Chapter 19
THEO
The next morning, I woke before the sun with Raquel’s warmth curled against my side and her soft hair splayed out across my arm. I hadn’t even opened my eyes yet, but I was already smiling. Last night had surpassed even my wildest fantasies, the only problem being that I hadn’t had nearly enough.
As it was, however, I couldn’t exactly stay. I was supposed to have walked her back to the cabin and then returned to the campsite, to sleep in my actual tent. Since I hadn’t done that, my best shot was to creep back in before the rest woke up—and then pretend to have been there all along.
While I didn’t mind who knew what, this wasn’t my town and they weren’t my people. All of which meant that it wasn’t my decision.
Even so, as I cracked open my eyes and saw Raquel still fast asleep beside me, I didn’t move immediately. For once, she was completely unaware that I was staring at her like an idiot, so I kept at it for a minute, just tracing the sweep of eyelashes.
Fucking hell, Theo. Stop. Just move.
I tried swatting the thought away, but when that didn’t work, I forced myself out of bed before I did something embarrassing.
Like happily watch her sleep for the next three hours.
The cabin floor creaked under my feet when I swung my legs out of the bed, but she didn’t stir, just letting out a soft, sleepy sound and burrowing into what had been my pillow.
It took some doing to convince myself to keep moving, but soon, I was dressed and I’d started the little coffee machine in the kitchenette for her.
I already hated having to sneak out. The least I could do was leave behind some kind of gesture to say I wasn’t doing it because last night hadn’t meant anything to me.
The truth was that if I hadn’t been a little worried that Avery had noticed I hadn’t gone back to the campsite, I’d have stayed right here for the rest of the weekend.
Moving quietly over to the door, I cracked it open but then glanced back at her one last time, wishing to everything that had ever been holy that I could stay.
Finally though, common sense won the war I was waging internally and I headed back, crossing the distance to the campsite in less than a quarter of the time it’d taken me last night.
The morning air was cool compared to yesterday’s heat, birds chirping near the shore, and the lake reflecting the rising sun like the water was a mirror.
It was quiet and peaceful out here so early, which made me hope I was the first of our group stupid enough to be up—and desperate enough to avoid detection.
When I reached our campsite, it looked abandoned, the tents quiet beneath the trees and last night’s coolers still scattered around the fire pit.
Hopefully, they’d keep sleeping off their bad decisions and I could slip in without anyone being the wiser. I drew in a deep breath, but just as I started crossing the site toward my tent, a voice spoke up behind me.
“Morning, Romeo.”
Damn it.
I looked down toward the dock, my heart sinking when I saw Avery standing beside the boat, tightening a strap on its canopy.
Fuck, of course he’d be the one awake.
“Morning,” I said, wondering if there was any chance I could convince him I’d simply gone for an early morning piss.
Yeah, wearing last night’s clothes. Great plan, Westwood.
One of his eyebrows swept up as he grinned. “That’s all I get? Just a morning?”
I sighed, accepting the reality that I was now facing the older brother of the girl I’d slept with last night—and that he probably knew it. “What exactly are you fishing for here, Avery? My good morning not enthusiastic enough for ya?”
“Nah, it was enthusiastic enough, but maybe I’m also interested in the truth.”
“Are you sure about that?” I asked point blank, carefully gauging the situation.
“Yeah.” He was either going to start swinging or drown me. Or maybe, somehow, he would be okay with it. He seemed more curious than upset, like he was just making sure his sister was alright.
I rubbed the stubble on my jaw. “In my experience, people who say they want the truth don’t always really know what they’re asking.”
He chuckled, motioning me over as he sat down on the edge of the dock. “You went home with my sister. I know exactly what I’m asking.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose but went over and sat beside him. My feet skimmed the cool water as I lowered them over the side. “It sounds significantly worse when you say it like that.”
“I said it exactly how it happened.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s fair.” I still wasn’t entirely sure how this conversation was going to go, though. Big brothers could be unpredictable creatures. I knew that because I was one.
One wrong answer and a guy might find himself buried in the desert. God knew, I’d considered it when Dad had pitched a quasi-royal asshole to marry my little sister. Dick.
Alex and Nate had done most of the heavy hitting in that scenario, but as soon as I’d found out what was going on, I’d seriously considered purchasing a shovel. Avery, on the other hand, didn’t seem pissed.
If anything, it looked like he was oddly happy about the idea that his sister and me might be an item. I leaned back on my palms, studying him carefully.
“You’re not going to threaten me?” I asked.
He barked out a laugh, but even that was warm instead of sharp. “Should I?”
“I don’t know. You’re the brother.”
He shrugged. “If I thought you were an asshole, you would’ve been at the bottom of the lake already.”
Why does that feel suspiciously close to him giving me the stamp of approval?
I honestly wasn’t sure what to think, but since we were apparently being amicable and honest about this, I decided to just ask. “What are you doing here, Avery?”
“What do you mean?”
I gestured vaguely between us. “The meddling. Asking me to walk her home last night and tying our tubes together yesterday. Now this. I get back and you’re just, what, cool with it?”
“Oh,” he said, a slight smirk on his lips as he offered me another shrug. “That.”
“Yeah. That.” I scoffed down a laugh. “I know my big brothers and there’s no way you actually want to be having this conversation.”
