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I snorted without meaning to and snapped my eyes away from Jake just to have them land on another famous face I easily recognized now that we were basically face to face in the small cabin. Ryder Steele, celebrity chef and restaurateur. I swallowed so hard that it made a weird noise that he definitely heard.
Ryder freaking Steele’s bright green eyes crinkled at the corners when he smirked at me. “I guess we should make introductions. I’m Ryder.”
I looked down at the hand he extended my way and saw the tell-tale scars of a chef that littered his hands and forearms. I shoved my much smaller hand at his and ignored the way my pulse skittered at the feel of his rough skin on mine. “Fiona. I know who you are, though. My sister has probably watched every cooking show you’ve ever done despite the fact that she believes TVs are carcinogenic.”
The man I didn’t recognize raised his eyebrows. His dark eyes were firmly on my face and didn’t crinkle as he smiled. “She thinks TVs are carcinogenic?”
I nodded. “She’s a little out there. She chose this place for me and even paid for it herself. That’s the only reason I’m not leaving. That and I really need a vacation.”
“I’m not sure this is the vacation you were hoping for, Fiona.” He extended his hand and that’s when I realized I was still clutching Ryder’s hand.
I quickly let go and pressed my other hand to my hot face. “Sorry. Sorry…”
“Sebastian Grant.” The man whose eyes didn’t smile with his lips stepped closer and shook my hand.
I remembered to let go of his hand and turned to Jake with word vomit bubbling up and out of my throat. “I listened to Trashed growing up. If teenage me could see current me standing in this cabin with Jake Moreno, she’d lose her mind.”
Jake took my hand and shook his head. “How long ago were you a teenager? That might make me feel a little less old after hearing that.”
I laughed awkwardly and found that Carl’s fluttering was contagious. I forced myself to stand still and crossed my arms under my chest, mimicking their unbothered attitude. “I’m twenty-five, almost twenty-six.”
All three of them groaned. I frowned and dropped my hands to play with the bottom of my shirt. “What’s wrong?”
Ryder let out a dry laugh. “You’re young. What are you even doing at a retreat like this? Did your sister not realize this was the divorcee weekend meant for bitter old singles?”
I went up on my toes and balanced there as I shook my head. “I’m a bitter younger single with a six-year-old. Mallory didn’t tell me this weekend would be co-ed, but then again, she rarely tells me the important details.”
“You’re too young to be bitter.” Sebastian reached up and gripped the back of his neck. It made his suit jacket stretch over his biceps and his shirt strain across his chest.
I swallowed against another wave of awareness. “You’re not old enough to be so condescending about my age.”
His eyes crinkled when he smiled that time. “Thank you, I guess.”
Jake shrugged off the worn flannel shirt he had on and exposed arms full of tattoos. I could see more peeking out from the collar of his t-shirt, too. He ran his hands over his nearly buzzed blonde hair and focused intense blue eyes on me. “We should get to sorting out the sleeping arrangements, I guess. Fucking yoga master Carl wasn’t very helpful with that, was he?”
Ryder looked back at the couch that had been folded out into a bed. Across the small cabin, not even in a separate room, was a full-sized bed. Neither of them looked big enough for one of the big men, much less two of them. I giggled at the image that popped into my mind of them spooning each other to make room.
Jake flicked his gaze over me. “I don’t want to know what that giggle was about, do I?”
I shook my head but blurted it out anyway. “The beds are too small for y’all. I was picturing you having to spoon to fit.”
Sebastian groaned. “I can still leave. I’ll never hear the end of it from my ex, but it might be worth it.”
“You know, you’re going to have to spoon, too, right? You’re tiny but these beds are a joke.” Ryder laughed at the shocked look that came over my face. “Yeah. Not so funny anymore, huh, young one?”
I made a face at him using the name Carl kept using on me. “You won me over by calling me tiny and then you lost me with young one.”
“Alright, how do we do this? Draw sticks?” Jake yawned and rolled his shoulders.
“Shortest stick has to share a bed with me?” I unzipped my backpack and pulled out the sticks I’d already gathered on the way into the retreat. I held them up and found the guys studying me like I was a foreign object. “What? I thought they’d be good for an art project. I’m an art teacher at an underfunded public school. The more things I can find, the less things I have to buy.”
Sebastian pinched the bridge of his nose. “There are so many things I could say but I’m just going to pick a stick and shut the fuck up.”
Ryder patted him on the shoulder. “Good call, man.”
I found my face nearing a pout and straightened it out. “Alright. Four sticks. Here we go.”
They each drew one and we exposed them just to see that I had the shortest stick. Jake growled and shoved one of the sticks back in my bag. The three of them repeated the process without me and Jake ended up with the shortest stick that time.
