Chapter 44
We’ve been at the trailhead for about twenty minutes when Robin’s car pulls into view. I would have texted to see how far away she was, only my phone hasn’t had service for the entirety of the hike. Dad and Uncle Jensen each have satellite phones in case of emergency.
I can’t help but grin when I see Robin through the windshield. Her curls are piled on the top of her head in a haphazard bun, and when she hops out of the car, I swallow down a groan. She’s got on one of my T-shirts, the fabric hanging low in the back, but tucked into the front of her worn jeans. The chill fall wind blows the cotton flush against her chest, and I know for a fact that she’s not wearing a bra from the silhouette of those two tight peaks greeting me. Robin clutches her arms around her torso, shivering in the mountain air, and gives me an apologetic wince.
“Have you been waiting long? I’m sorry. I overslept.” She gestures toward her hair and outfit. “I’m a mess.”
Robin just drove two hours to come pick up my smelly ass from a trip with people she’s uncomfortable being around, and she still thinks she needs to apologize to me?
Fuck, I love this woman.
“Just got here,” I say, leaning down to kiss her forehead. I want to scoop her into my arms, but again, I stink.
“My mouth is six inches lower,” Robin informs me, as if I couldn’t spot those pouty lips a mile away.
“Need to brush my teeth,” I explain.
She smirks, and the expression becomes sharper when her eyes hop over my shoulder.
I know who’s behind me before he even speaks.
“Hey, Robin.”
“Daren,” she says by way of greeting, then clicks her key fob to unlock all the doors of her SUV. “Whoever is riding with me, climb on in. It’s colder than Santa’s nutsack out here.” She hurries her way back to the driver’s side as Stewart chortles at the dirty description and climbs into the seat behind her.
I watch Daren’s attention jump to the passenger door and can see the idea form in his mind. I head around the car, ready to cut him off because I’m not in the mood for his assholery. But the guy is quick, sprinting around and slipping in beside Robin before I can block his way.
I grit my teeth so hard that I think I hear a few molars crack and wonder if I’m up for a throwdown, even after hiking five miles.
Yeah, I definitely am.
But once again, I’m too slow. Or maybe too distracted because I watch, enthralled, as Robin kicks open her door, stalks around the hood of her car, wrenches open the passenger door Daren just slammed shut, then drags a man twice her size out of his seat by his ear.
“No,” she snaps, as if scolding a puppy who peed in the house. Robin releases her pinching grasp with a jerk that has Daren stumbling back, rubbing his ear, his face turning red. With a scowl that dares the man to fuck with her, Robin points at the shotgun seat. “That,” she growls, “is where Arthur sits.”
Damn it. She keeps making me fall in love with her.
Not about to turn away her violently presented gift, I slip into my assigned seat and shut the door to keep any more heat from leaking out. Robin settles in behind the wheel, and the car fills out with Marvin and—surprisingly—Daren too. I half expected him to sit in the bed of Dad’s truck with his tail between his legs.
When we’re on the two-lane road that’ll take us back to the trailhead, and the truck that we can pawn my cousins off on, the vehicle descends into a tense quiet.
But that’s what teenagers are for.
“Hey, Robin.” Stewart leans up between our seats, shit-eating grin on his face.
“Hey, Stewart.”
“Yeah, so just wanted to let you know Arthur did great on the hike. Didn’t trip once.”
I stare at my youngest cousin, wary about where this random piece of information is leading the conversation.
Robin throws him a questioning smile. “Good to hear.”
He nods enthusiastically. “Yeah. Thought you might worry. Seeing as how some of us Krauts—not me, of course, because I’ve got great balance—have an issue with slipping. You know, complete accident when you fall and land dick-first in some random lady.”
Marvin chokes on air while Daren growls, heaves his younger brother back, and proceeds to pummel him. Problem is, Stewart might be younger, but he’s getting to be close to the same size as Daren now, so the two of them are an even match as they wrestle in maybe two square feet of space.
If I could properly reach, I’d knock their heads together.
There’s a strange gurgling sound beside me, and when I glance over, I’m shocked to find Robin with her knuckles pressed against her lips, eyes sparkling as she fights laughter.
I reach over to lay my hand on her thigh, needing to hold on to her.
Because I don’t know how she hasn’t run, screaming for the hills, after spending so much time around this messy clan of Krauts.
We’re maybe ten minutes from the trailhead when Marvin finally shouts his two brothers into a seething truce. And it’s about that time my phone starts dinging.
