She rolls a little more to her back, and her hair tickles my nose. “It was for the principal. He sent me a ‘shame on you’ email two days later. Told me I should think twice before ever doing that again. I apparently made someone cry that day.”
“You made someone cry because a grown adult got fired for publicly making fun of his students?” Meredith is the most responsible woman I know. “How is that your problem?”
“Right? Holly thought the same. So she charged into the superintendent’s office. Told him that just because he and Jed were tight and wanted to sweep the whole thing under the rug, didn’t mean I should censor myself. Fifteen years later, he still won’t look me in the eye.” She drapes an arm across her abdomen, and I hook my fingers through hers. She lets me. “Tell me about you and your brothers.”
I place a kiss on her soft hair. Wildflowers bloom in my nose. “Later. You need to sleep.”
“Calder, you made me spill my guts.”
“If we’re all moving cattle together on Monday, you’re going to see us just as we were. We haven’t done a thing like that since we left, so I don’t have any new routines or insults. It’ll be like looking into a time capsule.”
“You have more muscles now than you did then.”
“Meredith Winslow, were you checking me out?”
“The brooding older boy who was one of the few who could get his brothers to listen to him? Most definitely. You had muscles then too.”
“Did you check out my brothers?”
“One hundred percent.” When I nearly swallow my tongue, she chortles. “Gotcha. Not really. Landry thought a lot of himself, and Bowen always seemed sullen. You were stern. I liked it. It was only for six months before your mom passed.”
And then three months after, when it all imploded.
She turns her face toward me. “What about you?”
“Check you out? That’s a hard no. You were thirteen, and when I was home, you were like a Victorian ghost. You just hovered at the fringes, watching everything.” When she giggles, I smile.
“Probably for the best.”
I snuggle closer. For a guy who never cuddles, I don’t want to stop. “Adult Meredith is a different story. I check her out all the time. But she also needs rest.”
Her breathing is steady. “You going to sneak out again?”
“No, rosy. Not this time.”
THIRTY
MEREDITH
I slept harder than I ever thought I could. I would still be under, but my bladder has other plans. My eyelids flutter open, but a heavy weight rests across my stomach. I’msowarm. So cozy. If my eyes didn’t feel like I exfoliated with sandpaper, my throat weren’t raw, and my nose weren’t still a little stuffy, I’d want to do something about that tingling sensation igniting between my thighs.
Calder’s face is buried in the pillow behind my head, and his chest brushes my back with each steady rise and fall. Is he shirtless? I wasn’t able to see it last night.
Light peeks through the blinds. I frown. It’s morning. Calder’s still here?
The heartbeat between my legs aggravates my bladder.Dang.I really have to go. And I’m not facing him with morning breath either. His probably smells like he chewed on orange peels and cedar chunks all night. I pat his hand and inch closer to the edge of the bed. His hold tightens, and he draws in a deep breath, sinking his nose into my hair.
“I need to use the bathroom.” I try to scoot out of his iron grip. The thoughtful water he brought me last night is why I have to leave this perfect cove.
“Mm.” His deep rumble goes right through my back, but he releases me and rolls onto his back.
My breath catches when I scurry around the bed, stepping over the photo albums I was looking through before I collapsed in a sad heap. Calder’s shirtless. He’s got an arm flung over his head, and his other rests across his stomach. Apparently, I have a thing for biceps. The only thing stopping his sweats from pulling down is the impressive morning wood acting like a catch. He’s watching me through slitted eyes, the corner of his mouth lifted.
I put my head down and get to the bathroom before I wet myself. After I’m done, I wash my hands and groan. The sight in the mirror is straight out of a horror movie. Bloodshot eyes, wild hair, blotchy skin. “Oh god.”
A knock on the door makes me yelp.
“Sorry,” Calder says from the other side. “I’m gonna run downstairs to get my phone and grab us some food. I want you to get your ass back in bed when you’re done in there.”
