung up the phone. Mother trucker. What did it mean that Weston knew his name? Her brother had the sight like her dad, but how did he know about Kamp? Had it been gossip in Damon’s Mountains that gave him knowledge on the lion Crew? Or was it one of his visions? The answer to that mattered, but when she texted him to ask, he didn’t respond. Nor did he pick up his phone when she tried to call back.
Double mother trucker.
Feeling grumpy and confused, she sat in that hotel watching talk show reruns until her phone lit up an hour later with a response from Weston. Finally. But when she checked the message, it didn’t address her questions about Kamp. It only said:
Sophia Nailor, human, married and mated to Todd Nailor, Hyena shifter.
Works at Daisy Dukes Flower Shop
14568 Harris St, Eugene, OR
Huh.
That was only about a hundred-fifty miles from here as the crow flew. Sophia wasn’t far. Did Kamp realize his son was so close?
She thanked her brother and grabbed her lucky hoodie, shoved her feet into her old, worn-out hiking boots, and made her way out the hotel door and to Rhett’s truck. He was going to have to wait a bit to get it back. She searched herself for a single ounce of guilt over her grand theft auto, but found none.
She used the GPS on her phone and drove an hour through beautiful mountains before she pulled over for gas. When she checked the time on her phone while she stood at the pump, there was an unknown caller who had texted.
Hey, Novak. The trailer park is lame without you. I finished a shift, but no one was here to give me a round of applause, so I’m in the trailer with a TV dinner, a cold beer, and some candy-less trail mix this cute girl I know made. Thanks for taking care of me today. Just so you know, you’re a really cool girl, and last night wasn’t just a hookup. At least it wasn’t for me. I’m glad Rhett tricked you into coming out here for a day. Also, I turned your car into the rental place after work. No late charges. Keep Rhett’s truck as long as you want. Asshole deserves it, ha. Good luck with everything.
p.s. you made me happy for a little while too.
- Kamp
While she was reading it a second time, the gas nozzle clicked loudly to tell her the truck was full and startled her. When she looked up, she caught her reflection in the window of Rhett’s truck. For a split second, there was a spark of recognition. She wasn’t so pale and sad looking. She wore a soft smile, and her eyes weren’t tight at the corners. Such a change because of a message from a handsome stranger. Stranger? Hmm, that word didn’t feel right. They’d had something last night, something she didn’t understand. Something that made her miss him already. Something that made her want to take care of him because she had a feeling he would be really good at taking care of her back.
Broken lion, but he didn’t feel broken to her. He felt…familiar, like her heart recognized his heart.
