Chapter 25
‘I can do that,' I said softly, coming up behind Rosie and resting a palm on the small of her back. She was elbow deep in hot soapy water. Loose strands of hair coming out of her ponytail, jumper rolled up her forearms.
‘You cooked dinner.’ She tilted her head, catching me staring, a small smile played on her lips. She covered it quickly, ducking back to the sink and scrubbing one of the pots, placing it on the drying rack.
‘So?’ I said, nudging her hip with mine to get her to move.
‘Stop!’ She laughed, using all her body weight to stay at the sink. ‘I was here first.’
‘So it’s my turn now then.’ I stopped pushing, letting her body weight falter. Using that to my advantage, I grabbed her hips and lifted her clean off the ground in a circle until she was on the opposite side of the kitchen. She squealed, hitting me in the back with her dripping wet hands.
‘I’m perfectly capable of washing some bloody dishes,’ she grumbled, a hint of laughter still in her voice.
Going back to the sink, I threw a tea towel at her.
‘Didn’t say you weren’t.’ She caught it and dried her hands, that fucking smile that gut me dancing on her lips.
It took every ounce of my restraint to not march over there and claim that mouth.
I swallowed down my arousal. Fallon and Oliver had gone upstairs after dinner to wash the drive and the afternoon off of them.
Despite Fallon’s ire towards my brother earlier, the two of them seemed to have worked it out.
I was happy for them. The last thing in the world I wanted was to be the reason something went wrong in their relationship.
It was well after nine o’clock at night. We’d all eaten the spaghetti bolognese I made, the awkward energy having dissipated considerably since that afternoon.
I’d been all set to haul Oliver in front of Rosie and force an abject apology out of him when we returned from town.
However, Fallon beat me to the punch. When we arrived back at the cabin, Oliver came out and asked to speak to Rosie.
The two of them talked outside whilst I tried my best not to leer out the window at them.
I wasn’t exactly sure what he’d said, Rosie refused to say and so did he.
As the dinner went on, everyone relaxed and the conversation had slipped back into the banter we all were used to.
I’d not hung out like this with my brother in a long time.
Despite my worry about the shop, constantly whirring around my head, I forced myself to not let it cloud this weekend.
As I had been dishing up dinner, Rosie sidled up to me and said quietly that Fallon hadn’t told Oliver about the bet.
She’d been meaning to, but with the end of the season and playing the last game, and then his birthday, it never seemed the right time.
Given how he went off finding us together, Rosie suggested it wasn’t the best idea to tell him now.
I kept my lips sealed. Nodding stiffly.
If that’s how my brother reacted when he thought it was real, he’d lose the last of his shit finding out it was all for a bet.
Real. It was fucking real. To me and I knew Rosie could feel the shift between us. Whether or not she wanted to admit it. It was there. How do you go about convincing a girl who doesn’t want to believe in love, to give it a chance?
Finishing up the last of the dishes, I picked up the tea towel she’d dropped, wiping my hands on it. Rosie was sipping on her wine, staring out of the darkened window. A contemplative look casting a shadow over her face.
‘You okay?’ I asked, throwing the towel down and folding my arms over my chest.
She looked back like I’d startled her out of her thoughts. ‘Hmm.’ She nodded, taking another sip.
‘Hey, what's going on?’ I rested my hip against the counter, touching her chin with the tip of my finger, tilting it up.
She smiled softly. That simple gesture, making her smile instead of pull away, caused my heart to swell.
As quick as it came, it disappeared. A familiar shadow crossed over her face, lips turning down, making her retreat in on herself.
She swallowed thickly, taking a minute before answering. When she did, my throat constricted at the pain in her voice. ‘I’ve never cheated on anyone, you know.’
Where the fuck had that come from?
I shook my head. ‘Never said you had, sweetheart.’
‘I know.’ She twirled the stem of her wineglass around her fingers. ‘But people think simply because I love sex and hate relationships that I’ve got loose morals.’
‘That’s bullshit,’ I cut in.
Her eyes softened. ‘I know. My point is… I don’t really know what my point is, I just needed you to know that I’d never do that.’
‘I know you wouldn’t,’ I said firmly. Call me stupid, but I didn’t need her to tell me that to know it.
She searched my face, looking for something. For the crack that told her I was lying, or didn’t truly mean it. She wouldn’t find it.
‘You’ve got more faith in me than your brother does,’ she muttered. Oliver’s words had cut her deeper than she’d shown.
I flexed my knuckles. Fucking Oliver.
‘He needs to learn to shut his damn mouth,’ I huffed out.
She shrugged. ‘He’s your brother, he’s doing his sibling duty.’
‘He’s a fucking hypocrite, the amount of shit I put up with when he was younger and on the team.’ My anger clearly hadn’t abated all that much. She put her glass down and stood up, pressing her palms to my chest, looking up at me.
