I didn’t want to tell a bald-faced lie, so I just pressed my lips together in a moment of pleading the fifth. But she took my silence as the confirmation of guilt she was looking for.
“Ick factor aside, I’ll be watching you, Phoenix.”
“How is there any ick factor involved between me and—” I clamped my mouth shut.
Her brows pinched together. “The only reason I’m allowing this is that there seems to be an unusual abundance of,” she gestured to my chest, “feelings spewing from there since you arrived. I don’t know what went down with the two of you at Christmas, but you’ve both seemed off since then. Until a couple of days ago, anyway.”
She let her arms drop and took a deep breath, then doubled down on her warning, stabbing her pointer finger into my chest. “But if you hurt even one hair on Jonas’s head…well, just don’t. I don’t want to be in a position where I have to choose between my big brother and my absolute best friend in the whole world. Because, newsflash, you may not come out the winner, and that would be devastating.” She glared at me once more and then stomped over to Marcus and Jonas.
Oversharing with her about my dating life was now coming back to bite me in the ass. Brooklynn was well aware of my past habits. She and I were close, and would often catch up over a beer while FaceTiming. She kept me up to date on her sometimes-disastrous dating life and the latest articles she’d written, and I told her about my difficult clients and latest one-night stands. I suspected she wondered how Jonas fit into that picture and had come to the wrong conclusion. He was different. Special. I had no intentions of using him and moving on.
Marcus explained where we were heading for this morning’s hike, and we all piled into the van he’d arrived in and headed toward our destination—Craggy Pinnacle Trail. A short drive later, we were parked and waiting at the entrance. The rhododendrons were still in bloom, the reason we’d decided to start the week with this hike. The views were spectacular, beginning right here in the thicket where we were surrounded by the fuchsia flowers.
There was a chill in the air even though it was June. I’d always loved the crispness of the cool, fresh air of the mountains, and missed it when I was in New York. I missed North Carolina in general lately, now more than ever as I watched a certain cutie reach over and pretend to steal Maddie’s nose.
“You know,” I said to my dad, who was my hiking buddy right now, “this trail is less than an hour round trip. We really didn’t need a hiking guide for it, just saying.”
Dad’s gaze followed the path mine made, and he chuckled. “Your ma insisted. Besides, as soon as she got a good look at him this morning, that sealed the deal. Thinks he’s adorable. Kinda like the pool boy of the hiking world, I suppose.” He shifted his gaze, caught Ma’s eyes, and smiled at her. “Though I’d say she’s setting herself up for a bit of disappointment with that one.” He elbowed me in the side and gestured toward Marcus. “Seems he’s got eyes for a certain young man instead. Perhaps you should, I don’t know, drop your old dad and go walk with the kids. Maybe one in particular, if you know what I mean.”
“Dad, you’re about as subtle as a shark attack in a swimming pool.” But was I really being that obvious myself in how I felt about Jonas? I wanted him to be on board with the whole thing, and I knew we needed to sit down and talk, but I didn’t want to scare him away by coming off too strong. I figured we could have some fun now and then talk about things and come up with aplan before the trip was over. I’d give him time to adjust to the idea of us.
Twenty minutes later, we reached the top, stepping out of the floral thicket and onto the open hill. The wind picked up substantially out in the open like this.
“I forgot how beautiful it is up here,” Jonas whispered to me once I stepped up beside him. We were at the edge of the viewing area, against the stone wall and facing west. As far as the eye could see were rows and rows of mountains that eventually stretched all the way into Tennessee. It was truly a stunning display, and the experience was even more memorable sharing it with Jonas—and the rest of my family too, I supposed. Could have done without Marcus, though.
I nudged Jonas’s shoulder with mine, and he peered up at me. “The best part is right here,” I murmured, reaching over and subtly running a finger along the inside of his wrist. His expression morphed into this sweet, almost goofy, soft look that squeezed my heart. I was about to fully reach for his hand, audience be damned, when Marcus walked up and shoved his way between us.
