Page 44

“You’re just jealous,” Eve told him. She held his gaze as she wrapped a hand around the back of Aspen’s neck and drew her in for a slow, thorough kiss that had Aspen smiling dreamily and swaying lightly in place when it ended, and then laughed when he responded with exaggerated gagging noises. “You know you love it.”

He shuddered dramatically and muttered, “Fucking lesbians.”

“More like lesbians fucking,” Bonnie quipped dryly.

“Oh my god,” Shannon cackled. “Really, Bon?”

Lydia leaned her head on Zann’s shoulder as sweet, quiet Bonnie just shrugged unrepentantly as she asked, “Am I wrong?” When everyone just gaped at her, she propped her hands on her hips and grinned as she repeated, “Am I wrong?”

“Damn, Bonnie’s got teeth!” Jack shouted, looking absolutely delighted. He pointed at her. “You’re gonna sit with us from now on!”

Bonnie’s eyes widened as the color drained from her face. “Um, no thank you, please.”

Shannon laughed and grabbed her arm. “Aww, c’mon, Bonnie. It’ll be great!”

When Aspen first told her about this little day trip, Zann had thought the whole take-a-boat-to-an-island-to-hike-and-shit was more than a little extra when there were plenty of killer trails around Santa Barbara, but as she watched Eve giddily drop to a knee to balance the massive telephoto lens of her camera to shoot the pod of dolphins just offshore, she finally got it.

The rugged, uninhabited terrain of the island perfectly fit Aspen’s need for space and adventure, while the scenery provided a multitude of vistas for Eve to capture with her camera.

A positively dopey, utterly lovestruck smile lit Aspen’s face as she watched Eve, and Zann bit her lip against a smile of her own as she watched them. There had been a while, there, when Aspen had come home from her tours overseas and her easy, carefree manner had been replaced by a haunted stillness that had broken Zann’s goddamn heart, that she’d genuinely worried Aspen might never find her way out of the darkness. It’d been torture watching Aspen struggle, and even harder to not say anything because she knew that, if she had, Aspen would have just pretended even harder that she was okay.

“You know,” Alder said in a low voice as she joined her, “there was a long time after she got out and we were trading off visits to covertly check on her that I was afraid she’d never smile like that again.”

“Yeah…” Zann nodded. While Aspen’s parents had allowed themselves to be assuaged by her insistence that she was okay, Alder had seen the same things she had, and they’d allied to keep an eye on her. They’d take turns “swinging by” Colorado under some bullshit excuse or another to take over Aspen’s guest room, where they’d each stay for up to a week at a time to just be a constant, undemanding presence so Aspen wouldn’t be left alone with her demons for too long. Those first two years had honestly been the worst, but over time, the spark of life began to return to Aspen’s eyes. “Me too.”

Alder hummed and nudged her with her elbow. “And don’t think that I haven’t noticed you’ve been pretty smiley these last few days, too.”

Zann rolled her eyes. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Aww, c’mon. I wouldn’t be a good big sister if I didn’t give you shit for finally falling for a girl.”

Zann wanted to be annoyed, but Alder really was the big sister she’d never had growing up, and it was impossible to be too bothered by her lighthearted teasing. So she just gave her shoulder a light shove as she fondly muttered, “Oh, fuck off.”

Alder cackled and shoved her right back. Because that’s what siblings do, after all. “Love you too, Zee.”

“Do I need to break you two up?” Lydia asked laughingly as she joined them.

“No,” Alder answered.

“Please,” Zann replied at the same time. She held out a hand and beckoned Lydia closer. “Save me from her.”

“If either of us needs to be saved, it’s me,” Alder argued.

Lydia laughed and made her allegiance known as she wrapped an arm around Zann’s waist. “I know we’ve only really just met, but after all the planning we’ve done for this week, I daresay you can handle her easily if you want.”

“She wishes she could handle me,” Zann scoffed as she draped an arm over Lydia’s shoulders and drew her into her side.

“Eww, no. I really don’t,” Alder argued with a dramatic shudder.

“Oh for fuck’s…” Zann huffed and kicked at her ankle. “I didn’t mean it like that, and you know it.”

“Didn’t mean what?” Kit asked as she, Shannon, and Bonnie joined them.

“Nothing,” Zann, Alder, and Lydia replied at the same time.

“Yeah,” Bonnie sniggered. “Because that didn’t sound suspicious or anything.”

Kit waggled her eyebrows, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “You’re not planning a three-way or something, are you?”