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“Wow. You must want to see me naked pretty badly.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Baby Teeth. I didn’t even remember this spring was here until tonight.” He picked a stray piece of lint off his shirt. “And I knew you wouldn’t do it anyway.”
“You’re such an asshole.”
“Never claimed to be otherwise.”
He leaned there, all casual, like he didn’t have a single care in the world. If looks could start fires, I would’ve burned him to ash. He didn’t think I’d do it, but he had no idea how strongly I favored spite. It was my greatest motivator in life.
The clouds shifted overhead, bathing the clearing in light from the full moon. Now or never. I sucked in a deep breath and stood. Rivulets of warm water slid over my chilled skin, and a cool breeze drifted through the trees, tightening my nipples to hard little nubs. Wes did his level best to appear bored, but his pupils dilated with unmistakable hunger. Emboldened by his unexpected interest, I took my time sauntering out of the spring. I bent over to collect my T-shirt, making a whole show of it.
I had a point to prove.
I peeked over my shoulder and flushed at the sight of him drinking me in, his hands clenched at his sides. His eyes were darker than the sky on a starless night. Little shivers that started in my toes worked their way up, spreading a quick burst of heat through me. I pulled on my T-shirt and blew him a kiss. A muscle ticked in his jaw.
His gaze drifted to my shirt, and his expression hardened as his pouty bottom lip formed a thin line of disapproval. “Still can’t let him go, can you?”
I glanced down at the Powered by Pancakes shirt that had once belonged to another Latham brother. My ex. Four years ago, it served as a security blanket of sorts when he left both me and the island behind. It was the thing I clung to when I was alone and hurting. There were so many nights, too many, really, where I’d close my eyes and inhale his scent and try to convince myself nothing had changed. But eventually, I came to understand that the source of my pain had nothing to do with Seth. Honestly, I didn’t even think of the shirt as his anymore.
“It’s just a shirt.” The only one I owned that was long enough to cover all my bits when I walked down here from my condo.
“You know damn well it’s not just a shirt.” He pushed off from the tree. “Fuck, Audrey. When are you going to accept that he’s gone and he’s not coming back?”
I’d accepted it a long time ago. I rarely thought of Seth. Even though I’d been upset when he ended our five-year relationship because he claimed he needed to see the world by himself, time and distance had a way of clearing the fog from heartbreak. It was now plainly obvious there had been a lot more wrong with us than Seth’s wanderlust, and it served me right for thinking I could’ve ever made things work with a Virgo in the first place.
It still didn’t excuse what Wes had done. That, I would never forgive.
I supposed I should’ve thanked him for reminding me that I couldn’t trust him, not then, and certainly not now. Easy games of flirtation would only end up biting me in the ass. “I think you should go.”
He took a step forward. “Audrey, wait. I didn’t mean—”
I held up a hand. “Yes, you did. It’s late, I’m tired, and I’m not in the mood to do this with you. Just go home. Please.”
His body vibrated as he fought some kind of internal war with himself before he gave a short nod and headed in the direction of his house. If I were a nicer person, I would’ve left things between us on a more positive note, but I wasn’t feeling terribly charitable. At least, not toward Wes.
I rubbed a hand over my chest to soothe the inexplicable ache that thrummed in my heart. For a moment, it felt like we were back in high school, when we played off each other the same way we had tonight. There was a time when I thought… well, it didn’t matter what I’d thought. It never materialized into anything. Then I started dating Seth, and that was that.
It was a good thing nothing had ever happened between us, especially after Wes revealed his true nature. I was better off staying away from the Latham brothers altogether.
I took one last look at my spring, not nearly as satisfied as I should’ve been, and turned to take the path home.
The ground rumbled beneath my feet. A slow build followed by a resounding boom. Like thunder, but underground. A hawk took flight from a nearby oak, screeching at the sky as it tore through the leaves. The grass rippled, and another boom split the air. My fingers dug into the bark of the closest tree as a wave of earth barreled toward me, threatening to knock me off my feet. In the distance, a giant boulder careened into a cluster of juvenile pines, knocking them down like bowling pins. Another boom pounded inside of my head as the woods came down around me. The thin trunks of birch trees snapped in half and fell in every direction. Rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks ran past me in blind terror. The forest floor continued to shake. I barely managed to stay on my feet, terrified I’d lose the fragile hold I had on my balance.
Wes barreled out of the tree line on the other side of the spring. Before I could move or react, he flung his arms around me, knocking us both to the ground. A loud crack sounded overhead, and a branch the size of a Mini Cooper smashed into shards of splintered wood. Right where I’d been standing seconds ago.
He cupped my face with gentle hands, his eyes searching mine. “Are you hurt?”
“I…” My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. I couldn’t speak. It took me a few seconds to understand that the earth had stopped, and I was the one shaking.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you.” Wes held me tight against his chest, his warmth seeping into me as I continued to tremble. “It’s over now.”
“Wh-what was that?” My voice came out cracked and broken, as if I hadn’t used it in weeks. The shock began to wear off, and I leaned back, loosening my grip on Wes’s shirt. I hadn’t even realized how tightly I’d clung to him.
“An earthquake.”
“I don’t think so.” Earthquakes could and did happen on the east coast, but not like that. The ground didn’t roll as though something had burrowed beneath it during a typical earthquake.
“What the hell else would you call it?”
