“Sorry for him, my ass.”
On a laugh, Riley drank coffee. “No, really. And I didn’t tell you so you’d be pissed at him.”
“You’re my friend. You’re the first real friend I’ve ever had. What kind of friend would I be if I wasn’t pissed at him? Of course I’m pissed at him. The jerk.”
“Appreciate it. But if you can’t make a deal not to fall in love, you can’t make one to, can you? It just is, or it just isn’t,” Riley repeated. “I’m okay. More, a lot more important, we’ve got to hang together. No internal conflicts, especially today.”
“I can be pissed at him and hang together with him.” Scowling, Sasha poured beaten egg into the pan.
“Reverse the order. Hang together first.”
“For you.” Sasha added grilled bacon and peppers, shredded cheese. “I’ll do that for you.”
“I love you. I don’t think about saying it very often. Today’s a good day to say it.”
“I love you, too.”
Riley heard feet on the stairs. “You’re going to tell Bran—no problem. Maybe just wait on that until after we get back. With the star.”
“I can do that.”
It wasn’t Bran, but Doyle, and Riley gauged her reaction. She concluded she hit borderline amusement to see the big, sword-wielding immortal looking awkward and braced for female ire.
Maybe the reaction was small of her, but she didn’t mind being small.
“We’re fueling up on loaded omelettes before the climb.” Riley spoke very casually, topped off her coffee. “According to Annika”—she gestured toward the table with her mug—“we make it just fine.”
“Good.”
He glanced back, his relief just visible enough to tip Riley over the borderline into full amusement when Bran came down.
“Ah, just the man I wanted to see. I want to get the rope from the garage. We’ve time for that, Sasha?”
“You’ve got ten minutes.”
“Time enough. Give me a hand, will you, Doyle?”
Riley held her snicker until they’d gone out.
In the garage, Bran lifted a coil of sturdy rope from its hook on the wall. “Well, now I know why I felt I had to have all this.” He passed it to Doyle, lifted off a second coil.
“It’s more than enough for this. The cave’s about fifteen feet down.”
“I could get us there without the rope,” Bran considered. “Though I’d feel better about it if I’d been there first myself. It’s orienting, really. Sawyer could do the same, once he logged it, but. . .”
“You have the rope,” Doyle finished. “And think there’s a reason for that.”
“Tied together, rather than me taking us down one or two at a time. I think it has to be tied together, yes.” Bran angled his head. “Are you worried then?”
“No. No, it’s a tricky climb, but nothing this lot can’t handle.”
“What then?”
“It’s nothing. It’s other. It isn’t relevant.” Bollocks. “Riley says she’s in love with me.”
Bran merely nodded. “Then you’re a fortunate man.”
“That might be, if I were just a man. And even then, we’ve got more pressing matters. If she’s pissed off at me because I didn’t—couldn’t—” He broke off with a curse. “If she’s distracted by what she thinks she feels . . .”