by Amity Hope
An entire night in the woods. With Luke. In a tent alone? It was probably a horrible idea.
“Okay, I’ll go.”
“Really?”
The way he smiled at me lit up my insides, confirming this was definitely a very, very bad idea.
“Yeah, why not?” After the nerve-wracking ordeal last night, it sounded like a great way to relieve some stress.
“I think last night was a bonding moment,” he teased.
“You do realize,” I said cockily, “that you can’t blackmail me anymore.”
He nudged my foot again. “Why is that?”
I gave him a triumphant grin. “Because as of last night, you are officially my accomplice. You can’t turn me in without getting yourself in trouble.”
“I never intended to turn you in.” He flashed an innocent smile.
“Really?” I wasn’t sure I believed him. “You definitely fooled me. You seemed awfully determined to get your way.”
His lips twitched. “I was determined to get my way. That’s why I had to play hardball. I had to make you believe I wouldn’t hesitate to go to Mr. Prichard.”
“You were very convincing,” I admitted.
“I’m glad you’re still playing by the rules. It’s honorable of you,” Luke said. “One rule, in particular.”
“Which rule would that be?” I cocked my head to the side, as if I didn’t know.
“The ‘Luke can kiss Meg whenever he wants’ rule.”
I gave him a serious nod. “That’s my favorite one.”
He reached over and wrapped his hands around my waist. My body bobbed through the water as he effortlessly positioned me on his lap. My knees rested on either side of him. Our chests pressed together, and his lips were so, so tantalizingly close to mine. His hands skimmed up and down my bare sides, heating my skin a million degrees more than the water of the hot tub ever could.
When he pulled me in for a kiss, I was sure I was about to combust.
Chapter Twenty
Luke
“I have to admit I’m surprised you agreed to this,” I said.
“I’d rather be just about anywhere but home these days.” She tried to keep her tone light, but I knew her parents’ relationship was weighing on her. “Every time I think the tension can’t get any worse, it does. You could’ve asked me to go shopping with your mother and I probably would’ve agreed.” She wrinkled her nose. “Or not. I’m not that desperate. Yet.”
Meg had become so willing to spend time with me, I’d let my ego get carried away. For a while there, I thought maybe she was falling for me. Comments like that reminded me that I was little more than a distraction for her.
A distraction. I didn’t like that. At all.
“What’s wrong?” Meg bumped her shoulder into mine.
“Nothing,” I said. “Maybe we should get back to the group.”
“It’s so peaceful here.” It was getting dark. The other guys were busy with the fire, but Meg asked to see the river that ran through the property. It wasn’t far from the campsite. She sighed as she turned away from me. The water looked like ink as it flowed past us. The scent of moss hung in the air. In the distance I could hear our friends laughing.
The campsite was already set up. We guys had grilled burgers, and Adam’s mom had packed a crazy amount of food.
Meg had told her parents she was staying at Francesca’s.
“Luke,” Adam bellowed, his voice carrying through the woods. “A little help here?”
“Yeah,” I shouted back. “That guy does not grasp the concept of kindling. If I don’t help him, he’ll probably douse the logs with gasoline, light a match and call it good.”
“You better help him then. Wouldn’t want the entire campsite to go up in flames.”
“Exactly.”
Meg followed me back to the clearing. She ducked into the camper to check on Julia while I neared the fire pit as Adam tossed in a match. Heat whooshed through the air as flames shot skyward. They quickly receded, wrapping around the now glowing stack of logs.
I spotted a can of gasoline tucked up against the camper. I shook my head.
“What?” Adam said. “I got it going, didn’t I?”
“I thought you wanted my help.” Wasn’t that what the yelling had been about?
“You were off with Meg,” Leo said. “He didn’t think you’d come back.”
