Light the Fire (Jackson's Hollow #1)

Chapter 16

At first, Jo worried she was a charity case inclusion to Lexi's lunch group--maybe Lexi was feeling sorry for the new girl in town. But she quickly realized not only did she enjoy hanging out with them, but they seemed to be comfortable including her as well. They told several stories about growing up in the town that had her laughing, and her story about twisting her ankle and being stuck with Ryker carrying her back had them laughing as well.

"Who knew Ryker was such a big softy," Eli snorted, seeming pleased at gaining such information on Lexi's older brother. Oops. Hopefully Ryker wouldn't kill her later.

"I knew he had it in him," Lexi said, grinning at Jo. "The real test will be so if he ever acts like that in public though."

"So he's normally grumpy and growly with people besides me?" Jo asked, not sure what exactly she was feeling right now. On one hand, the thought of him being a softy with someone else out in public--even though that wasn't exactly what had been suggested--made her insides twist a little. But then the thought of her not being a direct cause of his grumpiness made her feel some relief, before everything twisted right back up again. She thought for some reason maybe he was different with her. But that was silly, she'd only known him for a few days. Damn, this man was making her ridiculous.

All three burst into laughter. "I guess you could say that," Lexi said, smirking, "though you seem to bring out a whole new level in him."

Jo flushed and shook her head. "It was because of a misunderstanding when we first met," she said in protest. Which reminded her. "Do y'all really have a lot of problems with people hiking off the trails round here?"

Lexi nodded, her expression becoming serious. "We're always having to rescue people who got lost trying to have some kind of nature experience," she said, rolling her eyes.

Katie nodded. "My older brother's on one of the volunteer rescue teams. During peak tourist seasons I feel like he gets called in at least a few times a week."

"Oh wow," Jo said. Okay, so maybe Ryker's annoyance was slightly justified. She wondered if he was on one of the volunteer teams too, but she'd already asked several questions about him and didn't want to bring the topic back there. So instead, she asked them about what scenic things people came to see in the town, wanting to get to know the new place a little better.

Katie and Eli had to leave first for their next class, but she and Lexi still had another hour. Both girls pulled out their laptops to get started on some work, occasionally chatting as they sorted through the various syllabuses they had received. As they headed off to their next classes, Lexi received a text that caused her to snort in amusement. Lexi spoke before Jo even had a chance to be curious.

"I'm telling Ryker to stop worrying about you," she said, fingers flying over her phone. She grinned. "I promised I didn't eat you for lunch."

Jo rolled her eyes. "I think he feels responsible for me because he found me but it's not like he threw me down the mountain and twisted my ankle himself."

"Yeah, that'd be a little out of character for him. The whole tossing people down mountains thing." Lexi shrugged, very engaged with her phone. "But I wouldn't worry about it. I think he just wants to help."

"Well, tell him to stop texting you about me," she said with a hint of amusement, but it did annoy her a bit. Had Lexi invited her to lunch because Ryker asked her to again? It hadn't seemed that way but maybe they had agreed on it before he came to pick her up that morning. She let out a tense breath. While she did like Lexi, she wanted Lexi to spend time with her because she wanted to, not because her brother asked her to. But directly questioning her about it...well, Jo didn't want to alienate her, either.