She licks a smear of chocolate from her thumb, and I turn my head away.
It’s a mistake.
And she notices instantly.
“Rowan?”
“What?”
“You’re staring again.”
“You’re trying to kill me.”
She grins. “Me? Never.”
She grabs the remote, settles deeper against the headboard, and turns up the volume. The courtroom scene starts, where Elle Woods dismantles Chutney’s alibi with absolute confidence. Tessa mouths every line under her breath, perfectly timed, perfectly sure of herself.
I don’t tease her.
I just sit there and watch her lips move around the words she knows by heart.
Her mouth curves as the verdict lands and her foot nudges my ankle.
I sit still, pulse tight and steady, wondering why laughing with her feels more dangerous than anything else in the world.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Tessa
We reach the dock, and Chad is waiting for us with his shirt tucked in, and his clipboard hugged to his chest.
I dread whatever he is about to say.
“Rowboat challenge!” He practically bounces. “Sun’s perfect. Water’s calm. This isthebonding activity of the weekend.”
Behind me, Rowan mutters something that sounds suspiciously likedrown me now.
Honestly? Same.
My ankle aches, but it’s manageable.
“You two are up,” Chad says, motioning toward a narrow rowboat that looks even smaller in person.
I glance at the boat. Then at Rowan.
He doesn’t step forward. He doesn’t even pretend to be civil about it. He just stares at the thing with his arms loose at his sides and his jaw tight.
“It’s rowing,” I say, nudging his elbow. “Not brain surgery.”
“No,” he says, voice flat, “it’s an inefficient transportation method that requires synchronized effort and provides very little payoff.”
I blink at him. “Translation: someone’s scared they’ll get outpaced.”
He gives me a look.
Thelook.
The flat, unimpressed one he used to aim at me during undergrad whenever I suggested adding music cues or special effects to our class projects.
