Cold Foot Komodo (Wreck’s Mountains Book 2)

Reed rubbed his hands together and blew into them to warm up his fingers. He needed to make the trip to Murdoch’s and get a good pair of gloves. As soon as he got paid tomorrow, that’s what he was going to do. He’d been counting down to his first paycheck. Why? Because it had been years since he felt self-sufficient, and felt the victory of a success, no matter how big or small.

The strangest part of waiting for a paycheck was that he actually had an ungodly amount of money sitting in his bank account right now. Why? Because Damon Daye had gone after the prison, and all of their investors, and all of the companies involved in the experimentation side of it on his behalf. And since they didn’t want it to leak that Reed had been kept in there four years past his release date, they had settled out of court as fast as they could, and had already cut him a check to stay quiet. Fine by him. He didn’t want any media attention for any of this. He didn’t even know any of that was happening until Damon sent him paperwork to sign for it all.

All of that had been a whirlwind, and he still hadn’t gotten through the shock of it. Something good had come from that mess after all, but he hadn’t processed his feelings on it yet, so he focused on living off his paycheck instead of the number in his bank account.

He loved his job. It was solitary, with only check-ins with his boss and the five-man crew that divvied up the roads they would clear around here. Already, he’d texted his boss and told him he would be dragging the road all the way up from the mountain they lived on to town, so he could pull it off the others’ list. What he hadn’t mentioned was that he would have Sasha with him. If the boss wanted to pay him for the extra hour, great. He didn’t need to know Reed’s business though. And honestly? He felt very protective of Sasha. It was something he hadn’t felt in a long time. It was scary, and confusing, and exciting.

The door to Wreck’s house creaked open, and Reed pushed off his truck and straightened up.

Sasha closed it gently, and then turned right for him. The smile that stretched her face in the early-morning light was the prettiest sight he’d ever seen.

She wore dark indigo skinny jeans under her snow boots, and a skintight white thermal sweater under a beige-colored puffy vest. Her jacket was draped over her arm, and she had her backpack of belongings in her other hand as she bounded down the stairs. The crisp crunch of the fresh fallen snow under her boots filled his senses, and he wished he could take a picture of her just like this, greeting smile plastered across her lips and just for him. Had anyone ever smiled at him like this? He couldn’t recall. Memories of his life before Cold Foot were sometimes hard to reach.

Sasha though—she was in absolute focus.

“How are we going to run this?” she asked as she approached.

“Run what?” he asked as he led her around the truck and opened her door. Should he hug her? Would she feel weird if he did?

“Do you want to pretend your little forehead kiss and our epic hug never happened? Or maybe just say fuck it and hold hands? Should we be awkward together and sit in silence all the way back into town?”

He chuckled as she got in, and then he closed the door and strode around the front of the truck, nearly knocking his shin on the huge shovel he had attached to the front because he wasn’t paying enough attention.

He slid into the truck and closed the door, lowered the bucket on the front, and then put the running pickup into gear. “I was thinking awkward silence,” he joked. “What about you?”

“Damn. Okay, I’m in. Three, two, one.” She zipped her lips and sat there frozen, staring unblinking ahead.

He laughed and slid his hand to her thigh, hoping she was okay with it. In an instant, she relaxed into his touch, and in the next instant, she leaned over the console and slid her hand to the inside of his bicep. “This is a way better plan,” she assured him.

Fuck, he was glad she was human. He would be mortified if she could actually hear how fast his heart was beating right now. Hers was racing his, and he pursed his lips against a satisfied smile. With a sigh, he guided the truck down the winding mountain road with one hand, slid his other farther to the inside of her leg and pulled her a little closer, and settled in for the drive while she messed with the aux cord and chose music.

She smelled so good. Toothpaste, some fruit shampoo, and her scent that was just…Sasha. Intoxicating.

“Are you cold?” he asked.

“I think I might freeze to death here.”

He reached into the back seat where she’d muscled all of her things, including her jacket, and pulled it up and over her lap, then rested his hand on her thigh. Sure, he hated the extra layer between them, but he didn’t like her being cold.

“I freeze here too. It’s better after I Change though. I probably need to tonight.”

“Change into what?” she asked.

He tossed her a look, and then guided the truck through a sharp left on the winding road.

