But I had to. For so many reasons. My safety. What Michael could do to Brody if he knew he was important to me. And because I was terrified. Of letting someone in. Of being laid bare in every way to them. So, I did what any self-respecting wimp would do. I bolted.

21

Shay

I was a pansy. A total and complete wuss. A branch smacked me in the face as I moved through the woods. I deserved it. The price for doing everything humanly possible to avoid Brody for the past five days. Right now, I was trampling a new trail through the woods to avoid the well-worn path that could be seen from the main house. Idiot. Another branch poked at my side as if to agree.

But I needed that distance. Desperately. Because the more time I spent with Brody nearby, the harder it would be to resist that pull. I started getting up even earlier. Feeding the chickens and getting in a workout before Brody would ever consider leaving his bed. I came up with excuses to avoid having meals together, and I certainly didn’t want him with me while I went into town.

I broke through the tree line and startled a curse out of Hunter. He whirled on me. “Where the hell did you come from?”

“Sorry. I was, uh, just trying a new way down to the water.”

Hunter’s lips twitched. “Still avoiding Brody, huh?”

I gripped the cuff of my sleeve, tugging it down. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure, you don’t. You know, even a blind man could see the chemistry between you two. It clogs the air when you’re around each other.”

“It does not.”

Hunter let out a bark of laughter. “Still in the denial phase.”

Yes, I was. And that was where I planned to stay. It was safe in denial land. Even if I did have brush and branch scratches all over my body. “There’s nothing going on between us.” Just chemistry that would probably burn me alive.

Hunter sobered. “You’ve done a real good job of keeping people out. I don’t know why, but I’m guessing it’s because you got hurt somewhere along the line. But the thing is, a life alone is a hell of a lot more painful than the hurt you’d get by letting people in.”

I stayed quiet. Hunter didn’t know that letting people in could literally get me killed. Get them killed.

“Don’t get me wrong. There’s pain in every relationship. But you’re going to get a lot more good mixed in. If you stay out there on your own little island all alone, you’re in for nothing but that hurt. Maybe it’s worth taking a risk.”

I took a deep breath and swallowed the urge to tell Hunter to mind his own business. “Are you a contractor or a therapist?”