Indigo Ridge (The Edens, #1)

by Devney Perry

His piercing blue eyes were waiting.

Griffin Eden. My one-night stand.

well thats awkward

Now it reeked like Conor. Bless that kid and his sweat glands.

LMAOO

He scoffed. “You want to do your job, go tell Lily’s mother. Anything else is a waste of fucking time.”

someone's grumpy

“I’m the chief now.” And we’d do things my way. Whether Griffin Eden liked it or not.

slay queen

One look at her beautiful face, and for a moment, I forgot to breathe.

“What are you doing?” she whispered. “I have no fucking clue.” Then my lips were on hers.

That wasn’t exactly true. She’d begged in the backseat of my truck when I’d had my finger on her clit and she’d wanted to come.

OKAYYYYYY

“You.” There was no point in lying. She was stuck in my head.

Any hope of me walking out of here before dark evaporated.

whats with the fade to black??? GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT!

Griffin grabbed my hand, holding it tight.

Brave men, not only because she was wearing a gun, but because I was a possessive bastard. With one glare from me, they each dropped their eyes to the sidewalk.

“I want to fuck you bare, Winslow. But only if you’re good with it.”

“Don’t take your mind for granted, Griffin. Or your heart. They are your gifts. And they are not guaranteed from one day to the next.”

Briggs wasn’t a violent man. Except there were times when he simply wasn’t Briggs. Could he have stumbled on Lily? Could he have found her on Indigo Ridge and done the unthinkable?

thats exactly what i was thinking

She had a beer in her hand and another ready for me. What a sight she was.

So beautiful I wanted this view every night.

Like going for a ride and veering off the main path to get a look from a different angle, and then discovering that the trail you’d been on was lacking in every way imaginable. I was in it with this woman. So fucking in it.

It had happened so naturally, this fall into Winn. Like I was out for a short drive, and when I looked back to where I’d started, instead of traveling yards, I’d gone miles.

I stared at him, his ruddy cheeks and sweaty hair.

sketchy

Eight years with Skyler. One month with Griffin. I’d choose Griffin every time.

“If you want to keep that hand attached to your body, you’ll take it off of her right now.”

“And I’m here to give her an orgasm before dinner. Let’s find out which one of us she’d rather have stick around.”

HELLOOOOO HEHEEHEHHEHEEHEEH

Emily’s gasp was loud enough for us all to hear.

if someone doesnt smack this bitch istg

“You lost her.” Griffin’s voice had an edge unlike anything I’d heard before. An edge that made me glad I was standing on his side, not the opposing. “You fucked up and lost her. She’s mine. And I won’t fuck it up.”

When I stopped in front of his house, he reached for the door, but hesitated, looking at me for the first time since we’d left the station. “I don’t think I hurt those girls.”

well shit

“You have me twisted up, woman. So fucking twisted up.” “Want to unwind? Call it quits?” He leaned away and his hands moved to my face, his fingers threading through the hair at my temples. “I don’t think I could quit you if I tried.” “Even if we fight?” “Especially when we fight.”

“Hey.” His thumbs caught the two tears that escaped. “You can’t cry, Winn. It destroys me. Don’t cry, baby.”

“Lean on me.” He kissed my forehead, then hugged me again, squeezing so tight that if my knees buckled, I wouldn’t drop an inch. I leaned on him. And for the first time in a long time, I knew the man holding me tight wouldn’t let me fall.

Falling in love with her had been effortless.

“No.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “It’s yours. Just like the bathroom’s yours. The bedroom. The closet floor. This kitchen. That TV. This house is yours.”

“I have no evidence.” Speculation, however, I had in abundance. “Someone could be setting him up. Someone who wanted me to think that he might have had a hand in their deaths.”

WAIT A MINUTE. IS IT FRANK?

It was capped with the hubcap I’d seen in the back of Griffin’s truck weeks ago on a grocery store run. The one he’d told me Mateo had found on the road to Indigo Ridge.

AINT NO WAY?

Rain must have noticed it too. “Frank, close the door.” It took me three seconds too many to register that sentence. It took me three seconds too many to look between my lifelong friends and realize what I was seeing. Because in those three seconds, Frank punched the garage door opener clipped to the Jeep’s driver-side visor. And Rain lifted the mallet. It took me three seconds too many to shed my personal bias and grasp that these people—neighbors, friends—were not as they seemed. Three seconds too many. Before the lights went out.

WTF? IT WASNT JUST FRANK, BUT HIS WIFE TOO? shits crazy

Frank’s shoulders curled in. “It was just for fun, Walter. It was never serious.”

HOW IS MURDERING CHILDREN FUN??????

And when she swept the knife again, her strike was true. Agony erupted through my stomach. Red seeped through my shirt, hot and wet. “Winn.” Griffin’s voice sang through my mind. “No.” Rain stabbed again, the blade sinking into my side.

OH SHIT

Briggs could hurry. Griffin could run. But I wouldn’t make it. He might carry me down this mountain and drive into town, but Rain had won. There were words to say. Apologies to make. Promises to ask him to make. But in the end, I had no time. “I love you.” “No, Winn. Don’t say it.” He shook me as he stood. His boots began pounding down the trail. “Stay awake.” “Say it back. Just once so I can hear it.” “No.” “Griffin.” My voice cracked. “Please.” He didn’t slow. “I love you. Fuck, but I love you.” “Thank you.” Then I let out one more breath. And the stars vanished.