“Oh come on,” she pleaded. “You forehead-kissed me. We’re super-serious. I’ll tell you what I am!”

“What are you?”

“A Sagittarius.”

He belted out a surprised laugh. “Okay, so your birthday is when?”

“December second.”

“Mmm, mine is December fourteenth.”

“Gasp! We are almost birthday twins.”

“So there you go. I am also a Sagittarius. Now you know what I am.”

“I’ll just ask Timber then. She tells me everything.”

“Why didn’t you ask her last night?”

Sasha narrowed her eyes at him. “Because someone kissed me dumb.”

A forehead kiss made her dumb? She had to be teasing still. Privately, he liked the thought of being able to kiss her dumb so easily though.

“Komodo dragon.”

“Komo…Komodo dragon,” she whispered. The smile had faded from her lips and her pretty brown eyes had gone wide. “Like those huge lizards?”

He nodded and pulled his hand off her thigh to grip the steering wheel better. That would change things. “That reaction is why I didn’t want to tell you. It’s okay.” He didn’t know if he was telling her that, or himself.

She pulled his hand off the steering wheel and back to her lap, where she slipped her petite hand into his and intertwined their fingers. “I used to read Zoobooks. I know all about you.”

A laugh escaped him. God, he would never be able to guess what this woman would say next. He freaking loved it.

“Oh yeah? What do you know?”

“You can get to like ten feet long from your head to the tip of your tail—”

“Seventeen feet long.”

“Geez! Are you sure you’re not just a dragon?”

“No wings, but I’ve got the armored skin.”

“Wow.” Her delicate dark eyebrows were arched up with surprise. “And you are poisonous if you bite another animal.”

“Mmm, kind of. You could say it’s like a slow-killing venom. My prey does suffer if I allow it.”

“When would you allow it?” she asked, curiosity tingeing her tone.

“If someone ever messed with someone I cared about, they would be left to suffer.”

“Oh my gosh. Have you ever…have you ever done that before?”

“Yes.”

Her hand tensed in his. “Let’s wait on touch until you know what kind of man I am,” he said softly, pulling his hand from hers to dedicate it to driving.

“Did they deserve it?”

“Yes. They deserved worse.”

“Is that why you went to Cold Foot?”

“Yes.”

He hated this conversation. Hated it. He liked her, and he didn’t want her to see him differently, but he was what he was. It wasn’t fair to pretend to be good when to his core, he was just Reed.

“As a nurse, could I cure a bite like that? Could I fix it if you ever lost control?”

Chills rippled up his spine. He checked if she was being serious. Checked again. She stared directly at him, no smile in sight. “I won’t hurt you.”

“Could I cure your bite?” she asked again.

“Yes. If you clean it fast enough with the strong stuff, and start a massive dose of antibiotics, maybe. With shifters, you won’t have to work so hard to save them. If it’s one bite, they will probably survive. They heal fast. If it’s a battle and I get them good, clean the wounds, antibiotics, and pray. For a human?” He shook his head. “You better have those antibiotics on hand.”

“So the man you killed…he was human?”

“No. I would’ve gotten life for killing a human. He was a shifter.”

“So it was more than one bite?”

The vision of the Komodo dragon’s mangled body flashed across his mind. He winced and shoved the memory out, shaking his head hard. “Can we…can we not?”

“Sure.” Sasha got quiet after that, but it wasn’t a heavy silence. She was mulling the information over.

Reed had had many moments in his life where he’d wished he was a normal man, and this was another of those. He got it. Sasha was normal, and full of life, and human. He was a lot. His life was a lot. His reality was a lot. A shifter like him could be a burden to a happy woman like her.

He’d made a mistake by hugging her back last night.

“We’re here,” he said, pulling into the parking lot of a little café at the edge of Darby called Ranger’s. “Want to stay in here?” he asked. “I can go in and order for you.”

Sasha inhaled sharply and shoved her door open. “We are a team. We go together.”

He didn’t understand the team comment. Confused, he watched her get out. Reed turned off the truck, and waited around the front of the truck as she shimmied into her jacket. Sasha did this little skip on her way to him, and he smiled. Maybe they could still be friends, or something. He sure did like being around her.

