Exploring the Rules: The Dating Playbook, Book: 4

by Dietz, Mariah

  “Okay. We are two smart, capable women. We just have to pay attention, and we can figure this out. Footsteps, a trail marker, something.” Nessie sweeps her attention both ways, hoping to find something over the same expanse we’ve searched dozens of times already. “How many acres do you think this place is? I mean, do we just keep walking straight until we reach something? Or will that take us days?”

  I shake my head. “It would depend on which way we go.” I don’t even know which way we are or where we started.” I shake my head again as Nessie looks at me.

  “But you can figure out which way we’re facing?”

  “An approximation, maybe? But I don’t know if it will help. I don’t know which direction we need to go.”

  Nessie scrubs her palms against her eyes. “I’m so hot.”

  I lower my bag, reaching for another bottle of water that I pass to her. “You need to drink.”

  She takes it, drinking a quarter of the bottle in one sip. “Are you sure your phone’s not in your bag? You checked all the pockets?”

  I check it again, though I’ve already emptied the contents a handful of times. “I took it out in the car to charge. It has to be in there.”

  Nessie drops her head back with defeat. “It’s okay. It’s getting darker. Cooper will get back soon, and when he realizes we’re gone, he’ll figure it out, right?”

  I nod, feeling hopeful and doubtful all at the same time, and then stop. “Oh my goodness.”

  Nessie freezes. “What?” she whispers.

  “Don’t move.”

  “Chloe.”

  “Don’t move,” I tell her again.

  She takes a step as she moves to look behind her. “If you’re pulling a prank…”

  I grab her arm. “Stop moving.”

  She goes still, her eyes meeting mine. “What is it? Is it a snake?”

  I swallow, knowing snakes are Nessie’s greatest fear. “A small one,” I lie.

  Her nostrils flare, and her shoulders go rigid. “What kind of a snake?”

  I already know it doesn’t matter. Nessie is terrified of all snakes, and I have no idea how to tell them apart. “I’m going to hand you my bag, and you’re going to hold it in front of you, and we’re going to move backward really slowly.”

  “Chloe, is it a rattlesnake?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Everything’s going to be fine. You just have to move slowly, okay?”

  She whimpers. “I hate snakes.”

  “I know. But I’m here.” I slowly shift my bag so she can take it, the slight movement making the snake coil, and then it releases the warning as its tail shakes.

  “Oh, God,” Nessie says, gripping my bag with her shaking hands and slowly moving it to cover her legs.

  “Okay. Okay. Good. We’ve got this.” I place a hand on her hip and take a step back as I seek out any abnormalities that might be another snake, when this one had camouflaged so easily we nearly stepped on it.

  “It’s hissing,” Nessie says, shuddering as she reaches back for me.

  “I know. Just keep going.”

  “Chloe, he looks pissed.”

  “He’s probably just as scared as we are.”

  “Doubtful.” She squeals as it starts to shake its tail again.

  We’re about twenty feet away when I pull her a bit closer. “Okay, okay.” I hold her hand so tight my fingers ache. “We need to pay attention. Everything in the freaking desert is deadly.”

  “Too soon,” she says, her gaze still focused on the snake that’s now a good thirty feet from us and still rattling its tail.

  “Let’s go this way,” I say.

  “You think it leads to the trail?”

  “I have no idea, but the signs said to avoid plants because that’s where most snakes hide, and this way is pretty much just sand.”

  “Should I mention now that there’s a hunting reserve near here?” She hands me my bag and holds my hand as we comb over the ground.

  “At least we’re not in a cemetery near vampires and ghosts.”

  Nessie chuckles. “I don’t know. Those ghosts don’t seem so scary right now.”

  I cut my eyes to her. “They were, you’re just forgetting. I was willing to hold Tyler’s hand the whole freaking time. I’d say they were pretty damn scary.”

  Nessie giggles so hard she pauses to gain her breath. “Do you really hate him?”

  “Sometimes,” I admit.