“Excuse you,” I snapped at Marcus, more harshly than I’d intended to.
Jonas’s cheeks colored, and his shoulders slouched down. He loathed most types of conflict, even something as minor as this. He shimmied out of his backpack and set it on the stone. Unzipping it, he pulled out a notebook and a pen. “I’d better take some notes before we leave,” he murmured.
“Notes for what?” I asked. He hadn’t mentioned anything of the sort to me, so I was at a loss.
“For the hiking article he’s working on,” Marcus replied on Jonas’s behalf as he’d already stepped to the side and started scribbling down notes.
“Ah, right,” I said lightly, as if I knew what he was referring to. The smile Marcus gave me made my blood pressure rise; I could practically feel my blood simmering in my veins. It was a mix of smug and sympathetic, which meant I must truly look pathetic right now, pining after a guy who maybe didn’t feel the same way about me. What was I thinking, acting like this after we’d had very little contact for damn half a year? He’d reconnected with Marcus less than two hours ago, and had already thought to share with him whatever this thing was with the article? He hadn’t mentioned anything to me, not even after we’d fucked.
And yet I wasn’t ready to give up.
Ma came over after Marcus walked away and patted my arm. “Is everything okay, sweetie?” she asked. I shrugged noncommittally. “You seem distracted, and that is the exact opposite of how you should feel when you’re standing where you’re standing. Look around. Clear your mind. You’ve barely had a day off work in six months. Whatever’s got you stressed, put it aside. Take this time to relax.” I gave her a crooked smile, and she pinched my cheek. “I’d take one of your shit-eating grins any day over this pathetic attempt at a smile.” That earned her a real smile, and she nodded in satisfaction. “That’ll do.”
Marcus rounded us all up, and we made the short twenty-minute hike down the trail. On the drive back to the house, Ma invited Marcus over for lunch. It was the nice thing to do, I supposed, since he was still friendly with Brooklynn and Jonas, and Ma had a crush on him and all. It seemed I was the only one who didn’t want him around any longer than necessary. I was just going to have to suck it up and deal.
8
Jonas
“Mrs. Kennedy, this is seriously the best baked mac and cheese I’ve tasted in my entire life.” Marcus, seated to my left, set his plate on the dining room table after Bronwyn had scooped more onto it for him. “Thank you.” Her baked mac and cheese was award-winning. Literally. She’d won ribbons at the fair several years with this recipe.
“Oh, you know how to flatter a lady, don’t you? Go right for her cooking skills. Works like a charm every time.” Bronwyn playfully shook the spoon in his direction. Marcus winked at her, and the apples of her cheeks reddened into a rosy shade of pink. “And please, call me Bronwyn.” To my right, Phoenix stabbed at his salad plate with his fork and took a rough bite, chewing it aggressively.
Bronwyn walked around the table to her seat and held up the serving spoon. “Would anyone else like more while I’ve got this? How about you, Jonas? You only took the tiniest of scoops, and you’ve left three-quarters of it on your plate. Are you feeling okay?”
Do not blush. Do not look at Phoenix. Do not react.There went the pink across my cheeks and down my neck anyway.Damn it.I snuck a glance to my right, and Phoenix was lookingvery smug suddenly. Clearly, my subterfuge was not very subtle, at least not to him. After we’d gotten back from hiking, I’d jumped into the shower to clean up, and was now eating a light lunch in case there was to be a repeat of this morning’s sunrise activities. I reached over and squeezed his knee under the table. His leg shot out—a literal knee-jerk reaction—and banged against one of the support beams on the underside of the table. He cursed under his breath and shot me a heated glare, which morphed into more of a heated smirk when he reached his left hand over and cupped my dick in his palm, over my shorts.
“Jonas?” Bronwyn prompted me again.
Phoenix squeezed me gently but firmly, rendering me breathless. “No,” I squeaked out. “I mean, yes. I’m feeling okay. And no thank you. I don’t have much of an appetite this”—Phoenix rubbed down along my balls, and my voice cracked on the next word—“afternoon,is all.”
