I hang back with Cruz and King, talking shit as we wait for the all-clear call from the boys. When Carver gives us the wave, I rush from the car to find the bathroom in desperation. I get myself all fixed up and spend a minute or two hanging over the sink, splashing water on my face and telling myself that this was all a dream. If I allow myself to think it was real, I might just scream.
“Babe?” Cruz calls out.
“What?” I yell back, stepping out of the bathroom to find all four guys waiting by the front door, looking at me with hunger in their eyes.
“We’re going to do a perimeter check, make sure there’s nothing hiding out in the woods. Why don’t you figure out which room you want to take and when we get back, we’ll cook you dinner.”
I look over them, knowing exactly what I want for dinner. “Sounds good to me,” I murmur. “Hurry back.”
The boys grin and file back out the door, but before the door can close behind them, I call out again. “Hey, Cruz.”
He stops in the middle of the doorway and looks back at me. “What’s up, babe?”
“Just reminding you that I promised that I’d be all yours tonight.”
He grins wide, that adorable little sparkle hitting his eyes as he winks and makes everything melt inside of me. “Trust me,” he murmurs, his voice low and full of seduction. “I haven’t forgotten.”
Something darkens in his eyes, and just like that, the door closes behind him.
I laugh to myself and dive toward the door to flick the lock. After all, it’s better to be safe than sorry around here, and seeing as though they haven’t cleared the woods yet, I’m not down for testing my luck tonight.
I turn and face the massive cabin, wondering where the hell to even start. When I was here for my birthday, I saw the living room, one of the many bathrooms, and the epic kitchen before seeing way too much of the woods.
I start exploring, taking myself up the stairs and glancing into each of the bedrooms. They’re modest and not quite as grand as the ones back home, but what was I supposed to expect? It’s a vacation cabin, not a main residence. The main bedroom though, that’s where it’s at.
I instantly claim it as my own with a cheeky as fuck grin settling across my face. The boys can fight it out for the other rooms … or they can just join me and finally let me live out my fantasy of taking them all on at once.
I make my way back down the stairs and as I hit the bottom step, I hear the familiar engine to the SUV coming to life.
The fuck? Are they going somewhere? Did they find something in the woods?
I rush over to the window and watch as the boys stand around the SUV, grim expressions on their faces, deep in conversation. I drum my fists against the window. “Hey,” I call out. “Where are you going?”
They don’t hear me and I bang again, this time more insistent. “HEY. CARVER. KING. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? CRUZ?”
All at once, each of them look back at the cabin with broken expressions and I watch as they start sliding back into the SUV. King first, followed by Grayson.
The fuck are they doing? Where are they going?
Are they leaving me here?
I watch Cruz get in and I don’t wait a second longer. I rush through the cabin, making my way back to the front door. I have to stop to unlatch the lock and just as I swing the door wide and run out onto the deck, I look up to find the SUV speeding back down the long dirt driveway, not one of the boys in sight.
“HEY,” I yell out, waving my arms over my head. “COME BACK. WHERE ARE Y—”
BOOM!
The cabin explodes behind me, the deck tearing up under my feet and launching me high into the air as the wood splinters into a million pieces, destroying what was once an incredible cabin.
I’m thrown far across the property, my body slamming down against the hard dirt with a loud thump, my head instantly spinning as a ball of fire explodes around me, the heat burning against my back and getting hotter by the second.
I suck in a shaky breath, pushing myself up off the hard, cold ground and rolling onto my back to see the inferno of flames that was once the Kings’ cabin.
I just stare, tears welling in my eyes.
The boys … no.
No, they couldn’t have done this.
I twist around, looking back toward the dirt driveway to watch as the SUV continues speeding away, the dirt kicking up beneath the tires and leaving a cloud in their wake.
I just stare, my chest aching as I breathe heavily, my lungs instantly filling with thick smoke from the cabin.