Adam grinned at me as he pried the lid off the cooler. He took out three beers, one for each of us. I held on to mine, feeling like I needed to check with Meg first. I could take it or leave it. Our coach was strict. He didn’t hesitate to bench players who broke the rules. Out here, no one would know I was breaking the rules. Still, I didn’t want to make Meg uncomfortable.
“Don’t want it?” Adam motioned toward the bottle in my hand.
“I want to make sure Meg doesn’t care.”
“Julia really likes her,” Adam said. “She was glad you invited her.”
“I wish she would’ve brought Kylie,” Leo mumbled.
I smacked him on the shoulder. “I mentioned it like I said I would, but Meg didn’t bite. Maybe if she knew why I was asking…?”
Leo shook his head.
“Maybe next time,” I offered.
Only a few of us had shown up tonight. No wonder Leo looked so glum. Guy was so shy. No way did he have the guts to invite a girl.
I took a seat on my green blanket. Meg had spread it out before our walk in the woods. I clenched the cold bottle in my hand.
“Hey you.” Meg tapped my foot with hers. She held an enormous mug, similar to the one Julia held.
“Hey.” I held up my bottle. “Mind if I drink this?”
“Go for it.” She dropped down on the blanket next to me. She inhaled the scent of her drink and hummed her appreciation. “This is the best cocoa I’ve ever had. The fire feels good, too.”
It did feel good. The temp had dropped significantly now that the sun had set.
Half an hour later I was well aware of something that felt even better. My back rested against a tree. But Meg? She rested against me. She’d settled herself between my legs. One hand gripped her cup, the other my knee. Or my thigh. Or any part in between. With her body pressed against mine it was impossible to get away from the scent of her perfume, from the heat of her. When she laughed, her body vibrated against my chest.
My thoughts backtracked to the other day. Us. In the hot tub. My hands wandering. Her hands wandering. Kisses so intense I was sure my mind was blown. I needed to get my thoughts away from Meg because I was enjoying myself a little too much.
I redirected my attention to the conversation that I’d been missing.
“Trevor isn’t here because there’s a party at Colton’s. His last few parties have gotten completely out of control,” Julia explained to Meg. “The cops showed up and everyone ran. I’m not sure how his parents still let him get away with having parties.”
“His dad is golf buddies with my dad,” I grumbled. “He’s managed to bully Colton’s way out of trouble.”
“Remember his last party?” Adam asked. “Bethany and Meredith thought the hot tub would be prettier if it was pink. They dumped an entire punch bowl into the water.”
“Idiots,” Leo muttered.
“I’d so much rather hang out with just a few people,” Julia said.
“This is really fun,” Meg agreed.
Julia tugged herself away from Adam. “I’m going in for a refill,” she told Meg. “Do you want one too?”
“Sure.” Meg, usually pretty graceful, stumbled a bit as she got to her feet. I kept my hands around her waist to steady her.
“Looking a little tipsy,” Adam said with a grin.
“Ha. Hardly. It’s only cocoa. But it was soooo good.” She giggled but stopped when she noticed Julia’s eyebrows shoot up.
“Um, no, actually it isn’t.” Julia’s face scrunched in apology.
Meg held her oversize mug up and studied it a moment, as if it coul
d tell her what was going on.
“It’s hot cocoa and butterscotch schnapps?” Julia’s words rose at the end, questioning how this could’ve been missed. “Heavy on the schnapps. Just the way I like it.”
“Ohhhh,” Meg dragged out the word. “That’s why it tasted so good! I thought it was, you know, really expensive cocoa. Like, from Belgium or something.”
“I thought you knew. I guess I mixed that one before you came into the camper. Are you sure you want more?” Julia asked.
Meg nodded. “Definitely.”
“Don’t get my girl drunk,” I warned. Everyone laughed, including Meg. I wasn’t joking. Was alcohol the reason her hand had been coasting up and down, driving me half insane?
“We’ll just keep her a little tipsy.” Julia winked at Meg to let her know she was joking. The two of them disappeared inside the camper.
