Naked hiking was definitely a terrible idea. I was scratching that tip off the list. I didn’t want to be the cause of anyone else dealing with this; that was for sure.
Phoenix knelt down and inspected my legs. He brushed his fingers over my unmarked skin, avoiding the welts.
“I’m sorry, Jonas,” he said, sounding contrite. “I didn’t realize there was a nest in that rotten log near us.”
“Can we just go back inside now?” I snapped. I hadn’t intended to direct my irritation toward him, but the pain was taking over my brain.
“Yeah, let’s go get those bites taken care of.”
He held my hand and led me around to the side entrance on the opposite side of the house, where we were less likely to be seen entering. Since the bedroom door was open and Brooklynnwas nowhere in sight, we slipped into our bathroom, where Phoenix washed the bites for me and applied calamine lotion to them.
“There, good as new,” he said, patting my knee. He corrected himself upon seeing my expression. “Good as can be, given the circumstances.”
“Thank you, Phoenix.” I hopped off the counter and went to grab a change of clothes, opting for loose sweatpants and a T-shirt.
What a weird day. It started with the highest of highs and ended with the pain of a bunch of stupid bug bites—on just me, of course. Not that I wanted them to bite Phoenix, but it was always me with this sort of luck.
Every dang trip.
My next tip for the article should read:Do not enter nature without first donning a freaking hazmat suit.
Seriously.
9
Jonas
After getting cleaned up, we came face-to-face with Brooklynn as we passed through the dining room again. I glanced around, searching for Marcus and expecting him to be nearby.
“He left,” Brooklynn said.
“Bummer,” Phoenix deadpanned.
I gave him a look and then turned to Brooklynn. “Did he say why he left? I know we took a bit longer than expected, but I was going to ask him those questions for my article. He’d also mentioned wanting to get my opinion on some apartments in Raleigh. He’s moving there at the end of the summer. It’s odd that he’d just up and leave.”
“Something about a hike tomorrow that he needed to prepare for.” She cleared her throat lightly. “If you ask me though, I’d say he was fairly put out by his loss this afternoon.”
I stared at the two of them silently for a moment, blinking. The smirk on Phoenix’s face was aggravating. “What do you mean by that?” I asked her.
Brooklynn gave me a one-armed hug and stepped back again. “First of all, sweetie pie, best friend of mine—and don’t blame Phoenix, because he didn’t blab—I know that you and mybrother are messing around in some way, shape, or form.” She held a palm up when I opened my mouth to interject. “Please, spare me the details. You two were sickeningly sweet at the top of the hill today—yes, I was totally eavesdropping a bit. But I already warned Phoenix that he may lose me in the divorce if he hurts you.” She glared at her brother, perhaps to reiterate her message.
My lips pressed into a thin line, and I nodded. I had a feeling she’d known something was up.
“Second of all, Marcus, bless his heart, has a massive thing for you, which you seem to be oblivious to, and he’s been trying to get your attention since he popped up at the end of the lane this morning. I suspect that’s why he’s so eager to talk about hiking with you for your article.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “No way! He’s been friendly, yeah, but you’re reading into things. He’s just a nice guy.” I glanced at Phoenix, and his jaw was set tight. He clearly agreed with her. “You’re both reading into things.”
“Come on, Pickles,” Phoenix said. “Did you not notice how he conveniently asked for another helping of mac and cheese before he’d even eaten the previous one, once he realized it meant Ma would come over and might have seen…” He gestured toward my dick. “You know.”
“Okaaaay,” I said, dragging out the word. “So, he’s a big fan of Bronwyn’s cooking. But who isn’t? That doesn’t mean he was trying to interfere?—”
“It does, Jonas.”
First, the bug bites, and now these two were insinuating that I was too naive to understand Marcus’s real intentions. This afternoon was turning into a real shitshow. I turned the full force of my irritation toward Phoenix. Anxiety swirled in the pit of my stomach. I hated confrontation with a passion.
“Is that why you wanted to detour into the garage when you did? To make Marcus jealous and piss him off?” I was so daft sometimes. “Tell me the truth,” I demanded. The guilty expression written all over Phoenix’s face was proof enough.
“I’d been wanting to do that all day anyway, Jonas,” he said quietly.
