Chapter 8 #3
I shake my head, laughing. “And isn’t that lovely for you? We’ve been here, what? Forty-eight hours and you’re already soaked over a guy you just met?” I toss my hands in the air. “And before you get all defensive, same. UGH. What are we even doing?”
Rachel opens her mouth like she's about to argue, but her face shifts. She exhales, shrugging. “Okay, fine. You’re right. I’m totally wet just thinking about him. But that doesn't mean anything.”
Her voice is lighter, but there’s something else beneath it. She pauses, chewing on her bottom lip before finally saying what I knew was coming.
“I have Bobby.”
And just like that, her mood shifts. The undercurrent of guilt she’s been pushing down finally breaks the surface. I don’t say anything right away. Because yeah, we do know. And it’s more than just a mess.
Then she tilts her head, giving me a pointed look. “You, on the other hand, could actually do something about it if you wanted to. You’re just choosing not to.” She grins, leaning back with a satisfied look. “Good luck, girl. You’re gonna need it. I've seen that man.”
I laugh, shaking my head, but her words sit heavier than I’d like. Because she’s right. I’m actively avoiding something I can’t ignore forever.
“I'm only going to indulge in looking.” I declare, more for my own benefit than hers. “No more touching.”
“And now that my phone is lost, that part’s easy.” I add.
Rachel arches an eyebrow, crossing her arms. “Ummm… I saw you last night. Don’t act like you’re swearing off men when you were practically climbing him like a damn tree.”
Heat rushes up my neck. Busted.
“I was not climbing him like a tree.” I protest, even though I’m already laughing. “That would’ve required having enough feeling in my legs to climb.”
Rachel loses it, doubling over as she cackles. “Rave, I don’t know what to tell you. You’re screwed.”
She sighs dramatically, twirling a lock of her hair.
“As for Cam? He’s so funny. I thought he was hilarious last night, but I wasn't sure if that was just the alcohol talking.” Her grin widens.
“I mean, it’s not like we’re getting married or anything.
Since there’s Bobby, obviously.” She waves a hand like that’s a footnote rather than the main issue. “It’s not like that.”
She pauses, sighing. “But he’s just so damn beautiful to look at. And that accent?”
I snort. “Umm, Rach? I hate to break it to you, but you've said that about every man you’ve climbed.”
Her mouth drops open. “That is completely untrue. I’ve never called another man beautiful.” She shakes her head, still caught up in whatever fantasy world she’s living in. “Cam is beautiful in a manly way. These Scottish men are something else.”
I can’t help but laugh. She’s not wrong. And that is exactly why I’m on a hiatus from men. All men. Scottish, American, mermen. Every last one of them.
By the time we’re ready to head out, I do one last walkthrough, scanning the place for my missing phone. Still no sign of it, but I refuse to let it ruin my day.
Rachel’s tapping away on her phone, smiling. “Let me just send off a quick text, and we’re good to go.”
“Wait, who are you texting?” I ask, though I have a feeling I already know.
She looks at me with a look that's too smug to be anything but trouble. With a shrug, she tries to play it cool. “He asked what we were up to, so I told him we’re hunting for your phone.” She pauses, biting her lip to suppress a laugh. “To which he replied, ‘I bet a raven took it.’”
I groan. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Her phone starts ringing and I glance over her shoulder. Sure enough, Cam the Man flashes across the screen. Along with a candid photo Rachel clearly snapped of him at the pub. Judging by the confused look on his face, he wasn’t exactly ready for his close-up.
Yup, sounds about right. Rachel has a habit of taking the most unflattering yet hilarious photos of people for their contact pictures.
She answers with a dramatic eye roll. “Hey, loser.”
A pause. Then she laughs. “Yeah?” Another pause. “No, we looked and can’t find it… of course I'm sure.”
She listens for a second, and then her brows pull together. “Wait… what do you mean you have it? Why do you have it?”
Her eyes narrow as Cam says something on the other end. Then, she pulls the phone away from her ear with an exaggerated huff. “Rude! He hung up on me!”