  She snickers again. “I think it’s because you guys are attracted to each other.”

  “Oh, no.” I shake my head, temporarily forgetting to look at where we’re going because, like everything that revolves around Tyler, it takes too much of my attention.

  “You don’t have to like him to think he’s hot.”

  I shake my head. “Still not happening.”

  “If he wasn’t best friends with Cooper, would you like him?”

  I consider her question for too long, making her laugh again. “Maybe if I could duct tape his mouth shut.”

  Nessie drops her head back, giggling so loud the sound becomes cathartic, and before long, I join in.

  “Shit!” Nessie yells, jumping up and down.

  We’ve been wandering for what feels like days. The sun is beginning to set, which gives me hope that Cooper will soon start to question our whereabouts and start looking for us and also incredibly concerning as I try to recall all the nocturnal desert animals we learned about while visiting the natural science museum in Austin. I have no idea how Cooper will find us even if he knows where to start looking. And if we know he’s looking, do we stop and wait for him? Do we keep walking? Is it safe to walk at night in the desert?

  Nessie jumps again.

  “What?” I ask, looking around. “What?” I ask again, more concerned when she continues screaming and jumping.

  She points at a rock where a giant tarantula sits, spanning far larger than any spider should. “Oh, God,” I cry as goosebumps reign across my skin. We back up, and that’s when I see it: a trail marker.

  “Oh, thank goodness!” Nessie says as I point it out. She wraps her arms around me. “We did it!”

  I laugh, half delirious with the realization we had a hard enough time sticking to the path in the light, and the sun has almost set, and the signs warned us there would be more snakes once it started to get dark.

  “Which way do you think we should go?” she asks.

  I swing my attention in both directions, hoping something will magically point us in the right direction.

  “Wait, do you hear that?” I ask.

  Nessie moves closer to me, and I hear it again, the faint sound of a voice yelling.

  “Please be Cooper,” Nessie says, gripping my hand and pulling me to the left toward the direction of the voice.

  “Watch for snakes,” I remind her as we hurry along what we hope is the path.

  “Vanessa! Chloe!” the person yells.

  “Cooper!” we yell back.

  “Watch, it’s going to be like a forest ranger. We’re going to get ticketed for getting lost in the desert, and we’re never going to hear the end of it,” Nessie says. “If it’s not Cooper, and we get out of here, let’s never tell him.”

  “If Cooper isn’t looking for us, he’s getting coal for Christmas.”

  As if on cue, we hear our names being yelled again. “It’s him,” Nessie says, putting her hands on both sides of her mouth as she calls out his name again.

  “Chloe!” Cooper hollers, coming into view.

  “Cooper!” we practically scream.

  A second figure joins Cooper’s, and my relief is so instantaneous, I nearly cry.

  Vanessa releases my hand and starts running, and like some cheesy scene out of a movie, Cooper catches her, and they kiss, and it’s so perfect and romantic and ridiculous that I can’t tear my eyes away for a solid minute.

  “What in the hell have you guys been doing?” Tyler’s words are a slap of accusation. “Where were you?”

  I kind
of want to punch him in the throat, but I’m so freaking glad I don’t have to spend the night out here I also kind of want to hug him. Instead, I laugh. I laugh so hard I probably sound crazy, and still, I laugh harder.

  “Fucking hell,” he says, shaking his head.

  13

  Tyler

  “Six snakes,” Vanessa corrects Chloe as she recounts their day in the desert. “A tarantula, a few enormous centipedes, and some black flying bug that we didn’t get close enough to see if it played nice.”

  “Jesus,” Cooper says. “We had no idea where you guys were. We found Chloe’s phone in the back of the car, but your phone kept going directly to voicemail.”

  “Dead battery,” Nessie admits.

  “We didn’t know if you guys were lost or hurt or if you were…” Cooper releases a deep breath, refusing to say the word abducted—the suggestion from the head of security at our hotel when we discussed the situation with him, and he voiced his concerns about human trafficking and kidnappings.

