“If you’d like, we can help you roll it in later,” Jessie said. Then he grinned. “In case your ankle is still hurting you.”
I smiled back. “I can get it. Thank you for doing that.”
Kincade frowned. “Why the long faces, people? It’s not anywhere near bedtime. Who’s in the mood for some wine?”
As it turned out, we all were.
12
Maddie
“Seriously, I’m fine,” I whispered. It was well after midnight, and the guys and I were standing at the edge of the resort where the path forked into the woods.
“We’ll walk you home,” Jessie said in what he seemed to think was a quiet voice.
“Shh! People are sleeping.”
“We’ll just help you get the bed inside and set it up,” Kincade said. Again.
And I said no. Again. “If you guys show up, Thing One and Thing Two are going to instantly start ovulating and they’ll never let you go.” Wow. The bottle of wine—and the next two after that—had really loosened my tongue.
“We’re not afraid of them,” Brock said.
“Speak for yourself,” Jessie said.
“Just go. I’ll be fine.”
“She’s getting pretty good at handling them,” Kincade said.
I nodded confidently, but it wasn’t true. I was only good at ditching them when we were out in the open. Once I was inside that one-room cabin, I’d be at the mercy of all their digs and slights. It wasn’t a pleasant thought, but what else could I do? “Good night,” I said, extra firmly.
“All right.” Jessie sounded reluctant. “Will we see you at the pool tomorrow?”
“Sure.” It made me feel good that they wanted me there.
“Without the industrial strength t-shirt?” Kincade added.
“Sure,” I said again, with a small laugh. It might be a bit embarrassing, but hell, I’d survived this morning.
“Then I’ll see you in the A.M.,” Kincade said. He threw his arms around me and gave me a big hug. It was clearly fueled by wine, but I definitely didn’t object. I liked feeling his body pressed against mine.
Jessie took his turn next. His hug completely engulfed me. Mm, I could definitely get used to this.
After Jessie released me, I looked up at Brock hopefully. He had his eyebrow cocked and his head tilted to the side. “Why are we hugging someone we’ll see in a few hours?”
“Because she’s pretty and she smells good,” Kincade said promptly, making me giggle.
But my smile faded as I locked eyes with Brock again. Just when I was sure he wasn’t going to hug me, his face broke into a crooked grin. “Works for me,” he said, and then he wrapped his arms around me, practically lifting me off my feet.
Wow.
He was so big. His body was firm and sculpted and powerful. When he released me, his cheek brushed against my hair, and I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like he inhaled deeply. Was he smelling my hair?
But then he stepped back, and I shivered a little in the night air. My skin felt tingly, like it preferred being held rather than being bare in the night air. But it really was time to go. “See you all tomorrow.”
Finally, they headed off to their cabin by the water, and I headed off to mine. Once there, I looked for the rollaway bed, but it wasn’t on the small porch. Had the Annas actually pushed it inside for me? Maybe they’d believe my twisted ankle story and had taken pity on me.
By the light from my phone, I got the key in the lock and entered the small room. Two dark shapes breathed steadily from the twin beds. Panning the light around the room, I frowned. The rollaway bed wasn’t there, either.
I stepped back onto the porch, unsure what to do. I started to sit down on the bench, and that’s when I saw a small flash of light. Something at the end of the porch had reflected the light from my phone. Moving cautiously, I inched forward, not sure how much farther the porch extended.
The answer was about three more feet, but that’s not what made me gasp. The rollaway bed was on the ground just beyond the edge of the porch. It was among the scrub brush at the base of a tree, about three feet below. The metal was twisted and damaged from the fall.
Anger boiled up inside me. I wanted to go in there, rip the covers from those horrible harpies and tell them off good. I twirled, stomping back to the door with the express intent to do that, but the sound of my feet pounding on the old floorboards gave me pause. People around us were sleeping. They’d hear if I yelled at the Annas.
Plus, I belatedly realized, the evil stepcousins wanted me to be mad. They wanted to ruin my night. Well, too bad for them, because they didn’t. I had somewhere else to go. A place where people—handsome male people, in fact—actually wanted me around. I didn’t need to stay here one moment longer.