Right on cue, there’s a knock at the door.
She walks over, yanking the door open and Cam the Man himself is standing there, holding my phone with a smug grin plastered across his face.
“Hey! Where did you find that? Wait, why are you here?” I ask, caught between relief and complete confusion.
Rachel jumps in before Cam can answer. Oh boy.
“I told them to come get us so we could sightsee in style.” She announces, doing a little celebratory dance.
I whip my head toward her. “Rachel!”
“What?”
I shoot her a look. “Can we talk for a second?”
She just grins, already grabbing my wrist and steering me toward the bedroom. “We’ll be out in a minute!” She calls over her shoulder.
The second the door clicks shut behind us, I turn on her. “You told them to come get us?”
Rachel flops onto the bed like this is the best idea she’s ever had. “Listen, it’ll be fun, I promise. If you hate it, we can bail. But they’ve got a car, and we don't. And I’m still feeling a little hungover, and—”
I hold up a hand. “I get it, it’s fine. I’m sure it’ll be fun.”
I do think it’ll be fun. But that’s not what I'm afraid of.
“Stevie Nicks?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.
Rachel doesn’t even hesitate. “Always.”
That's our safe word. It's from our first trip together when I needed rescuing from a guy who wasn’t getting the hint.
It took her way too long to catch on, but once she did, she swooped in, dramatic as ever.
The guy ended up getting kicked out, ego bruised, but otherwise harmless.
So now we use it whenever we want out of something.
We walk back out and I immediately notice Cam isn’t in the house anymore. Grabbing our things, we step outside to find a blacked-out Range Rover parked in the driveway.
Cam leans casually against it, spinning my phone between his fingers like a prize. The cocky grin he wears is nothing short of infuriating.
“It was under the coffee table on your porch,” he announces before I can even ask. “Maybe next time, try looking.”
“Wait. What? I swear I checked there.”
Cam just shrugs, giving me a knowing look.Weird. But whatever. I have it now, and that’s all that matters.
I walk toward the car and Kane moves around to open my door. Cam does the same for Rachel, and they both hop in together.
Kane rounds the car and despite every single warning bell in my head telling me not to, my eyes betray me.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
The way he moves is effortless, confident, and completely unbothered. It pulls my attention in a way I wish I could ignore.
It’s going to be the death of me, pretending like I don’t notice him.
“Hi.”
That’s it. Just one word. His voice is low and casual, like he has no idea how easily he’s throwing me off balance.
“Uh, hi.”
Kill me. My voice comes out way too airy, and to make it even worse, I wave at him.
Kane’s lips twitch, like he’s holding back.
I scramble for any sense of normalcy, but it’s impossible when he looks like that. And all he’s wearing is jeans and a t-shirt. In my defense, they look like they were made just for him. My eyes go straight to his arms.
Jesus.
Does he live in the gym? Could his arms get any bigger? How is it that without even touching him, I already feel guilty for the things I’m picturing him doing with those.
I’m fine. It’s nothing.
“Phone mystery solved?” He asks as the car smoothly pulls away from the curb.
“Yup,” still a little thrown off. “I thought I lost it. I swear I looked everywhere. It went straight to voicemail when I called, which is weird because it was fully charged when I was using it this morning. Apparently, it was on the porch the whole time.”
We stop at a red light, and Kane glances over, looking right at me.
He lingers longer than necessary. But it's long enough that my lungs suddenly forget how to function properly. Then, just as smoothly, he shifts his attention back to the road.
“Do you have a password on it?”
I hesitate, catching the twitch of his mouth.
“Um, yes?” I drawl, suspiciously. “If you’re planning on stealing it, I should warn you, you won’t be able to get in.”
His eyes flick to me, and for a second, I swear I see a smile creeping in.
But then he rolls his eyes, shaking his head. “I’m not interested in your secrets, Princess.”
“Uh-huh. Sure.”
His lips twitch, but he doesn’t take the bait.
“So, where are we going?” I ask instead, eager to break the tension swirling between us.
“You’ll see.” Cam chimes in from the backseat.