“Back in cell range,” I mutter, slipping my phone from my pocket, wondering if there was an emergency at the post office and that’s why I’m getting a bombardment of messages.
“What?” Robin asks, and I repeat myself, thinking I spoke too low for her to hear.
But then I glance over to find her wide-eyed and white-knuckling the steering wheel.
“You’re mighty popular,” Stewart leans between our seats again as my phone continues to buzz with new messages.
I swipe open my screen and click on the text app to see I have a whole string of messages from...
Robin.
Facing her with a spike of worry, I ask, “Did something happen?”
Her cheeks brighten from pale to pink. “Uh. No. I . . . no.”
I glance down at the first message.
Robin:I miss you
My worry eases, replaced by a warm ache.
Then, I read the next message.
Robin:In bed
“What did she say?” Stewart pushes further forward, being nosy over my shoulder.
“Nothing!” Robin shouts and slaps the phone out of my hand. The device thunks loudly when it falls to the footwell.
The car descends into silence.
My young cousin smirks. “Smooth.”
“There’s no shame in sexting your boyfriend, Robin. Girl power and all that,” Marvin offers from the backseat, voice strained, as if he’s battling laughter.
Sexting.
Is he right? Is that what’s on my phone?
Sexts from Robin.
My entire body goes taut, and if the fire-engine-red color of my fake girlfriend’s face is anything to judge by, there is some real hot content on my mobile device.
And I can’t read it right now because I’m in the car with my three nosy cousins, one of whom is her ex.
The last five minutes of our drive drag by so slow that I keep staring out the window to make sure Robin didn’t slip the car into reverse. Finally, we pull into the parking lot she dropped me off in two days ago, and it’s all I can do to keep from growling, Get out, at my family members.
Remember, most days, you like them.
Marvin and Stewart are decent enough not to linger, but Daren, the asshole, pauses before he fully climbs out.
“I’m not going anywhere, Robin,” he says while staring at the back of her head with determined eyes. “If I have to fight for you, I will.”
I clench my fists in my lap, reminding myself that Robin makes her own decisions, and if I punch my cousin in the face, that won’t solve anything.
Robin doesn’t even glance over her shoulder at him. “Get out of my car. And if that was your way of saying you plan to fight Arthur, know that any bruise you leave on his body, I’ll be the one kissing it better. Or maybe licking it better.”
Daren snarls and shoves his way out of the backseat as I consider chasing him down and requesting we go a few rounds. Give him the first few shots for free.
Ask him to aim low.
Sensing Robin needs some time to settle after the Daren exchange, I keep quiet as she pulls back out onto the road and points us toward Green Valley.
But there’s a heavy weight in this car, and it rests between my feet. Trying to be nonchalant about the movement, I reach down to retrieve my phone.
“Sorry,” she mutters. “Did I crack it?”
I check the front and back. No new cracks or scuffs as far as I can tell.
“You’re good.”
Silence falls again, and my hands physically hurt from not opening the text chain.
“How was—” I clear my throat and shift in my seat. “How was your mom? How was your weekend?”
What’s in the texts?
Are they sexts?
When were you sexting me?
“Good. She says hi back. Her boyfriend’s house is nice. Big. And I...had a me night last night. When I got back to our place . . .” Our place. “You know, movies. Pizza. Wine. Maybe a tad too much wine, if I’m being honest.”
“Oh.”
Sounds like Robin got drunk and texted me. Doubt twists my gut.
Was I even the one she wanted to text?
“Yeah, so I might have gone a little overboard.” Her chuckle is strained.
“Should I delete the texts?”
I don’t want to. I want to read them and know they’re for me.
But if they aren’t, then I want to chuck my phone out the window and start from scratch. Maybe live life off the grid from now on.
“You could,” she says, and my gut dips. “Or . . .” Robin taps her thumbs on the steering wheel.
“Or?”
“Or you could read them to me. Honestly, I forgot I’d sent them until your phone started going off. And now I can’t remember exactly what I said. Just that I was in your bed—yeah, sorry, I had my wine party in your bed—and I was missing you, and drunk Robin decided, Hey, let’s text Arthur our stream of consciousness. Again, not sure what that was at the time.” She tilts her head in thought. “I did get myself off though. So, some of it could be good. Or you’ll find out about a weird fantasy of mine.” She throws me a rueful smile. “If that happens, try not to judge me.”
I stare at her, even as her eyes find the road again.
I love you.
I think the words so hard that I wonder how it is she can’t feel them tattooed on her skin.
But out loud, all I say is, “Yeah, I’ll read them.”