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Maddox nods. “Full moon,” he says, pointing up to the sky. “Jesse is always off on full moons.”
“Right,” Liam says. “Because the amount of sunlight hitting the moon definitely impacts human psychology.”
“I know,” Maddox says, completely missing Liam’s sarcasm. “It’s wild, isn’t it?”
“I’m pretty beat.” I jerk my thumb toward the cabin. “I was kind of looking forward to just vegging out on the couch for a few hours tonight. Thanks, though.”
“Sure. Oh, hey,” Carter says. “If Jesse asks why his toothbrush is wet, just tell him I lost mine and used it. Don’t tell him it fell in the toilet.”
I narrow my eyes. “What?”
“Forget it,” Carter smiles. “Jake!” he shouts as he slaps his palm on the side of the car. “Let’s go, Princess! The liquor in town isn’t going to drink itself, dude.”
Jake comes jogging out from the garage, but slows when he sees me. “You coming with us?”
“No, thanks.”
He hesitates. “Going to the guest house?”
“Maybe.”
“Andi…” his voice is serious.
“Jake?” I ask sweetly.
He clenches his jaw, then shakes his head and goes to get behind the wheel. “Call me if you need something.”
“Maybe I should get one of those necklaces they give to older people who are a fall risk. We could put a little button around my neck to push. That way my brother can come rescue me whenever I need.”
“I think she’s being sarcastic,” Carter says.
“No shit.” Jake rolls the window up, shoots me the middle finger, and drives off, kicking up gravel.
I grin and head inside. Jesse is making some kind of protein shake in the blender. “Oh,” he says.
“Hi,” I say. “I saw this trailer for a new scary movie. Wanna watch it with me?”
He closes the lid on the blender and hits the power button. For a solid minute, I wait as the machine grinds up ice and yogurt and his protein powder. He finally shuts it off with a look of defeat. “Yeah, sure,” he sighs. “Honestly, I really love scary movies.”
“Oh, really?” I’m not sure my acting job is super convincing, but he doesn’t look suspicious. After all, I was fed information by Caroline a few days ago, and I’ve had the scary movie idea up my sleeve ever since.
It’s not like I’m being sneaky. Not exactly, anyway. All I want to do is cheer him up.
I lay on the couch, pick up the remote, and start blindly navigating the streaming services on his TV, hoping I find something that looks good. The truth is, I haven’t seen any trailers. I just heard Jesse is grumpy and I want to do something to make him happier.
He sits on the opposite end of the couch with his shake.
I look over at him and laugh. “Afraid of my cooties?”
He sighs, then scoots a few inches closer to me. I decide not to push it. After all, it’s not like I’m trying to seduce him. I’m not even trying to get back into a relationship. I just wish he didn’t treat me like I was radioactive.
I eventually settle on a movie about some women on a girl’s trip to a remote cave where they supposedly find mutated human-like creatures that are out for blood. It sounds absolutely charming.
Jesse watches silently for about twenty minutes, and then, just like Caroline predicted, he gets a little chatty once the tension in the movie picks up.
“I don’t get people who go into caves like that,” he says.
I look over toward him, nodding. “Me either. Confined spaces? No cell phone signal? Trusting your life to a few ropes? No thanks.”
