Chapter 26 #2
Fallon made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat. Oliver booped her gently on the nose, eyes darting back to me, waiting to hear the rest of the story.
‘And after several hours of them being little twats,’ I continued. ‘They fell asleep. So I grabbed all of their bags filled with clothes and makeup, because that’s obviously what you bring camping.’ I rolled my eyes. ‘And threw all of them in the lake.’
George choked out a laugh. Oliver’s lips pressed together, head nodding in grudging respect.
Fallon arched her brow, smiling. ‘If only that was the end of the story.’
Heaving a sigh, I continued. ‘I’d been collecting all the different types of bugs I could find on the trip, because they were cool and I wanted to bring them home to show Mum.’ Thinking of doing that now nearly made me laugh.
Mum would probably toss the entire lot in a saucepan in the hopes it conjured some demon.
Back then, before she started getting into the witchy stuff, she loved seeing all the things I collected.
We’d build snail farms together, and spider sanctuaries—which was really just piling leaves into a box and then wondering why they kept escaping.
I swallowed down the rush of emotion that clawed up my throat.
‘I had a jar of slugs and I emptied the lot into the girls' sleeping bags,' I said proudly. ‘Long story short, everyone woke up at three am to the screams and I got suspended and banned from all future school trips.’
The vibration of George’s laugh rippled through my body.
‘And the two of you were perfect angels at school, I’m sure,’ I said, turning the tables.
‘We were,’ Oliver piped. ‘I definitely never got suspended.’
I scoffed. ‘I find that hard to believe.’
‘I never got suspended.’ His gaze flicked over my head. Gasping, I tilted my head back. George’s jaw ticked as he glared at his brother before his eyes darted back to mine.
‘You’re not the only one who got in trouble for revenge, sweetheart.’
I grinned. ‘Tell me more.’
‘When we were in primary school, kids had a habit of sticking his head down the toilet.’
Fallon barked out a laugh. Oliver sniffed indignantly. ‘I was a really cute kid. They were jealous.’
Sighing, George carried on, ‘I found him coming out of the toilet, soaking wet, and I’m gonna bring you back down to earth, man, you looked like a wet rat.’
Oliver looked like he wanted to disagree but at the look George gave him he just shrugged.
‘What did you do?’ I poked George’s hand, needing to hear the rest of the story.
He took hold of my fingers, threading them together with his. ‘Found the main ring leader of the group of fuckers who were bullying him, grabbed him by the neck and threw him up against the wall, smashing his glasses and fracturing his wrist.’
I might not be in a dark romance book, but picturing that definitely had the cogs in my brain whirring to life.
George read my mind, and like I’d stumbled down my darkest fantasies of romance, a low rumble echoed in the back of his throat.
A hand dipped down to my stomach, pushing open the huge coat, keeping the cold out.
His fingers barely grazed the bare skin of my belly, the touch featherlight but it sent a million fireworks bursting to life across my skin.
Suddenly, the coat felt like overkill as my body burned up.
Jesus Christ. All he did was touch me and I was ready to turn around and give him a fucking lap dance.
He felt me tense. ‘You okay?’ His breath tickled the base of my ear.
Thankfully, before I could answer in nothing more than a breathy moan, Oliver piped up. ‘I guess you guys were made for each other then.’
All the muscles in my body froze. ‘What?’
Fallon’s eyes widened at the harshness in my tone. George removed his hand, placing it on my thigh, probably to comfort me.
‘You both have a history of vigilante justice. Unlike someone who can’t keep a secret to save her life.
’ His gaze shifted to Fallon, who was watching me like a hawk, her eyes pinched in concern.
I forced a stiff smile to my face. A shit attempt to convince her I was fine.
That this didn’t bother me in the slightest. All of us sitting around like we were one big happy family.
When his words finally registered, her mouth dropped open in indignation. ‘Hey, I kept this weekend a secret from you, didn’t I?’
A wry smile crossed Oliver’s lips as he brought them down on Fallon’s. ‘That you did, Pooh.’
She beamed. She’d gone to a lot of effort trying to get this trip perfect for him.
Including the giant cake he hadn’t even seen yet.
