I nod, but my throat is too tight to speak.
He turns away first, busying himself with something at the counter, but I see the tension in his shoulders. He's holdingeverything in—fear, anger, the same pull that I can feel between us even when we're standing apart.
I sit there watching him, my heart still racing, the sound of his words still echoing in my chest.
We can't do this now.
I know he's right.
But the way he looked at me, the way his hand trembled before he let go, tells me that "now" isn't the same as "never."
Chapter 26
Asher
The sound of boots on the porch is what gives them away.
I'm sitting at the kitchen table with the folder of evidence Kassi brought me spread open, my mind still half on the sound of her voice sayingthey're drilling now,when the door swings wide, and Finn comes in, a storm that's already built too much momentum to stop.
He doesn't knock. He never does. But the look on his face tells me this isn't a normal visit. His jaw is locked, his eyes sharp with something I haven't seen since we were kids, when I broke his nose in a fight neither of us even remembers starting.
Zach is right behind him, quieter but just as tense.
Finn tosses something onto the table. It's Kassi's scarf. I recognize it instantly—the pale blue one she worse the other day.
It lands between us like a fuse.
"You want to explain this?" Finn asks.
I look from him to the scarf and back again and know there is no point in denying it. "It's Kassi's."
"No kidding," he snaps. "We found it in your truck when Zach and I went to get the feed. You planning to tell us you've been sneaking her out here, or were we supposed to just keep pretending not to notice how weird you've been lately?"
Zach's voice is low but cutting. "You've been lying to us, Ash."
I push the folder closed, slowly, with deliberation. "I haven't been lying."
Finn's laugh is sharp. "You sure about that? Because last I checked, the woman working for the developers—the ones trying to gut this land from under us—isn't exactly someone you 'forget' to mention you're sleeping with."
The words hit harder than I expected.
"I'm not sleeping with the enemy," I say, standing.
"Then what is she?" he throws back. "Because if she's not the enemy, she's the messenger. And if she's the messenger, she'sbeen walking through our front door carrying their secrets while you've been too busy looking at her to see it."
"Enough," I bite out.
"No," he fires back. "Not enough. You let her in. Around Mom. You thought about that? What happens if she's feeding them information?"
Zach steps forward then, calmer but no less sharp. "You're not thinking straight, Ash. You love this land more than anything, and she works for the people who want to destroy it. You see how that looks from where we're standing?"
I do. God help me, I do. But that doesn't make it true.
"She's not one of them," I say. "She came to me with proof, risking everything to warn me."
Finn's expression twists. "You believe that? Just like that?"
"She brought me their maps," I say, slamming my palm on the folder. "Coordinates. Drilling data. Proof that they're already testing. She didn't have to do that. She did it because she's not like them."