Page 51 of Until We Come Home

“Hey, man,” Mateo says, reaching out to clasp Derek’s forearm. “Good to see you.”

“Yeah, good to see you too,” Derek says, keeping his smile steady as he lets go.

Mateo towers over Derek by a considerable amount, and his broad firefighter build is making the contrast a bit unfair. I feel a sudden, ridiculous pang of guilt over Derek potentially feeling inadequate—paired with an equally strange guilt toward Mateo just for bringing Derek into the mix.

“Uh, well, let’s get settled in,” I say, a little too loudly, clapping my hands together like a camp counselor.

“Works for me,” Derek says.

“Follow me,” Mateo says, gesturing toward the pine-lined trail. “I’ll show you where your cabin is.”

Lark catches my eye, eyebrows up and smile barely contained, as if punches could be thrown at any moment. They head off up the path together, and I stand there watching them go until Lark sidles up next to me, leaning in.

“So, am I taking bets on who lands the first hit?” she teases, laughing.

“You’re terrible,” I say with a dry laugh. “Though I wouldn’t entirely blame you.”

“Are you actually doing alright?” she asks, her tone softening as she studies my face.

“It’s fine,” I say, and then, since it’s Lark, “Okay, I’ll admit it. Maybe, possibly, things have been a little confusing with Mateo lately. But it’s a weird summer thing, I dunno. Too much time in one city. Derek’s here now, and I’m going to keep everything normal and easy, and it’ll all settle down.” I look up the path. “You don’t really think those two are going to have a problem, do you?”

“That is so incredibly naive it’s almost sweet,” Lark says, slinging an arm around my shoulders and squeezing. “Though Mateo does have a massive reserve of restraint, so maybe we’ll avoid a full-blown fistfight.”

“Right,” I say. “And Derek doesn’t do jealous. I’ve told you that. He’s never once been that guy.”

“I still think you’re wrong on that one.” She says it kindly, bumping her hip against mine. “He was never jealous before, sure. He had you. Nobody was coming for his spot.”

“On our breaks I’ve dated plenty of guys and he never cared at all, I mean—” I start.

“That isn’t the same,” she says, cutting me off with a smile. “None of those guys ever stood a real chance, and Derek knew it. This is different. You like Mateo a hell of a lot more than you’re admitting to me right now, and Mateo is the first person who could actually steal you away for good. Derek isn’t blind—he’s going to pick up on that fast.”

I turn that over, looking at the gap in the trees where they went. “I mean, that’s not... I don’t even know what I feel yet, Lark.”

“Mm-hm, I think deep down you do, but I know you’re not ready for that conversation yet,” she says. “Listen. I’m right here all weekend, and if at any point you need me to fake an emergency and drag you off somewhere, put up the bat signal and I’m there. No questions.”

“Thanks, I love you,” I tell her.

“I know, I love you too.” She squeezes my shoulders once more and lets go.

CHAPTER 13

Mateo

Derek is getting on every single one of my nerves, and whatever easy truce we had going when I last saw him has evaporated. I’ve never seen him act territorial before—which Mia always claimed was one of his best traits—but he’s unsettled today, sticking to her side like glue.

It isn’t doing my mood any favors, especially considering he doesn’t even have anything to worry about. Watching the two of them together, it’s obvious she’s going to drift right back into his arms, leaving something bitter and heavy twisting in my gut.

I’m sitting on a driftwood log up by the fire pit with a beer, and from here I’ve got a clear view of the two of them down on the sand, where Jack and Lark are dragging a pile of inner tubes out of the shed.

Mia’s swapped her top for a swimsuit, cutoffs pulled on over it, with her chestnut hair damp from her shower, laughing at something Lark said, while Derek’s palm rests on the small of her back like it’s planted there permanently. She glances up the sand, catches my eye, and immediately looks away. I take a long drink of my beer.

“So what’s the game?” Derek asks, laughing as Jack tosses the tubes off the end of the dock into the water. “Is there a bracket, or is it a free-for-all?”

He gestures around animatedly and I roll my eyes. Pretty much every word out of his mouth today is grating on my nerves, and I can barely muster the energy to pretend to be friendly anymore. How he ever managed to win a woman like Mia over in the first place remains one of the great mysteries of the universe.

“Tube relay,” Jack says. “Teams of three. One at a time, jump off the dock, out around the buoy and back, up the ladder, and the next person goes. You’re welcome to try and dethrone Lark and me, but we’re undefeated. Plus Chloe’s on our squad, so you’re pretty much doomed.”

I have to laugh at that. Throw Dominic and Brooke into the mix and you’ve assembled the most competitive group of people to ever show up at a lake.