He paused for a beat as his expression slowly started growing more contemplative than teasing. “You’re right. I don’t want to be having it. Lord knows, I never thought I would be, but I know my sister and she’d be alone forever if nobody gave her a little push once in a while.”
“How’s that?”
“Hunter really did a fucking number on her, but I think Farrah hurt her more. The fact that it was both of them? Together? That was rough, man.”
“Yeah. It must’ve hurt like a bitch. I’d have killed the guy if I was you.”
He snorted. “You think I didn’t consider it?”
“Maybe.”
“Nah, I did, but then he moved, and I decided neither him nor Farrah was worth her losing me too, so I let it go.” His jaw ticked as he stared out over the water, his black hair still mussed and sticking up in all directions after what looked to have been a pretty rough night.
“I just want Raquel to be happy and she’ll never admit it, but she likes you. ”
My heart did a profoundly stupid flip-twist thing, so I kept my mouth shut, seriously not trusting myself to speak for once in my life. Avery turned to look at me then, his lighter gray eyes serious but also a little crinkled at the corners.
“And after last night, I think you like her too,” he said. “So, yeah. That’s what I’m doing, I guess. I’m trying to make sure she’s happy.”
I drew in a deep breath. “I think she is happy, so you can stop worrying now.”
“Thanks.”
I pointed a finger at him. “Don’t mention this conversation to her.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He placed a hand over his heart, but then winked, which immediately negated the promise he’d just made. “She’d pulverize us both if she knew we were talking about her. Better to keep this between us.”
As we talked, the campsite had slowly been coming back to life behind us, tent zippers opening and coffee being made with the urgency of a medical emergency. Considering how hungover some of them looked, caffeine probably did qualify as one of those.
Avery finally stood up, dusting off his ass before he turned back to me. “Help me put up the canopy. Then we’ll go find some coffee.”
I nodded, getting up and tightening the last of the straps before I headed up to the camp with him. After grabbing a shower and working my way through two cups of coffee, I finally saw Raquel heading over to us.
She was carrying a small cooler, sunglasses perched over her eyes and her loose hair damp, cascading over her shoulders. Her pale blue crop-top showed off a sliver of tanned stomach. A pair of faded, cut-off denim shorts rode way too high up on her thighs to do my sanity any favors.
“Good morning, party animals,” she said cheerfully, her voice loud and sing-song. Several people winced or flipped her off, but she just laughed. “I see we drank away the heat, huh?”
She barely even glanced at me, clearly choosing to pretend that nothing had happened.
Surprisingly, Avery played it cool too, so I decided to go along with all the pretending.
All along, I’d known it would be her decision how today would play out, and if this was what she’d chosen, I respected her enough to fall in line.
As she walked further into the camp though, she came right over to me, a shy smile on her lips as she handed over a travel mug. “I brought you some coffee.”
I blinked a few too many times before I took it. “Thanks.”
Avery frowned. “Where’s mine?”
She didn’t even look at him. “Sorry, but I like Theo more and I only had one spare mug.”
I nearly choked trying not to laugh, but she sashayed away, immediately jumping in to help pack supplies for the boat.
Avery stood beside me, sighing. “Why is she mean even when she’s happy?”
I laughed and clapped a hand on his shoulder, extending the travel mug toward him. “Do you want a sip?”
“No.” He tried scoffing, but it sounded like a snort of laughter instead. “I’ll make my own. Thanks.”
As he took off to go do that, I went over to help the group of guys who were restocking the coolers and loading in supplies for lunch.
Luis connected a waterproof speaker to the boat and Jared, one of the guys from the feed store, produced and then promptly inflated a giant, floating monstrosity called a Party Island.
Paddleboards were offloaded from one of the trucks while sunscreen was passed around. It was getting hotter by the minute, so I took some, but I hadn’t even started smearing it on my shoulders when I spotted Raquel on the other side of the group, pulling off her shirt to reveal yet another bikini.
This one was red and tiny, instantly derailing my concentration. I only remembered I’d been about to apply sunscreen when I looked down at my hands and realized they were covered in thick, white goop.
She looked over at me just as I’d started rubbing the stuff into my chest, a mischievous smile spreading on her lips as our eyes met. I let out a quiet groan, already knowing she was going to spend the rest of the day screwing with my ability to think straight.
That fucking bikini is going to drive me nuts.
It showed off way too much of her gorgeous body and that made way too many memories of last night start playing in a torturous loop across my mind. Honestly, now that I knew what it felt like to be between those legs, it was already going to be a long fucking day.
The bikini was just going to make it impossible to get through it without needing multiple, hopefully freezing, dips in the lake. But then I caught her sneaking another smile at me and suddenly a question I’d much rather have avoided shot into my mind.
Is this fair? To either of us?
I hadn’t been entirely honest with her and I couldn’t stay in Arizona. Could I?
My gaze drifted toward the lake and the mountains beyond. I couldn’t even believe I was thinking this. Alex had given me until New Year’s and then my time was up. I had to go back to Chicago, to being Theo Westwood, and to waiting at the end of the aisle for some woman I didn’t even know yet.
The weight of that responsibility sat heavily on my shoulders right now, pressing like an elephant. It was an unbelievably irresponsible thought I was disappearing into right now, but as I looked into those gray eyes, I wondered.
What if I could stay?