Chapter 26
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Present day
The tire thuds to the ground, a cloud of sand, dirt and dust rising around it as it hits the end of our makeshift workout area in front of the lakeshore. I shake out my palms as I trudge around to the other side of it, getting in position to start flipping it back to Austin.
I bend my legs as I grip my hands underneath it, swallowing a grunt as I push it vertical and then shove it back down.
Austin breathes out a laugh from where he’s sat on the farthest of the three logs, knee bouncing up and down as he tosses his phone back inside his pocket and shakes his head at me.
“You can give yourself a second to recover, man,” he laughs as he pushes one of his hands through his dripping wet hair.
I crack my neck from side to side, giving him an emotionless glance before ignoring him. Water droplets trickle between my shoulder blades as I bend, heave, and flip the tire once again.
Yeah, Austin may be one of my best friends but that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t about to dunk that motherfucker for the shit he pulled in the bar the other week. I mean, I really like the guy and he’s the best goalie that I’ve ever played with, but kissing on Aisling’s ankles while she was dancing all giggly around that pole? Uh, absolutely the fuck not. Hence why when he came out here this morning to workout with the tire that Hunter decided to haul down from one of his dad’s mechanic friends’ garages in Larch Peak, I cracked out my knuckles and jerked my thumb toward the lake, not needing to explain why I wanted to trade a few punches with him seeing as he definitely fucking knows. So he just shrugged, ditched his cell, and then I wrestled that shit-eating grin off his stupid face.
When I’m two more flips away from where he’s sitting he rises to his feet, getting ready for his turn. I glance down at the rolled-up brown bag with my breakfast in it and I steel my jaw, motivating myself to finish these reps.
Austin glances up at me with a smirk that has me shoving the tire a little more aggressively than I need to.
“What?” I grunt, feeling the thick muscles of my quads bulge as I get into my final squat.
His eyes slide over to the lake house and then back to me.
“You trying to impress someone or something?” he grins. I toss the tire to the ground, hitting him with a look.
Goading little shit.
“Watch it,” I rumble. Then I clear my throat and add, “…yeah.”
He drains the last of his take-out coffee, eyes fucking burning with glee because he may or may not have seen me push my way through the fringe of the forest this morning – rather than, you know, the front door of my cabin , so he quickly put two and two together about where I’d been trudging back from.
He doesn’t know the details, like the fact that I’ve spent the past four nights sneaking over to Aisling’s, wrapping her up in my arms, and tucking her into my chest as she falls asleep, but knowing part of my secret has made him suddenly extremely smug.
I wipe my hands on my drenched shorts and take his place on the log, inhaling half of a breakfast muffin before he’s even got his hands on that tire. I shove in the other half and then hunch my shoulders, clenching my hands between my knees, as I allow myself a quick glance over to Ash’s balcony.
She’s talking quietly into her phone, eyes on her sparkly nails, as if she hasn’t been stealing glances at our workout for the past thirty minutes.
I roll my shoulders, pop the top on a new coffee, and drink.
Austin puts on a real show of flexing his biceps when he reaches the end of his first lap, and I roll my eyes all the way to Alabama before begrudgingly checking to see if he actually caught Ash’s attention. Warmth spreads through my chest as she fully turns her back to his performance and I quickly dip my head between my shoulders, trying to hide the smug smile of my own.
My loyal girl.
“Damn,” Austin says, amusement tugging up the corners of his mouth as he starts flipping the tire my way again. “Maybe she actually likes you. Most chicks wouldn’t be able to resist these guns.”
“What guns?” I smirk, as if Austin isn’t literally two-hundred-and-ten pounds.
He frowns at me before quickly peeking down to check on his ‘guns’.
“Fully loaded,” he mumbles to himself, before giving me another scowl and shoving the tire back into the dust.
Grinning, I lift my coffee back to my mouth, only to almost spill the whole thing as I hear the front door of the lake house click open. My eyes fly across the water, breath halting in my chest as Ash pads down the porch steps, hair swishing over her shoulders when she flicks it with the back of her hand.
“Fuck,” I rumble, unable to tear my eyes off of her as she slowly makes her way around the head of the lake. She’s wearing shortie overalls, like she has every day this week so far, plus a little white tank beneath it which makes her tan look extra golden.
I’ve kept my word with Aisling since the first time I snuck over there. Our secret nights have consisted of me making us our blanket fort, squishing her between my biceps, and then kissing the hell out of her before we finally go to sleep.
Strictly kissing and cuddling – no funny business – before she wakes up at the crack of dawn and tries to shove me off of her balcony. I managed to scale down it once, just because I knew that it would make her laugh, but that shit is high and I don’t want to injure my ankle again, which means that I haven’t attempted it again since the first time that I tried.
She did like it when I climbed it though so maybe I’ll give it another go tomorrow morning.
At the same moment that Ash rounds the head of the lake, half of the cabin doors behind us creak open. Her brother and his teammates yawn as they thud down onto the logs, followed by Hughes, Tristan, and Shaw, because they all sensed the fact that there’s food out here at the exact same time.