  Vanessa stops speaking, sensing the seriousness in Cooper’s tone. “Snake,” she finally says, pointing in the distance.

  “I’m so over this hike,” Chloe says, taking another drink from the water bottle I handed her. I scan over her a third time.

  “It’s moving,” Cooper says. “It’s just crossing the trail.”

  Chloe looks at me, likely feeling my stare. The challenge is missing from her gaze. She looks exhausted, and try as I might, I can’t get the idea of her heart condition out of my thoughts, even though a cardiologist assured me her prognosis would be excellent and that later complications would be incredibly rare. I didn’t want to hear rare—I wanted to hear impossible. “Do you need to sit down for a few minutes?”

  One side of her lips curl. “Is this one of those situations where you don’t have to be faster than the bear, just faster than your friend?”

  Cooper chuckles.

  Knobhead.

  “It’s late. You guys have been out all day,” I say.

  “I’m okay,” she says. “I might need like four showers to get all this sand out of my hair, though.”

  “And food. You guys should have seen our first hike. We earned pasta, dessert, and double garlic bread all before noon,” Vanessa chimes in. “I don’t even know how that’s a trail, to be honest. Half of it was giant rocks we had to climb over, and the other half was a very steep and uneven hill with a railing.”

  “Now you admit it,” Chloe says.

  Vanessa laughs. “We should have gone to the spa.”

  Chloe smiles. “But we decided the ghost tour was still scarier.”

  Vanessa shakes her head. “No way. That snake was out for blood.”

  “We don’t have much longer,” Cooper says. “Probably another half mile or so, and then you guys can sleep in the car tomorrow on our way to Vegas.”

  A noise several kilometers from us has us all pausing for a second, but we continue until we finally hit the parking lot when we can’t find anything with our flashlights.

  “Do you have a towel or something in the trunk?” Chloe asks, stomping her feet. “We’re filthy.” She brushes at her legs.

  “I don’t give a single fuck about the car getting dirty.”

  Vanessa stops, wrapping her arms around me and taking me by surprise. “Thank you for coming out here and finding us.” She releases me and slides into the back where Cooper gets in beside her.

  Chloe watches their doors close, and I move closer to her, brushing a streak of dirt that crosses her cheek with my thumb. “This has been a really long day. I just need you to get in the car so it can finally be over.”

  She closes her eyes for a brief second, and when she looks at me again, I see it—recognize that confusion and muddled hope. “Thank you,” she says.

  I swallow before taking what feels like my first breath in several hours. “I’m still an arse.”

  “Oh, I know.” She flashes a smile, and then turns, getting into the passenger side of my car.

  “We’re like Pigpen,” Vanessa says. “Leaving a trail of dirt behind us.”

  Chloe scrunches her nose. “At least the lobby was pretty empty.”

  “Seriously. It gave a whole new meaning to the walk of shame.”

  Chloe chuckles as she toes off her shoes in the entryway. “You want to shower first?”

  “Use my shower,” I tell her.

  She cuts her eyes to me like I’ve just invited her into my bed.

  “I’m not going to spy on you.”

  Vanessa laughs, but doubt has Chloe’s eyebrows hitching.

  “Come on,” I tell her.

  “I need my shower bag,” she protests.

  I shake my head. “It’s stocked with any amenity you could need.”

  She bites the inside of her lip like she does when she’s nervous—it’s one of the many details of Chloe Robinson I’ve learned and memorized in the past eight days without thought or choice.

  We pass her bedroom door and reach the master suite. I push the door open, the motion-sensing lights instantly illuminate the long rectangular room and wall of windows that renders Chloe speechless. It’s twice the size of the bedroom they’re sharing, with a full sitting area and king-size bed.

  “Wait until you see the bathroom,” I tell her.

  We step into the bathroom, and her eyes dance around the space before finally landing on me.

  “Truth or dare?” I ask her.

  Her eyes flare with surprise, and then she blinks several times. I know it’s not a fair request—she’s exhausted and dehydrated and likely has heatstroke.