She was back minutes later, settling in against me again, as if she belonged there. It kinda felt like she did.
“I thought you didn’t drink?” I whispered the words next to her ear.
She turned to face me, her lips grazing my cheek. “I don’t. I didn’t. I mean, I haven’t ever before.”
“You’re a bad influence, Luke,” Adam jibed.
Julia swatted him playfully. “It wasn’t Luke’s fault. It was mine.”
…
When the fire finally died down, we all went our separate ways to bed. Without the flames to heat the air, the night had become frigid.
Meg’s teeth chattered and banged together as she burrowed down in her sleeping bag. She had changed into a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt. Before I’d turned off the lantern she had zipped her sleeping bag to the top so only her head was sticking out.
“You okay over there?” The tent was decent-size. I’d placed Meg’s sleeping bag as far from mine as I could. It was a lousy attempt to help me resist temptation. I was tempted as hell. I just wasn’t going to act on it.
“It’s f-freezing. I’m used to a room with a heater. And w-walls.”
It was colder than the original forecast had predicted. Meg sounded miserable; I felt guilty. I should’ve grabbed an extra sleeping bag. I waited a few minutes, hoping she would warm up so the chattering would stop.
When it didn’t, I grabbed her sleeping bag and tugged her toward me. I could feel her shivering through the thick fabric.
She groaned. “I think I drank too much. The tent is spinning.”
I laughed. “The tent isn’t spinning. I’m just moving you.”
I quickly unzipped our individual sleeping bags so I could zip them back together, making one big sleeping bag. Without dislodging Meg from her cocoon, I slid in next to her.
“Come here,” I ordered. “You’ll warm up faster.”
She wiggled herself over to me. I had planned on scooping an arm around her to try to keep her warm, but she had her own plan. She tangled her body around me, resting her head on my shoulder.
I was frozen, afraid to move. The friction of her body against mine was enough to knock my common sense into the next county. She shifted and her hand drifted into my hair. Her lips skimmed against mine. I wrapped my arms around her, cursing myself for getting drawn into her kisses. When her hand slid down my body, the sensation slammed some sense back into my head. I wanted her to keep going but I needed her to stop.
“Meg?” I gently pushed her away.
“What?” She was more breathless than I was.
“You should get some sleep. You had a couple of drinks tonight.”
“So?” Her body slumped against mine.
“So we should slow things down.” I tangled my fingers around hers, mostly to get them into safer territory. “You’ve never had alcohol before.”
She sighed as she curled her body into mine. “It’s not the alcohol.”
I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I just want to be sure.”
We might have agreed to no strings, but there were definitely lines. I wasn’t going to take advantage of the situation and cross them…no matter how much I wanted to.
Chapter Twenty-One
Luke
“Luke.”
“Shit! Jaclyn!” I bounced backward on the sidewalk. “Where the hell did you come from?”
She wedged herself between me and the door of Common Grounds. I took another step back. I narrowed my eyes at her. “Did you follow me?”
“You told my mom about Drew?”
“Drew? Who the hell is Drew?” Realization dawned. “Ah. One of the guys you cheated on me with. Found out there were so many, I can’t keep track of them all.” An exaggeration, but still well deserved.
“So you did.”
“Actually I didn’t. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She grated out, “My mother knows.”
“Jaclyn,” I said, struggling for calm, “you can’t sleep with half the town and expect that word won’t get around.”
She drew back to slap me but my reflexes were superior to hers. I held both of her wrists in place. Maybe accusing her of sleeping with half the town was a bit much but I wasn’t going to apologize. When she took a step back, I released her.
“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” I asked. “We’re not a couple. We’re never going to be a couple. We will never even be friends. Why can’t you just back off?”
“I was backing off,” she said coldly. “Until you stirred things up.”
“How did I stir things up?” I was at a loss.
“Are you listening to anything I say?”
“Is this about Drew?” I guessed.
“Yes, you idiot.”
