Page 11

But, thankfully for her, the day’s itinerary was simple: brunch, followed by a hike through the Santa Barbara hills and a stop at a local microbrewery, so for now a quick shower and some clean clothes would be more than sufficient. After the brewery, the group would return to their rooms to rest and prepare for a dinner cruise that would, presumably, fill out the rest of the evening.

She had been looking forward to all of it. She loved a good hike, and the breweries in town were excellent, but now she was looking the most forward to getting back to the resort at the end of the night so she could take Lydia back to bed and pick up where they’d left off.

So, after a painfully short shower and a glance at her weather app to confirm the day’s temps, she pulled on a pair of khaki convertible hiking pants, a tight black tank, and a lightweight teal and gray flannel that she left mostly unbuttoned except for two near her belly button. Her makeup was just a little eyeliner and a tinted gloss, and she made quick work of pulling her hair into a neat French braid before stepping away from the vanity to give herself a final once-over.

“Not bad, Silva.” She grinned at her reflection. She looked athletic and fit, and her tits looked fantastic in her unbuttoned flannel. “Not bad at all,” she declared, nodding once for emphasis before going to look for the trail running shoes she’d brought for the excursion.

She grabbed a zip-up windbreaker and was out the door the moment her laces were tied, and she was so distracted double-checking the time on her phone as she turned off the walkway and onto the narrow street that fronted their cottages that she didn’t see Kit and Jack emerging from their place at the same time.

Zann about jumped out of her skin when Jack shouted, “Eyyy, Zee!” and chuckled in spite of herself when Kit followed up with a booming, “Long time no see! How’ve you been, sexy?”

“Oh, you know. Busy.” Zann pocketed her phone and looked up at the pair. She hadn’t seen them since October, when she’d been in Boston helping a friend with a rowing documentary he was filming, and she grinned as she wagged a finger between them. “I see you two are still going for the Bobbsey Twins thing.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Kit snorted. “Our anoraks are different colors.”

“Right, of course,” Zann teased. She laughed when Kit flashed her two middle fingers, and blew her a kiss. “Good of you to finally grace us with your presence.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Kit’s green eyes crinkled with her smile as she brushed her short, dark hair from her forehead. “We would have loved to have gotten up here last night, but we were wining and dining investors in LA yesterday and couldn’t make it.”

Zann blinked in surprise. Kit and Jack had fallen in love with Cambridge on their first visit as potential students to MIT’s campus, and neither had ever shown even a hint of interest in living anywhere else. “You’re leaving Boston?”

“Nah, just looking for funding to expand the lab back home,” Jack said, ruffling a hand through his shaggy brown hair. He frowned at Kit, who was wearing a slimmer cut of what looked like the same black hiking pants he wore and a cerulean blue windbreaker that, again, looked like a slimmer cut of the red one he was wearing. “Y’know, we kinda do look like Bobbsey Twins.”

Kit’s expression said that she didn’t disagree, but her ego was big enough to demand she not admit that. “You wish you looked like my twin.”

Jack frowned and hiked a thumb over his shoulder at their cottage. “Should I change?”

“Dude, we’re going hiking.” Kit rolled her eyes. “Who the fuck cares?”

Obviously unconvinced, Jack looked at Zann and asked, “Should I change?”

“You’re fine, Jack,” Zann assured him, shaking her head. “I have a feeling everyone is going to be wearing some version of the same thing given the plan for the day and the weather.”

“Hey, you made it!” a new, familiar voice called happily.

Zann resisted the urge to groan and lift her face to the heavens in a silent why me? She loved Aspen, she did—she wouldn’t be here if she didn’t—but did the universe really need to throw this many hurdles into her path when all she wanted was to get back to Lydia?

Kit and Jack had none of her inner turmoil, however, as they gleefully shouted, “ASPEN!” and pushed past her to bound toward the bride-to-be.

Zann sniggered. Sure, she wanted nothing more than to see Lydia again, but watching Kit and Jack dogpile a wide-eyed Aspen was pretty fucking hilarious.

“Holy shit!” Aspen laughed as she struggled to catch them both. “Watch it!”

Kit pressed a wet, smackeroo kiss to Aspen’s cheek. “You know you love it.”

“I’m not sure about that,” Aspen grumbled.

“Shush,” Kit teased as, with a look at Jack, they hopped off Aspen in perfect sync.

The mind-meld strikes again, Zann thought even as she egged them on with a goading, “I dunno, guys, sounds to me like you should do it again to convince her!”

Kit and Jack cackled as they instantly jumped back into action, and Zann smiled at the way Aspen stumbled under their renewed onslaught.

“Okay, okay!” Aspen laughed as she shoved them off. She rolled her eyes at them all as she straightened her black fleece. “God, what was I thinking,” she grumbled fondly, “bringing the three of you together for an entire week?”

“Let the fuckery and shenanigans begin!” Jack cheered. He held his fist out for a bump and looked at Zann and Kit expectantly. “Am I right?”

Kit laughed, and Zann winked at Aspen as she closed the distance between them to tap her fist to his. “Undoubtedly, my good sir.”