  “Can I hear both before I decide?”

  “No.”

  She holds her breath for several seconds before releasing it slowly. “Truth.”

  I was hoping for dare, but this works, too.

  “Why do you avoid me?”

  “I already told you why.”

  I shake my head. “You’ve avoided me since before you even knew me.”

  “Dare,” she whispers.

  “You know what I’m going to dare you to do.”

  Her skin is at least two shades darker than when she left this morning, streaked with dirt and sand that I imagine myself rubbing from her body.

  “Who was she?”

  My thoughts complete a full somersault, and I shake my head, struggling to think of anything but Chloe naked. “Who?”

  “The girl in New Orleans.”

  I shake my head again. “Who?”

  “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. It’s none of my business.” Something snaps in her attention, the edge of vulnerability she had edged toward now far in the distance. “I avoid you because you overwhelm me. Because I like rules. Because you’re Cooper’s best friend and I’d never make him choose. Because I know the score with you—know I would be a blip on your radar.” She stares at me, brazen, and completely closed off.

  My thoughts churn between each of her points that likely reveal far more than she intended—proves she’s thought of me. Thinks of me. She tries to barricade herself from those thoughts and me, and right now, I’m on the other side of that door, and I can tell she senses it as she works to decide if it’s me or her insecurities who has her thoughts balanced on the ledge.

  She starts to turn away and I lift my arm, my palm connecting with the wall, caging her in. That spark lights in her green eyes as she looks at me, panic and lust and desire burning so fucking bright I can feel the heat. “You changed and said dare.”

  Chloe’s eyes narrow.

  “I answered your question.”

  “With half-truths.”

  She raises her chin, confirming I’m right.

  “Do you know what I’m going to dare you to do?”

  She rolls her eyes and sighs before gritting her teeth. “Tyler, will you kiss me?” She couldn’t sound more petulant if she tried.

  I grin, feeding her anger. “I was just going to dare you to smile.”

  Her frown deepens. “I’m t
aking a shower. Watch if you want. I don’t care. You’ll do whatever you want anyways.” She twists away from me, shoving at my arm. I move, allowing her space, realizing too late that she’d cracked the door with her half admission and has slammed it shut as she rips her tank top off, the red dirt from the desert, staining the gray fabric. She pulls open the shower door, staring at the multiple levers for several seconds before her shoulders sink.

  I step behind her, placing a hand on the bare skin of her waist, and turn the shower on, lowering the heat from the scalding temperature I prefer. “The amenities are under the counter, and there’s a robe on the back of the door,” I tell her. And with a single look, she guts me, her eyes glassy and jaw clenched with pride.

  “Chloe,” I begin.

  But she shakes her head. “It’s been a really long day. Can you just give me some space?”

  I remain in place, wanting to say no, wishing to apologize, needing to know if she’s okay. I think of a thousand things I should have asked her and offered.

  “Please?”

  I close the bathroom door on my way out and drop my head against it as I pull in a long breath, willing myself not to go back in there and beg for forgiveness because I went too far this time, crossed a barrier when she was her weakest like a selfish fucking bastard.

  In the hallway, I run into Vanessa, a towel wrapped around her hair as she dons a pair of pajamas that reveals her sunburn. “Vanessa, I messed up.”

  She stops, tilting her chin to the side as though working to process my words and the implications. “I was a dick, I…” I shake my head. “Can you go talk to her? Make sure she’s okay.”

  Vanessa glances in the direction of my door and then at me. “Once. I’ll only clean up your mess once.” She disappears into my room, closing the door behind her.

  Cooper’s in the living room, his hands gripping both sides of his head. “Man. What a crazy-ass day. Thank you. Thank you for everything. I know you sounded the alarm and had a lot of people and groups going into motion to find them, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. I mean, I care about Vanessa, shit, I, well, you know … and Chloe…” He licks his lips and diverts his gaze as the weight of his words become too much. “I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to them. Either of them.”