“If she knows, she didn’t hear it from me. I don’t exactly go out of my way to talk to your mom. If you haven’t noticed, I work pretty hard at avoiding your whole damn family.”
“Really? Because she knew about Dad’s office.”
My stomach dropped. That had to have come from my mom. Okay, no wonder Jaclyn was so pissed. I’m sure her extracurricular use of Prescott office space didn’t sit too well with her mom or mine. At the same time, I felt a weird sense of relief that Mom had actually believed me.
“You know what my mother is like.” She glared at me with more hatred than I’d felt from her before. Considering how the last few months had gone, that was saying a lot.
“Don’t blame me for your mistakes.”
“I’m blaming you for not keeping your mouth shut.”
“Me?” I scoffed. “You started it by turning it around on me. You told your mom, knowing she’d tell mine, that I’m the one who cheated. Do you know how insulting that is? I had to set the record straight. I had that right.”
She opened her mouth, ready to go another round. This could go on indefinitely, I knew from past experience.
I sidestepped her and reached for the door. “Forget it. I’m not doing this with you. If your mom is pissed, then maybe that’s exactly what you deserve. You need to stop acting like a spoiled, entitled princess. Take responsibility for your own actions for a change. This is not my fault, so let it go.”
She slammed her hand against the frame, keeping it closed.
“Let it go?” She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Thanks to you, my mom practically has me on lockdown.”
“She can’t have you locked down too tightly. I mean…” I motioned to her, standing right there in front of me. Blocking my way again.
“I just came from church! She thinks she can stop me from seeing Trevor. I have an asinine curfew. I’m required to be home for dinner every night. Did I mention the lectures? The neverending lectures? I’ll let it go when you’re as miserable as I am.” She gave my shoulder a pat. “That’s a promise.”
Her words settled like a stone in the pit of my stomach. The feud between us had been going on for months now. My gut instinct was telling me there was no way it was going to end well.
It was hard to remember a time when we’d actually gotten along. When things started going downhill, they really took
a nosedive.
I pulled the door open. I kept walking. I’d never let her know how much she rattled me.
I spotted Meg tucked away in a back booth. Her head was down as she doodled on a napkin. Her hair fell forward, like a curtain, blocking out the commotion of the morning crowd.
I stopped a few feet away.
Watching Meg instantly calmed the chaos crashing around in my head. I stood there for a minute, just taking her in. I didn’t see her as the same girl who had sashayed into Maebelle’s. She had been all hard edges and feistiness. The Meg I’d gotten to know was funny, vulnerable, and a perfect mix of sweet-sass.
As I stood there, I realized something.
The little criminal had a hold of my heart.
Suddenly I was itching to get out of there. I wanted to take her somewhere so I could have her all to myself. For weeks we’d been living in a gray area. My threat of blackmail had slipped into a no-strings relationship. It was probably time we hashed this out and determined what was really going on between us.
Falling for her was not part of the original plan. But as she turned to me and smiled, I realized it had been a stupid plan anyway. Maybe it was time we reassessed this no strings thing.
“Hey, you.”
“Sorry I’m late. I got caught up.”
I was already late before my run in with Jaclyn. So late that Meg had a half dozen napkin doodles going on.
I dropped down across from her. “Maybe you should just get a tattoo. Then you can have it with you all the time.”
“Maybe someday I will.” She pushed the napkins aside. “Are you okay?”
If she hadn’t noticed the drama on the sidewalk, I wasn’t about to drag her into it. I glanced around. I didn’t see Jaclyn. She must not have followed me in.
“I’m fine.” I strummed my fingers on the table. “I think we should get something to go. The weather’s decent for a change and there’s somewhere I want to take you.”
She leaned forward, her eyes widening with interest. “Where?”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
I hopped up and she scrambled after me.
“That’s not fair. Give me a hint.”
“No,” I laughed. “There’s no point in giving you a hint. Now what do you want? Let’s get in line.”
