Sawyer (Alluring Indulgence #7)(106)
Author: Nicole Edwards

He wondered if it would kill Brendon to be happy for everyone else for a minute. But he didn’t say as much. No matter what, Sawyer would be there for Brendon, when and if he ever wanted to talk.

“Hey.”

Sawyer turned to see Cheyenne standing behind him, her eyes on Brendon. “Do you think we could go outside and, you know, talk?”

Brendon’s eyes widened briefly. He didn’t say anything, but at least the fool had the decency to nod. It wasn’t until Cheyenne moved in front of him that Sawyer noticed something he hadn’t seen in a long damn time.

Brendon actually smiled.

TWO HOURS LATER, sitting on his couch with Kennedy by his side while Buster gnawed on a tennis ball, Sawyer noticed how quiet it was.

“You hear that?” he asked her, putting his arm over her shoulders and pulling her to him.

“I don’t hear anything,” she said, resting her head on his chest.

“Exactly.”

Kennedy chuckled. “I had fun today. Thanks for invitin’ me. Your family is . . . fun.”

“And loud,” he offered.

“That, too. But it was still fun.”

“It’s always like that,” he told her.

She peered up at him. “I don’t know why I thought this, but I figured Greyson would be there.”

Sawyer looked away, thinking about that. Greyson didn’t usually come to the family functions. Not anymore, anyway. Ever since Kaleb got married and then the others started following behind him, Greyson had begun to put some distance there.

Then, of course, there was the incident at the resort. No matter how Sawyer twisted the information he’d received, it still looked as though Greyson was responsible for spreading the news about Mack. And not only had it been a breach of the resort rules, but that information had caused some major issues. From what Sawyer learned last night from Kennedy, it looked like Mack’s own son had gotten word and now there were problems between Jeff and Mack.

Sawyer’s first instinct was to try to figure out how to fix that, but Kennedy had assured him that it would be fine. They were grown men; they’d figure it out.

But knowing that Greyson had been responsible . . . hurt. That reminded him of something. Twisting so that he could see Kennedy’s face, he said, “Remember the day Tim kidnapped you?”

Kennedy giggled and patted his chest. “I don’t think it was really kidnapping.”

“Well, I beg to differ, but that’s not the point. You had made a comment to Tim that there was some information you needed to share. What was that?”

Kennedy sat up and looked at him, her eyes wary. “I was wonderin’ if you were gonna ask about that.”

He didn’t say anything, waiting to see if she would elaborate.

Kennedy propped her knee up on the couch and turned to face him more fully. “I should’ve told you this already, but when Tim and I were talkin’ that day, he told me that he . . .” She paused briefly and he could see she was worried about something. “He was the one who had shared the information about Mack.”

“What?” he asked, sitting up straight. “But I thought . . .”

“He wanted you to think it was Greyson,” she explained. “He told me that he had talked his way into the resort, claimin’ he was doin’ a security check, after seein’ my father and Mack go inside. I think he was really tryin’ to dig up some dirt on . . . well, some dirt on you, honestly. When he heard we were datin’, I think it upset him. So, he was the one who said he saw Mack.”

“So he shared that news?” Sawyer asked, although his mind was already outlining how to find out who had allowed him in without permission.

“He did. He was at Moonshiners and Greyson was there. Apparently, Greyson was pissed off and Tim used that to his advantage. He was the one who leaked the information, but he set Greyson up for it.”

“Holy shit.” Sawyer got to his feet and paced the floor. “All along I thought it was Greyson. I even called him on it.”

“You did?” she questioned.

Yeah, and that hadn’t gone over well. When he accused Greyson of being the leak, an even bigger rift had formed between them.

“Sawyer . . .”

He turned to face Kennedy, hearing something in her tone that had him stopping in his tracks.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, her eyes dropping to the floor.

“For?”

“For not telling you sooner. I knew I should have, but I didn’t. I . . . I knew Greyson wasn’t the leak, but I got scared.”

“Scared?” Sawyer wasn’t understanding. Why would she be scared?