My body still did crazy things whenever I thought about Theo, but when I felt myself getting all hot and bothered while just sitting there, sipping my coffee, I realized it was better to distract myself by being productive. I couldn’t get so dick-drunk that I forgot I had actual responsibilities to get back to.
So I stood up, packed my things, and stripped the sheets off the bed. Then I went to turn in my keys, all the while focusing on the next task to be done instead of the boy I hoped would still be at the campsite when I got there.
He’d caught a ride to the lake with Avery, but I didn’t know what my brother’s plans were for the morning. Sometimes, he charged home at first light like a horse that smelled the stables.
When I finally got to their campsite, however, I realized none of them would be charging anywhere this morning. Hell, I’d be surprised if they could even move.
The place looked like a battlefield, with empty cans and bottles strewn around everywhere and a suspicious amount of collapsed camping chairs. A guy I didn’t recognize was even lying face down on the folding table, groaning softly as he came to between an array of empty liquor bottles.
Quite a few of Avery’s friends were already awake and others emerged from a tent every so often, every last one of them looking unbelievably, painfully hungover. Including Theo.
I spotted him sitting by the water with a cup of coffee in his hands, his sunglasses already on and a dark red scrape down the side of one arm. His shoulders were slumped, like he was regretting every choice he’d made last night, and even from twenty feet away, I could tell that he was pale, yet his cheeks were flushed.
Regardless of the state he was in, I smiled and immediately walked over. “You look terrible.”
He glanced up at me, the corners of his mouth sweeping up into a warm smile. “Thanks. That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
I sat down on the rock beside the one he was on. “How was your night?”
“Let’s just say I should’ve turned in when you left.”
I chuckled, my gaze running across the scratches on his forearm and another on his shoulder. A bruise seemed to be forming along his jaw, too. “What on earth happened to you?”
“Bad decisions and treasure mostly.” He took a sip of his coffee, winced like it hurt him, then looked at me. “One of the guys was absolutely convinced he saw gold in the creek. He insisted that we had to go investigate.”
“You went up to the creek at night?”
“Yep.”
My nose crinkled before a quiet laugh sneaked up on me. “You’re all idiots.”
“Yeah. That was the conclusion we eventually reached, but not before a thorough investigation was conducted. In case you were wondering, there was no gold in the creek.”
“Oh, I know,” I said, still chuckling. “That legend is, like, a hundred years old, and no one has even found so much as a speck of actual gold.”
“Well, the dude made a compelling presentation.”
I arched an eyebrow at him. “A presentation, huh?”
“Yep.” He pointed at an array of beer cans that seemed to have been arranged in some kind of formation in the sand. “Look, he even drew us a map.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Theo finally let out a quiet chuckle of his own, then winced again before he sighed. “It may or may not have been worth it, but it was fun.”
“I’m glad,” I said, almost adding that I’d missed him, but again, we weren’t anywhere near that point and I wasn’t really a clingy type of girl anyway. “As long as you don’t regret it.”
He turned back to me immediately, not saying anything for a very long time before he finally shook his head. “I don’t regret anything, Raquel.”
Fuck, I’d meant about last night, but obviously, that wasn’t what he was talking about. Although I knew it was stupid, this weird, fluttery warmth settled in my chest and that same feeling I’d felt the night before instantly smacked back into me.
Theo made me feel cared for, cherished, and special. Before I’d met him, I hadn’t even known I wanted that in a guy. Maybe what was happening between us was too rushed. Maybe it didn’t make sense that I felt the way I did so soon, but I didn’t care.
Whatever this was between us, however brief it might have to be, I wanted it.
“Yeah,” I said finally. “Neither do I, but I do need to get going.”
“So early?” he asked. “Avery said something about breakfast before we pack up.”
