Page 25 of Scars of the Sun

In it now, I jutted my chin toward the direction my brother, Juno, and Josie had headed. I didn’t think Orion would ever cheat on Sylvie, but that wasn’t the point. It was the proximity. The knowledge that they’d had a past.

Sylvie’s easy shrug was of a woman who was nothing but secure in her relationship. “No. They’d been just friends for a while before I came along. I trust Orion completely. And it’s hard to explain, but being mates, even the thought of going outside of that doesn’t happen. For the two of us, anyway.”

I thought about the dozens of people I knew my mother and father had cheated with during their marriage. And the many more that I probably wasn’t aware of. “You truly believe that?”

She nodded, thankfully not seeming offended at my curiosity. “Yes.”

“Okay, but what would you do if the impossible happened? Don’t you ever get worried? However irrational that may be?”

The look she gave me, a dangerous curl of her lips, was far from the kind smile I was used to seeing on her face. My sister-in-law was obviously a strong person, and the magic I’d seen her wield had always been to connect with nature. Or entertain her children. But the darkness behind her eyes made me feel scared and strangely more connected to her than before. “No. I don’t worry about it. But, if the impossible happened, goddess help anyone in my way.”

And just like that, the darkness cleared like fast moving clouds, and her expression brightened to match the clear sky above. She started to gather the pitcher of lemonade and glasses to bring back inside, and I tried to make sure I hadn’t imagined the flash of viciousness I’d seen in my sister-in-law.

What the fuck else could she do, and more importantly, could she teach me?

Before I could ask, Sylvie started to head back inside. “Thanks again for offering to get the babies. Don’t feel obligated to take them to get ice cream—two kids can be hard to wrangle, even if they’re in the best of moods.”

I followed her, shower and another opportunity to be occupied and not alone with my thoughts on my mind. “I think I’ll be fine. If it’s too much, I’ll just head home.”

We walked into the house that felt like a freezer compared to outside, and the buckets of sweat on my skin began to do that gross, salty cooling thing. Yeah, a good scrub was definitely needed.

“M’kay. Either way, make sure to text us when you’re on your way back.”

The request made me pause, but when I saw her mischievous smirk, I gagged. Yeah, I’d figured they’d want time alone, but I didn’t need a reminder as to why.

Sylvie’s giggles rang throughout the cabin while I retreated into the bathroom. Yeah, just eight more hours to kill, and I would be fine.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

RAMONA

Ihoisted my skates over my shoulder, wheels bumping against my back, and shut my brother’s car door. The summer evening air was cooler than this morning, but I felt just as hot as before.

When I’d pulled up, Río’s motorcycle was nowhere to be seen, so I’d thought I’d have to wait for him. But once I scanned the skate park, gray concrete illuminated by the overhead lights, I immediately homed in on him rolling in lazy, relaxed movements. He threw a few jumps in here and there, but it looked more of a warming up than anything.

I’d sat in the car, watching him and freaking out about how I was going to approach. What I was going to say.

But then he looked over his shoulder, straight at me as if he’d known I’d been there all along, and raised both brows expectantly. Because he probably had known the minute I drove up, by sound or scent alone.

Now, I was making my way over and forcing myself to take deeper breaths. This was just hanging out. Skating was something that relaxed me, and it obviously did the same for him. Nothing to worry about. At all.

Yeah.

I couldn’t keep my free hand from making sure my freshly washed denim shorts were sitting just right. The new long-sleeved bra top I’d finally bought was in that moisture-wicking, workout fabric. Hopefully that with the short length would stop me from turning into a gross, stinky blob. But time would tell.

As I crossed the threshold from parking lot to skate park, Río rolled toward me, black eyes alight with something like excitement.

To see me.

My face got really hot, and I stopped at a length of fence with a bench and dropped my skates to the ground.

Río’s board scraped the concrete as he came to a stop a few feet from me. He was wearing a red band t-shirt this time, and the bottom hem had obviously been taken to with a pair of scissors. It left an inch or two of his belly exposed, and his black jeans sat low on his hips.

“Like what you see, Princess?”

I hadn’t realized I’d completely stopped putting on my skates and been staring. Even though I knew I was blushing, I narrowed my eyes at him. “You wish.”

Río crouched so that he could look me in the eye, and it made the back of my neck bristle. I didn’t think I had issues with eye contact like my brother, but… maybe I did. Río’s unflinching stare was making me squirm.