Seeing him appreciate everything she did, and the very essence of who she was, settled something deep in my soul.
It brought an unbidden ache in the pit of my stomach.
I reached out my hand to George, who still held the tequila, and gulped down several shots of the bitter liquid.
The night went on and several rounds of shots were taken, enough that I had a light buzz going.
At some point during the evening, I shifted out of George’s lap and moved to the chair beside him.
I blamed the alcohol for making me extra horny, but feeling his hard body pressed so close to mine was not helping me keep a clear head.
Add into the fact that he smelt like fresh air and clean clothes, my underwear was ready to disintegrate if I stayed there much longer.
Fallon tapped Oliver on the arm, asking him to relinquish her.
When he only tightened his hold and pretended not to understand English, she whispered something in his ear and he dropped his arms immediately.
I don’t want to know what kind of sexual favour she just promised, the shit-eating grin on his face said enough.
The boys were chatting about the latest rugby season, passing the bottle of tequila back and forth. Fallon skirted around the fire and dragged the spare chair next to mine.
‘Hey, pretty girl,’ she said, sinking down into the chair.
I smiled softly at her and shifted my chair closer so my head could rest on her shoulder.
‘I hate sports,’ I mumbled, watching Oliver and George get more animated by the minute. Talking about a bad call the ref made.
Fallon huffed out a muted laugh. ‘I think I’m in it for life now.’ I tilted my head back to look at her. She stared at Oliver like she’d found a pot of gold.
‘It’s only been a year,’ I grunted.
Her shoulder lifted in a small shrug. The breathless quality to her voice made my heart seize. ‘I know.’
My head popped up. Irrational panic taking hold. ‘Wait, are you guys getting engaged?’
Her eyes grew wide. She clasped a hand over my mouth. ‘Okay, inside voices please.’
I licked her palm, making her pull away and wipe in on her thigh with a grimace.
‘We’re outside,’ I replied petulantly. ‘And are you seriously already thinking about marriage?’
I shifted in the deck chair. She avoided my gaze, twisting her fingers around in her lap. ‘I guess… I don’t know. Things are good right now, but the longer we’re together, I guess I can’t help but think about the future.’
The laugh that left me was short and held no trace of humour. ‘So a ring and babies.’
‘You don’t need to make it sound like a death sentence.’ She frowned. ‘And I didn’t say anything about kids.’
‘You will though, won’t you? Get married, have a bunch of kids and live in a mansion somewhere.’
A rare spark of anger flashed across her face. ‘Where the fuck is this coming from? All I said was that I’m probably going to be listening to him talk about sports for life. I didn’t mention marriage or babies.’
The conversation that had been happening not three feet from us went eerily quiet.
Exhaling a frustrated sigh, I ran a hand through my hair. ‘Not yet.’
She collected my hands in hers. ‘Rosie, why are you freaking out about this?’
I shot to my feet, dislodging her hands, my heart crashing against my chest in an unsteady rhythm. ‘Because you’re going to fucking leave me.’
Silence reigned. The only sound came from the crackling of the fire. Fallon’s face collapsed, bottom lip quivering.
‘Rosie.’ George’s voice reverberated through the night air. My head jerked in his direction. Oliver’s face turned to granite.
A million tiny ants started crawling up my spine as everyone’s eyes locked onto me.
A laugh that sounded like sandpaper scraped up my throat. ‘Too much tequila,’ I whispered.
‘Babe.’ Fallon stood up. I could feel that traitorous prickle of hot tears build behind my eyes. I forced a weak smile to my face and threw my arms around her neck, dragging her close for a brief hug.
I pulled back. ‘I’m tired. I’m gonna head to bed.’
‘I’ll come with you—’ she started.
Shaking my head, I squeezed her hand. ‘No, it’s alright. I’m fine, promise. Just need some sleep.’
She didn’t look convinced, but right then, I was seconds away from losing my shit. Roxy abandoned her bone, dancing around my feet, a throaty whine sounding.
I mumbled a quick goodnight to the guys, making a concerted effort to not look at George. His gaze drilled into my back as I walked up the steps and wordlessly slipped into the cabin, Roxy hot on my heels.