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Avery’s mouth dropped like she’d heard something tragic. “Aw, come on.”
“It’s late, and we’ll make less noise if we all go to bed at once.” