California Sunshine

“You distracted me,” Grinder spits out, lifting the bag of grounds. His face turns from angry to confused as he turns the bag in his hands. He lifts it for a sniff. “Son of a . . .” He slams the bag back down and grabs his phone, heading for the door as he dials a number. “Yeah, it’s me . . .” Grinder’s voice trails off as the door closes behind him.

“Who . . .?” Belle starts to ask.

I shrug. “Probably calling Autumn.”

“Who’s Autumn?”

“His older sister. If I had to guess, I’d say she sent him the wrong coffee.” I give her a subtle wink. “He might have been right about being too distracted to notice. Either way, congrats. What do you want to do today?” Belle’s eyes brighten with understanding. She’s won this round. Question is, how is she going to cash in her reward?

“We’ll see,” she says with a smile that is pure mischief. “But first, I’m going to get dressed. Be back in a few minutes.”

Grinder’s angry voice filters in through the door as Belle leaves. “You think Autumn sent the wrong stuff?” Nova asks, once the door is closed. I shrug, but fail to hide the smirk. Nova grins. “What did you do?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I reply, standing and grabbing my pile of clothes. If Belle’s getting dressed, we should, too, I suppose. “But if it puts your mind at ease to think that maybe I texted Autumn to maybe suggest she send the wrong stuff in order to annoy her little brother so he might lose a bet, then you’re free to think so.” Nova erupts into laughter. I’m dressed by the time he’s calmed back down. “Regardless, I’m glad you could convince our girl to stay.”

“Huh?”

“Belle. I’m guessing dinner went pretty well?”

“Oh. Right. Yeah, we had a great time,” he tells me. He pulls out the phone and opens his photos. “Although you won’t believe how good she looked last night.”

He hands me his phone while he moves over to dig into his own pack. It’s a photo of them at dinner last night. And she looks amazing. Her blouse makes the color of her eyes pop out, a beautiful shade of blue any man could get lost staring into. It’s unbuttoned enough to offer a glimpse of her enticing cleavage. Best of all, her smile is gorgeous, lighting up her entire face. It’s the sort of look I both wish I could see every day, and hope I don’t, because I don’t know how I’d keep my hands off of her. I respect my friend too much to go down that train of thought. Handing back the phone, I turn to stuff some loose items into my bag. “Where did the blouse come from?”

“She bought it yesterday. She’s hoping to drop it in the mail on the way out of town.”

I nod as I pull a strap tight. “Did you find out what was bothering her at the post office?”

Nova lets out a frustrated sigh. “Not exactly.”

I tighten the last strap, then hesitate before I reach for my phone. Since Grinder wasn’t talking at the laundromat, I looked up Belle’s Instagram feed. She’s who I want to talk to about what I found, but Nova deserves to know too. He might even already know the answer to my question. “Has she mentioned anyone named Bryce?”

Nova shakes his head as he pulls out a fresh shirt from his pack. “No. Why?”

I grab my phone, pull up some screenshots I had taken, and hand it over. “Have a look. Rachel’s the one who dropped Belle off in Campo, right? She went off on someone named Bryce yesterday. He deserved it for the rather choice words he left for Belle.”

Nova takes the phone and reads the comments.

Bryce_Harper: @Hiking_Belle Hey, bitch. I hope you’re enjoying MY permit. #StoleMyTrip

RachelStevens6492: This whole channel stands behind Belle. So fuck off, you cheating asshole! #CheatersNeverWin #BetterOffWithoutYOU

Nova’s lips curve up in an appreciative smile. “Damn. I’ve barely met her, but Rachel sounds awesome.” I’m about to agree when Nova’s smile disappears and he lets out a slow “Fuck. That’s what happened.”

I cock my head to the side. “Come again?”

Nova lets out a long breath as he flops back on the bed. “Last night didn’t turn out as expected.” He explains how the night went from hot and steamy to ice cold. “She mentioned an ex-boyfriend who she got her permit from.”

“Bryce,” I guess.

Nova nods in agreement. “Seems like it. I could ask her.”

I shake my head. “No. If she didn’t want to talk about it last night, I doubt asking her will get us anywhere. You made her happy enough to stay. We shouldn’t mess with that. Besides, it looks like Rachel’s dealt with the asshole. Hopefully, she doesn’t hear from him again.”

Before we can discuss the matter any further, Grinder walks in, still upset. He looks between Nova and me as he moves over to his pack to get ready to go. “Do I want to ask?”

I glance at Nova, who shrugs. “Probably not,” I answer. “Some asshole was giving Belle a hard time on her Instagram feed yesterday.”

Grinder pauses and stiffens for a brief moment. “So?”

“So . . . you might cut her some slack,” I suggest.

He shakes his head. “She’s not my concern.”

Nova jumps up from his seat on the bed, but I hold him back with a glare. Turning back to Grinder, I tell him, “No. She’s not. You’ve got plenty on your mind. Don’t you?”

Grinder yanks hard on a strap. “Yes, I do. All the more reason I don’t need anyone else’s problems.”

“Or all the more reason you should understand the need to get away.”

“I’m not the reason we came here,” Grinder spits out, stepping up to me.

“No, it’s not. But that doesn’t mean you don’t need this trip the most,” I growl back. There’s a knock at the door. Nova scoots off of the bed to answer it, watching us closely as he goes. I shake my head, swearing under my breath. Grinder’s issues are all right there, bubbling at the surface, ready to pop. I love the guy like a brother, but he needs to address his damn issues. I level my eyes on him, hoping he hears the sincerity in my words. “She’s not the one you’re angry with. You know it. Nova and I know it. But she doesn’t know it. We’re not asking you to be friends with her, we’re just asking you to stop treating her like shit. Can you do that?”

Grinder holds my gaze, saying nothing as the gears turn in his head. As a second knock sounds at the door, Grinder lets out an exasperated sigh as he turns away to clean up the coffee disaster. “Let’s just . . . get our shit packed. I want to leave as soon as the princess is ready.”

It’s not the answer I wanted, but it’s one I’ll take. For now.

Nova opens the door and Belle enters, freshly changed. She gives Nova a quick kiss, and he lights up like a slot machine that’s hit the jackpot. “Everyone dressed this time?” she asks, looking around the room. Her gaze stops on something, and I follow it to a small roll of black tape on the dresser. I snag it, pocketing it for now. A question flashes in her eyes, but she doesn’t ask.

Grinder shoots me a look, eyebrow raised, calling me out on my own shit. Okay, fine. Maybe Grinder isn’t the only one escaping here. But then again, my issues aren’t turning me into a grade A asshole. I give him a small head shake and turn away. He turns his attention to Belle instead. “Where’s your pack?”

She replies with a saccharine sweet smile, “Don’t I get to set the schedule today? That was the bet, wasn’t it?”

Grinder clenches his fist, but only for a moment. As he lets it go, he replies, “You won on an error. One that will be rectified. But that doesn’t mean we’re staying. You get to control the pace. That’s all.”

“Well, I’m hungry,” Belle declares. “Let’s see if the diner downstairs has pancakes. Oh, and a decent cup of coffee,” she adds with a pointed glance at the still half-full carafe.

Belle’s jab hits the mark, as Grinder’s jaw clenches so tight he might break a tooth in half. He loves starting early, and we clearly aren’t about to. “You don’t want to get going so you can take a thousand pictures?” he asks. “It’s six miles just to get back to the trail.”

Belle gives him a nonchalant shrug. “If you had bothered stopping at the hostel with me, then you’d know they’re giving rides to the trailheads this morning. We’ve got time.” She crosses over to Grinder, taking him by the hand. The move shocks him. Not to mention Nova and me. Especially when he doesn’t pull back. He looks down at her hand in his . . . and the tension in his shoulders drops a touch.

Interesting.

“And since I’m in charge of the schedule,” Belle continues, “I say it starts with you taking me to breakfast. Maybe they can show you a few tricks on brewing coffee.” She adds a saucy wink for good measure, and I almost lose it. Nova isn’t doing much better beside me.

Oh, Belle, if only you knew.

As we lock the room behind us, Nova leans over to whisper, “Grinder is going to be furious if he ever finds out about Autumn.”

I let my devilish grin be my reply. Damn right Grinder’s going to be angry. But until then, he deserves to have his ego deflated a bit. Maybe then he’ll be able to take that hard look inside.