Her order was, as promised, long and sugary, but he memorized it in case he ever felt like surprising her with her favorite morning pick-me-up. She ordered a breakfast sandwich too, and they waited for it at a little booth in the corner. She chatted easily with the workers as well as an older gentleman sitting alone at the table behind them. She was just a happy-maker who lit up a room. He ordered his coffee black, and had meant to take it all to go, but he had another fifteen minutes to spare, and Sasha seemed much happier in here than she’d been in his truck at the end of that drive, so he brought their drinks and breakfast to the table as she shrugged out of her jacket.

She was chattering about how good it smelled in here when her phone vibrated from where she’d set it on the table. The screen lit up with a text, and her demeanor changed in an instant.

With a frown knitting her pretty eyebrows, she leaned over the phone and poked the screen, and then scrolled through the mass of notifications. “Geez,” she murmured.

His vision was impeccable, and he could read insanely fast. He noticed the numerous texts and calls her mother had made throughout the night, but dotted in there were messages from her dad, and some guy named Brandon.

Heat flared through his core, and he forced his gaze to the breakfast sandwich in front of him. This was none of his business, but also, fuck Brandon, whoever he was.

“My family is ridiculous,” she murmured darkly, reading texts. “She even got Timber’s ex to message me and try to bully me into calling her.”

That was weird. “Her, who?”

“My mom.” She inhaled deeply and looked up at him with a smile that was heartbreakingly forced. “I’m sorry. Mood killer.”

“Yeah, because my murder admissions were so good for us. Give me the dirt, if you want. Who am I to judge? You know some of my dark stuff now.”

She turned the phone on the table and shoved it toward him. “This will explain how it is for me better than I could do it with my own words.”

It was a text thread between Sasha, her mom, her dad, Brandon, and a couple phone numbers that weren’t saved as names.

“Who’s the cast?” he asked, hoping for clarity.

“My parents. My mom is rough. Probably crazy. Probably has some undiagnosed stuff going on that she’s too conceited to ever work on. My dad backs my mom no matter what her behavior looks like, which is pretty gross. Brandon is Timber’s ex, whom my parents chose over Timber. The nine-four-one number is Brandon’s newest girlfriend, who was added to the family-drama text two weeks ago. I’ve only met her once, but she seems to go along with what my mom wants to do, so that’s probably why my mom likes her so much. The other number is my ex.”

“You don’t have him saved as a name?”

“Nope. I blocked him when he wouldn’t stop manipulating me. That number is a new one my mom somehow got, and now he’s in my family’s loop seeing this mess.”

“You can block him again if you want?”

She shrugged. “He will still see it all. He’s clearly still in contact with my family.”

“Eat, and I’ll read,” he rumbled, already pissed over the first couple of texts.

Sasha’s mom, 2:15 a.m.: I can’t believe you are ignoring me on a day that is so hard for me. I am your mother. This is how you treat your own mother?

Sasha’s mom, 2:17 a.m.: You’re being a real bitch right now.

Sasha’s mom, 2:29 a.m.: Sometimes I just hate you. You make me feel awful for even caring.

Sasha’s mom, 3:00 a.m.: I know you haven’t blocked me. My texts are going through.

Sasha’s mom, 3:11 a.m.: I know this is Timber’s doing. Not yours. You were always the daughter who understood how much I do for you, but now you’re with her and you start acting just like her? I’m so disappointed in you.

Sasha’s mom, 3:14 a.m.: I just called you eight times. Don’t pretend you are asleep. I know you are with Timber and her pet monster. CALL ME BACK RIGHT NOW.

Sasha’s mom, 3:17 a.m.: I can’t stop crying because of how you are treating me. You’re so ungrateful. I have done EVERYTHING for you.

Sasha’s dad, 4:00: Honey, can you just call your mother back and reassure her that everything is okay?

Brandon, 4:12: Sasha, you always have your phone on you. Pick up. Your mom is trying to call you.

“Is it loss of control that drives her behavior?” he asked softly, looking up from the texts.

Sasha nodded, chewing slowly, like she’d lost her appetite.

“It’s always been like this?”

Another nod.

He felt sick to his stomach. A mother should never tell her daughter some of these things. “Is this the first time she’s told you she hates you?”

Sasha shook her head slowly. “It was worse for Timber. She was the least favorite.”

“Jesus,” he whispered, scrolling down a rambling thread of insults, growing in anger and venom. “How does Timber handle it?”