There’s a whole load of grumbled “morning”s which I completely ignore, eyes still locked onto Aisling as she pats her phone over the denim pocket of her overalls. Then she saunters over to our half circle of way too many fucking guys.
Her eyes slide down to mine as I stare up at her, and my quad is instantly bouncing up and down, pounding the dirt beneath my boot.
She’s looking down at me with that aloof heiress nonchalance, even though we both know that I’ll be sneaking into her bedroom later tonight.
I know it’s just a front that she’s putting on to keep us a secret from the guys, but my chest heaves anyway, not liking the fact that they don’t know that she’s taken.
I swipe my sweating palms down my quads and then shove my dripping hair back from my forehead, swallowing hard as she looks away from me. She laughs warmly as her brother crushes her into a hug and pulls her down next to him.
She’s so beautiful it hurts.
I watch her from the other side of the logs as she digs around for her favourite flavour of muffin, barely able to believe that not two hours ago I was kissing my way down her throat, murmuring how much she means to me.
“We think we might know which site we wanna set up camp on tomorrow night,” Connell announces, mostly to his sister who is back on her phone. He peeks over her shoulder as she taps at lightning speed, earning him a quick jab in the ribs with her elbow, making him grin.
“Can’t come,” Aisling mutters back, her voice so light and pretty that I genuinely have to readjust my shorts. “Got the lake house to finish off.”
“Aw man ,” Connell mock-groans, before peeking down at her to see if his plight has earned him any sympathy from her. It hasn’t, which makes me snicker. “Come on, Ash – you’ve been in there freakin’ day and night this entire week working on the interior. You need a day off in the mountains – stretchin’ those legs, getting some fresh air.”
Austin tries and fails to smother a smirk, flicking his gaze between Aisling’s legs and my I’m gonna murder you, asshole frown.
Aisling pockets her phone again, pursing her lips to the side in consideration as another strawberry muffin is magically outstretched to her.
“You can be the deciding factor about which site we choose,” Connell offers, all wide puppy-dog eyes as he tries to tempt her with more breakfast foods.
Aisling watches the muffin with a wanting little scowl, before her eyes flick across the fire-pit to meet mine. That wary look on her face instantly sets me into motion.
I grab my phone from the dirt and immediately shoot my thumbs across the keys, glancing up at her with a meaningful look to let her know that her phone is about to vibrate at any second.
Her eyes widen in understanding and she shoots to her feet, quickly clutching her cell against her chest before swiping the muffin and excusing herself. I watch her half-run down the shore on our side of the lake, past the area where I was tire flipping this morning, until she’s even past Connell’s cabin. Then she looks down at her phone, the sunlight shimmering around her silhouette in a warm golden halo.
TANNER: you’re almost finished up in the lake house – you deserve a break.
When my phone buzzes with her response my heart thumps into overdrive in my chest.
I’m never gonna get used to her actually replying to my texts.
AISLING: I was just on the phone with my mom and she’s stopping by, like, next week? I need to get everything finished before she actually arrives or I’m screwed.
I’ve been in the lake house every night this week and I know damn well that it’s almost finished. The entire downstairs is furnished, plus she told me that she’d done the bathroom. The only thing that she’s been putting off is building the master suite’s giant bed, and I know that it’s because she’s too obstinate to admit that she can’t lift the heavy wooden pieces.
I set my elbows on my bouncing knees, swallowing quickly when I see that she’s glancing back at me.
TANNER: you know that I’ll help you finish it up, Ash.
AISLING: I would never ask that of you.
I shove a hand through my hair.
Beautiful, stubborn woman.
TANNER: I know you wouldn’t, and you don’t need to. You’re ahead of schedule, and you’ve single-handedly almost finished this reno. You’re so driven it’s crazy – like, I am so fuckin’ hot for you right now.
Was that a risky text to send when her brother is sitting about three feet away from me? Maybe. But when I hit send and lift my head to glance up at her, she’s swishing her hair over her shoulders, preening like a kitten.
I inhale hard and start typing my next text.
TANNER: why don’t you help them pick the campsite for tomorrow, baby. You’ve got so much time to finish up, I swear.
I’m hoping that she can’t see through my rouse because I know she’d fight me to the death if she did.
I watch her tap her finger on her chin in the distance, and a smirk tugs at my mouth when she hits me with her next message.
AISLING: are you coming camping tomorrow too?
TANNER: anything for you, baby.
AISLING: are you gonna sneak into my tent?
TANNER: every freakin’ night.
She sends me an emoji of a smiley face all cuddled up in love hearts and I send her back as many ‘x’s as I can physically type. When she finally pads back to the campfire I catch her eyes and give her a wink.
She drops her gaze, cheeks turning pink, and a tiny dimple pops in her cheek.
Chest heaving with pride, I toss my cell to the dirt, and then I glance over the shimmering water toward Aisling’s lake house.
I crack my knuckles and roll my neck.
I’ve got some work to do.