Destined for Deception ✔️

Chapter 7

Ryleigh had trailed into the woods to be alone. She was wandering around without purpose and without taking in her surroundings. Her mind was otherwise engaged. It was a chilly morning, and she'd forgotten to don her cloak, so she was shivering, her hands stuck deep in her pockets. She kept a stiff pace to keep her blood pumping.

She heard him before she saw him. Parker. She had been living with him long enough to know exactly what his footsteps sounded like. He was downwind from her, so she couldn't catch his scent yet, and he probably thought he could sneak up on her. Parker was many things, but he was not stealthy. He was too large, too strong, too impatient.

"Are you going to walk with me or are you satisfied just stalking me?" she said.

It was silent for a moment, then a quiet chuckling reached her ears, and Parker stepped away from a few trees. He grinned. "Busted."

"That should not come as a surprise to you by now." She held back a smile, trying to eye him sternly. It was odd, but whenever he was by her side, a burden lifted from her shoulders, like he was carrying it with her. Odder still was that she had never asked him to, never would ask him to, didn't even want him to. He supported her without question, without pardon, and without failure.

"I'd hoped that perhaps you'd lost your edge all that time away. Or perhaps I hoped I'd gotten better at being sneaky."

"I haven't, and you didn't." She beckoned him over with a small jerk of her head and he joined her at her side. They walked on. Without a word, Parker shrugged off his cloak and draped it over her shoulders. The gesture took her off guard and she stiffened, then relaxed, then pulled the fabric off her and handed it back to him. "You don't need to freeze on my account."

He rolled his eyes. "Just take it, stubborn woman."

She contemplated throwing it over his head, just to prove a point. What point that was, she wasn't sure. That she didn't need anyone to take care of her, that she could live without kindness, that she could live without his kindness, that she wasn't some damsel in distress. She wrapped the cloak around her and pulled it tight, muttering a thanks.

"You're welcome," he said, flashing her another one of his charming, effortless grins. She nudged his shoulder, but it hardly brought him off-balance. "So, what are you doing out here? Overthinking?"

"I don't overthink."

He laughed. "Right. And I don't teleport."

Wearing his cloak, his scent drifted around her. He smelled like the woods, like man, like home. "Has anyone ever told you you're insufferable?"

"Only you, but that's alright, because you have poor judgment anyway."

She chewed the inside of her cheek, stealing a sideways glance at him. He was looking at her, his eyes shining golden in the morning light. He was always looking at her. Whenever they were in a room together, his gaze would be on her, like she was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen. It was, in fact, not unlike the way Austin had looked at her once. But that hadn't been real. That had been fate messing with their heads. Parker was real. Parker knew exactly who she was, how many flaws she had, how small the chance was that she'd ever change. And he didn't just condone it, didn't just accept it, but he liked her for it.

"I have very good judgment, I'll have you know," she said.

"No, you don't. If you did, you wouldn't have stayed with that Midnight Mutt for so long, when he was clearly inferior to you."

"He wasn't inferior. Superior, if anything."

He scoffed. "Please. That pup? He couldn't compete with you if he tried."