Free Deliciously Obedient by Julia Kent Page A

What’s
up?”
    “ There’s
this guy here at the campground, and he reminds me an awful lot of
Michael Bournham.”
    “ What?”
    Krysta
held a red hand up, as if to quell the protest. “I know it sounds
weird, but hear me out. Caleb had me unloading tomatoes and this guy
walked by, wearing a backpack and a baseball cap. His hair was super
short, but that silver-gray Bournham’s known for.”
    “ Michael
Bournham—at a campground?” Lydia’s peals of disbelief filled
the room. “You have to be kidding me. He isn’t even the glamping
type. The guy’s idea of roughing it means going to a hotel without
his helicopter.”
    Krysta
pressed her lips together and just stared at her. Oh, boy. She wasn’t
kidding.
    “ You
seriously think he’s here? Why would he be here, Krysta? Lots of
men have short silver hair and go on hikes here. Hell, you can spit
and hit one.”
    “ Lots
of men don’t look like him .”
    “ You’re
telling me you seriously think Mike came here? That he’s ignoring
everyone’s messages and texts and confounding the press by hiding
at my parents’ campground under their noses?” Lydia’s voice
shifted to a low, skeptical hiss. “He’d have to be out of his
fucking mind to pull something like that.”
    Krysta’s
eyes narrowed as she blinked rapidly. “I know, I know… It’s
nuts. It is. But my eyes saw what they saw.”
    “ What
did the guy do?”
    “ He
was just walking by at a fast clip.”
    “ Which
area was he in?”
    “ Passing
by the rec hall.”
    A
lump in her throat formed as her heart began to beat a samba dance of
hope and disbelief. “Do you think…” she started, grasping at
words.
    A
burst of laughter from the other room, led by Jeremy and her father,
interrupted her words. That lump grew.
    Her
heart continued to hop all over the place.
    A
concerned look from Krysta made her try again. “Do you think he
even cares?”
    “ Jeremy?”
    Lydia
shook her head, eyes starting to fill with tears. “I know Jeremy
cares.” The two shared a sweet, deep look that Lydia could only
have with her best friend.
    “ But
you can’t let go of Mike.”
    Nod.
    Krysta
shrugged. “I don’t know. And I’m not helping matters, am I?”
    “ You
saw what you saw.” Lydia used the pads of her fingers to wipe the
pooled tears out of her eyes, then sniffed.
    “ I
hate this,” Krysta said, sighing as Caleb walked through the rec
hall to say something to Sandy. Whatever answer he needed, he got,
then he marched back out the front door without a glance at anyone
else.
    “ Hate
what?”
    Trailing
Caleb’s exit, Krysta turned back to Lydia with shiny eyes of her
own.
    “ Unrequited
love.”
    “ You
think I love Mike?” Lydia barked, the sound meant to be
dismissive—but her words turned up at the end, more a question than
a dismissal.
    “ You
think I love Caleb?” Krysta asked, reproach dripping in her tone.
    Silence.
    “ We’re
so fucked,” they said in unison.

Chapter
Four
    Krysta
had come damn close to recognizing him earlier, and although he’d
been careful not to look up as he realized who she was, he could tell
from subtle, nonverbal cues that his appearance set her on high
alert. Using any form of a disguise hadn’t occurred to him, because
he’d planned to be long gone at the end of the month.
    Never
in a billion years had he imagined Lydia would come back home, bring
Krysta and Jeremy and make this a nightmare.
    Of
his own making.
    When
you’re caught in a nightmare, hostage to your subconscious, the
only way out is to take over the dream through conscious techniques.
Mike had one option now:
    Lead
his own nightmare. Hence his signing up for the talent show. He
hadn’t touched a guitar in, what—seven years? Longer? But a local
consignment shop had one in the window and he’d found himself
recalling chords with relative ease. Riffing dusted off his old
skills and he’d spent the last two days deciding he had to reveal
himself on his terms.
    No
one