Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Cade
I can’t stop staring.
From across the fire, I watch Oaklee as she sits on my tailgate and laughs at something my sister or her friend, Sommer, said. The three of them were engaged in an animated conversation, punctuated by the swigs from beer bottles or cans of fruity seltzers.
I’m not just keeping an eye on her because she’s beautiful, however. Ever since we moved back here and lit the bonfire, she started drinking and really letting her hair down. She’s met just about everyone, and she appears as calm and polite as possible.
But now that the sun has gone down and the booze is flowing, I’m seeing a whole different side of Oaklee. She’s fun. Her laughter fills the air, and the flames dance in her eyes. She seems so carefree and happy, and in the moment, I’d do anything to see this side of her over and over again.
Watching her isn’t a hardship.
She spots me—or feels my gaze—and says something to my sister before hopping off the tailgate and making her way toward me. There’s a slight sway to her gait, and even though she doesn’t appear to be drunk, she’s most definitely a little tipsy.
“Hey, you,” she says, stepping to my side and facing the warmth of the fire.
“Having a good time?” I ask.
“I am. Your sister and Sommer are fun,” she replies, taking a drink of her seltzer.
I just smile, especially since those two have probably told every embarrassing story they could think of, as long as it starred yours truly.
“So, I have a bit of a problem,” she says, leaning toward me.
I bend down slightly, her body brushing against mine as she gets nice and close. “What’s that?”
“Well, I’ve been drinking. I said I’d only have one so I could drive home, but then one turned to two, and now I’m feeling all warm and tingly and I know I shouldn’t drive home.”
“Definitely not,” I confirm, already knowing where this is going—or at least, where she’s gonna end up. “I do have a solution for your dilemma.”
“You do?” she asks, turning to face me. Her chest presses against my arm, and it takes all the strength I possess not to just pull her into my embrace, ensuring her entire body is pressed firmly against mine.
“I do.” I reach for her hip and rest a light hand against her. “I happen to have a tent.”
“I saw,” she sings, dark eyes darting to where I told her my tent is positioned.
“And I might have a big blanket in there. Big enough for two,” I confirm, doing all I can not to move my hand or flex my fingers, even though they itch to slide beneath her shirt and touch her soft skin.
“Do you have a pillow?” she asks, her question laced with humor.
I tsk and mumble, “Only one. We’d have to share.”
“Hmm,” she says, twisting lightly from side to side. Not enough to dislodge my hand but enough for me to notice her movements. “Do you hog the covers?”
“Oh, I’m a blanket hog for sure,” I state, unable to fight the grin.
“I bet you are, but if I bunk with you, you’ll have to share the blanket and the pillow. That means we might be closer than normal. I mean, we won’t be able to put a buffer of pillows between us to keep from touching.”
“No, we won’t,” I agree, feigning disappointment.
“I think we can do it though.”
My eyebrows raise as a wolfish grin spreads across my face at her unknowing innuendo. “Are we still talking about keeping our hands to ourselves…or not keeping them to ourselves.”
One of her adorable blushes creeps up her neck and stains her cheeks pink. “Well, I guess we’ll find out, won’t we.”
I lift my arm and sling it around her shoulders. She sags against my side, her own arm wrapping around my waist. “Oh, beautiful, you are definitely trouble.”
She sighs and rests her head against the side of my pec. “I could say the same about you, slugger.”
I don’t know how long we stand here, my arm slung over her shoulder and hers on my waist, but it’s quite a while.
Alex comes over and chats for a while, even going as far as to go to my cooler and grabbing Oaklee and me each another drink.
I might bake him a cake tomorrow as a thank you, because letting go of her wasn’t something I wanted to do.
When my sister and Sommer come over, Alex slips away to throw a little more wood on the fire. “You two look cozy,” Charli sings, waggling her eyebrows.
“He’s warm and strong and holds me up so I don’t face-plant onto the ground,” Oaklee states with a drunk little giggle.
“Well, come on. It’s potty time,” Sommer says.
“I can run you up on the Mule,” I suggest.
“You will do no such thing. We’re perfectly capable of walking up to the barn, thank you very much,” Charli sasses, pointing her finger at me.
“Besides, now that she has some liquor in her, we can get her to talk about what happened when you two went for that ride and were gone for a good forty-five minutes.”
“A lot can happen in forty-five minutes,” Sommer adds with a giggle.