“She is no-contact. She blocked them all before her wedding. Didn’t invite a single one of them. My mother took it as a slap to her face, and can’t stand that I’m wanting to maintain a relationship with Timber.”

“She sees this move up here as you choosing a side?”

“Yes.”

Reed inhaled deeply, reading a text from her father that talked of how disappointing Sasha was being.

“You shouldn’t read these texts,” he said. “They’re cruel.”

She shrugged and took another half-hearted bite. “I’m used to it.”

“Don’t say that. No one should get used to this behavior. It’s not okay. Look at Timber. Look how she smiles. Pay attention when you spend time with her today. You can’t be truly happy with cinder blocks tied to your ankles, holding you underwater. That’s not love, Sasha. Timber figured it out.”

“I’m not ready yet,” she admitted low. “No-contact is impossible unless you are ready. I’ve read a book on it.”

“So it’s something you’re considering?”

“Yes,” she whispered, but she couldn’t meet his eyes anymore, and her voice shook.

Fuck, his chest was hurting. He swallowed hard and stood, then sank into the booth seat next to her, scooching her over. He draped his arm around her shoulders, pulled her against his side, and sighed as he rested his cheek against the top of her head. “May I delete the text thread so their words don’t sit inside of you today while you’re alone?”

She huffed a little laugh, eased back, and looked up at him. Her eyes were rimmed with moisture and God, she was so beautiful. “You understand a lot about a lot, don’t you?”

“I can see the other side, somewhat. Yes. I can never understand fully. This never happened to me from a parent. I had a good mom and dad. Had a good support system. They wouldn’t ever talk to me or my brother like this. They built us up, like parents are supposed to do. I can only imagine what it would do to my head if I was called names, and told by the person who was supposed to take care of me that they hated me. Can I delete the thread?”

“No. I keep screenshots of the thread in a folder on my phone for the day I am ready to say goodbye.”

Aaaah. “So you can go back and look at the horrible things they have said to you when your resolve is shaky?”

“Exactly. I’m not very hungry anymore. I’m going to save the rest of this for later.”

“Sounds good. Are you ready to go?”

She smiled softly up at him, then wrapped her arms around his middle and hugged him up tight, resting her cheek right against his ribs, and fuck, what she did to him. Warmth dumped into his body, and his skin tingled with pleasure everywhere she touched him.

He kissed her on the forehead again. Yeah, he was testing the waters after their conversation in the truck. He was checking if she would flinch away after finding out what a monster he was, but she leaned into it and they just stayed like that for three breaths, his lips pressed to her hairline, his eyes out the window on the falling snow outside.

He’d known her for a day.

One day.

One day, and he felt like he’d known her all along.

One day, and he couldn’t remember ever feeling this open with anyone, or this seen.

As the tingling faded away from his skin, Reed realized he’d been close to a Change and hadn’t registered it. Reading those texts aimed to hurt Sasha had dredged up the monster inside of him, but there was nothing here to protect her from. There was nothing the animal could do.

It was the man in him who just needed to listen. It was hard, and not at all how he was used to handling situations, but he could tell an ear was all she needed right now while she worked through her feelings of being away from that toxic environment, possibly for the first time ever. He could imagine the heaviness, and even the guilt in moments of happiness, or feeling like she didn’t deserve to enjoy her life because she had a devil on her shoulder with its claws dug in deep, telling her she deserved nothing.

He would think on this and try to find a solution where she could just let go and enjoy the process of the move as much as possible, but for now, hugging her seemed to settle her.

She even started eating her breakfast sandwich again as he held open the door for her.

The frigid wind was a shock as it blasted against his cheeks outside, but more shocking was when Sasha turned around, walking backward, and said, “I’m going to make you a Komodo Kit.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“I’m going to get my hands on some good antibiotics and wound-cleaning kits, just in case you ever make a mistake or lose control of the animal. I’ll make you a safety net.” She smiled, and the twinkle was back in her pretty brown eyes. “That will be my first present to you for being so nice to me, LB.”

“What’s LB stand for?” he asked.

“Lizard Boy.”

His face stretched into a pleased smile. God, he loved when she was happy and teasing and light. She was resilient. He could tell. She bounced back quick and with purpose when something dug at her, and he respected that about her.

The more he learned about Sasha, the more he wanted to know.