‘Stop.’ She spoke softly, but might as well have screamed it for how my body reacted.
Instinctively, my hands reached out and covered hers. The thump of my heart pulsed under our palms. Her eyes dipped down to where our hands were connected and I knew she felt my heart rate quicken.
‘You’ve got someone fighting for you, someone in your corner. That will always be a good thing. Even if you can’t see it at the time.’
She didn’t lift her gaze from my chest and I got the feeling that she was talking herself out of saying more.
Her mouth would open a millimetre, only to close seconds later.
I stayed perfectly still, letting the moment go on as long as she needed it to.
I wasn’t about to force any truth from her.
Every part of herself she gave me felt like a gift, one I’d keep tucked away in my chest.
Her eyes fluttered closed, and she drew her bottom lip into her mouth. As much as I wanted to pull that from her teeth, I didn’t want to break the spell. So I waited.
We were both yanked out of the moment by Fallon, who came thudding down the stairs, followed by Roxy. Brazenly, she linked her fingers with Rosie’s, pulling them off me.
‘’Scuse me. I require her.’ Fallon didn’t give either of us a chance to react. Tugging her to the patio doors. ‘We are making a fire and roasting marshmallows.’
Oliver, who had come sauntering down the stairs seconds after her, tugging on a jumper—no prizes to guess what they were doing upstairs—stifled a laugh.
‘You’re going to start a fire, Pooh?’
One hand linked with Rosie, the other holding open the back door, Fallon lifted her nose in the air.
‘I can start a fire.’
Fucking hell. The two of them really were two peas in a pod.
Oliver arched a brow in disbelief.
‘Yeah, we are two very smart women, thank you very much.’ Rosie said, mimicking Fallon’s defiant expression.
‘Have you ever even been camping?’ Oliver’s brow quirked. The girls stayed silent for a second, having a conversation with their eyes. Rosie cleared her throat. ‘None of your business.’ She poked Fallon in the shoulder, and the two hustled outside, snapping the door closed.
I breathed out a bemused laugh. ‘Does she know the logs are on the other side of the cabin?’
Oliver came to stand next to me, watching them search the dimly lit patio for what they needed to start the fire.
‘I’m gonna go with no.’ He sighed, a fondness in his expression he only wore for the pink-haired girl out there.
We stood in silence for a moment. Now it was just the two of us, the weight of all the secrets and his words from earlier hung heavy in the air. He exhaled a weighty breath, burying his hands in his pockets and turning to face me.
‘Look, I’m not good with this shit. But I’m sorry.’
My head dropped between my shoulders. ‘It’s not me you needed to apologise to.’
‘And I apologised to Rosie, but man, it was a bit of a shock seeing you guys together like that.’
I scraped a hand down my face. ‘I know. That’s not really what Fallon meant when she said she wanted to surprise you for your birthday.’
He huffed out a laugh. ‘It’s alright. I knew about it all, anyway.’
My head snapped to the left, seeing the slow grin spread across his face. ‘How did you find out?’
He glanced out the window, the corners of his eyes creasing as he watched the girls gather around the unlit fire pit.
‘I love that woman, but her observational skills aren’t great.’ When I continued to stare at him in confusion, he chuckled. ‘When she was booking this place, she copied me in on the email.’
I groaned, swiping a hand down my face. Unable to stop myself from joining in on the mirth. ‘So you knew we’d be here too?’
He nodded. ‘Fallon leaves notes for herself around her flat, to remind her to do things. One of them said, ‘take birthday shit to Rosie, so he doesn’t find them’.’
‘Christ, why didn’t you tell her you knew?’
His expression sobered. ‘Because she was happy. And I’d do a fucking lot more than pretend to be surprised to make that girl smile.’
Every word was laced with sincerity. We fell into a comfortable silence, staring out the window at the girls.
They’d found chairs from somewhere and were setting them up around the fire pit.
Even in the small stream of light coming from the moon, it set a halo around the two of them.
Fallon said something as she tried to set up one of the chairs, and Rosie tipped her head back, laughing.
I lifted my hand to my chest, rubbing at the spot that felt tight, making it hard to breathe. Oliver eyed the movement. He looked away and shook his head almost imperceptibly.
‘I’m sorry though, I didn’t mean to go off on you,’ he said, regret heavy in his tone. I got the distinct feeling there was more he was holding back.
‘I appreciate that.’ I shoved his shoulder lightly. ‘You’re still a prick.’
He huffed out a laugh. ‘So I’m told.’
When some doubt still lingered in his eyes, I slapped a hand on his back. ‘We’re good.’
‘That’s not how you do it.’ A high-pitched voice cried from outside. My chest nearly collapsed at hearing Rosie’s cry.
One of them had lit a match. In the dark, I couldn’t quite make out who it was. We didn’t waste any time. Oliver and I sprang into action, hurtling towards the back door.