“All right, friends, let’s go pee,” Oaklee states, reaching for Charli’s hand. The three of them link arms and head off into the darkness, the sounds of their giggles barely heard over the music and talking.
It’s not a long walk to the barn, maybe a hundred yards are so, but I wish they’d have let me take them on the Mule. Wyatt brings it down here for that very purpose, to easily transport people from the barn and the bonfire, but some of the women do walk.
Once they fall farther than the glow of the fire, I almost go after them. What if one of them trips and falls? What if a wild critter attacks them? What if they get lost?
I’m being completely ridiculous, and I know it.
Nothing is going to get close to the ladies, not with the size of the fire. And if one of them fell and needed help, they’d call. And getting lost?
Fuck, I’ve lost my mind.
I chug half the beer I’m holding just to give myself something to do.
I’m drinking a lot slower tonight than I usually do, and I’m not going to lie to myself about the reason why.
It’s Oaklee. I’m constantly making sure she’s all right and having fun, making sure her drink is full, and no one is bothering her.
I’ve paid more attention to her in the last few hours than I ever have for a woman—maybe even all of them combined.
“You all right? You look like you’re about to run off into the night and slay dragons.”
I glance at my youngest brother, Camden, and raise an eyebrow. “Slay dragons?”
“Yeah, you have this don’t fuck with her look on your face or you’ll stab someone with a damn sword,” he states.
I snort. “I don’t have a sword. At least not a metal one,” I joke.
My brother shakes his head. “Definitely not what I was talking about.”
I glance toward the barn, catching sight of the trio of giggling women as they reach the building.
There’s enough light outside to see as they slip inside the wide-open doors and disappear.
When Wyatt bought the property from his parents, he remodeled the old studio apartment in the hayloft, as well as updated the bathroom.
The old one had a tiny shower stall, a pedestal sink, and an avocado green toilet.
Since he didn’t need the apartment for a farmhand, he opted to make the bathroom bigger and take out the wall between the kitchenette and living and bedroom space.
It wasn’t very functional anyway, and now he uses it for these kinds of gatherings.
The extra fridge space comes in handy, as does the old couch and recliner.
There have been plenty of times one of us would crash up there, so we didn’t have to drive home at the end of a long night of either working or playing or both.
After a few seconds, I ask, “Having fun?”
“Yeah. You?”
“Sure,” I state, watching as Wyatt pulls out his guitar. I can’t help but smile. “Things are about to get musical.”
Camden chuckles and takes a drink of his beer, finishing it off. “Want another?” he asks, but I shake my head.
“I’m good.” I don’t mention the fact I’ve been nursing this one for a bit now, trying to make sure I have my wits about me. “You driving?”
“Nope,” he replies, twisting the top off a beer and taking a drink. I recognize the brand instantly as the one Lizzie’s dad and uncles own. “My tent’s up.”
“Good,” I reply.
“Oaklee staying with you? Or did you throw a tent up for Charli and Sommer, and she’s staying with them?” he asks.
I’m barely able to bite back my groan. Shit.
Charli and Sommer. I usually let my sister and her friend crash with me.
My tent could easily fit all four of us, but to be honest, four’s a crowd.
The last thing I want is my sister and her friend lying right next to me and Oaklee while I’m holding her in my arms for the very first time.
My asshole brother snickers. “They can crash with me and Q.”
That makes me smile. Charli hates Q for whatever reason or at least loves to give him shit. Maybe hate isn’t the right word, but he definitely gets under her skin regularly. He’s like the annoying little brother who knows exactly which buttons to push and does it as often as humanly possible.
“I bet Charli’s gonna love that.”
Cam laughs. “For sure, but my tent is a little bigger than yours, so it’ll be easier to fit four in there.”
“I’ve got an extra blanket in mine, or we can run up to the barn and grab a few from the apartment.” I know Wyatt keeps some up there for times like this.
“No, it’s good.”
“Thanks, man,” I say as the music from the speakers is killed and Wyatt starts strumming his guitar strings.
He plays around for a few minutes, warming up his fingers and playing small chords of music.
I know it won’t be long now before the singing starts, and I’ll be asked to join in.
I usually don’t mind though. I love to sing.
In fact, I’m pretty damn good at it. But tonight is about spending time with Oaklee, and I can’t do that if I’m standing next to my best friend and singing along to whatever country song he decides to play.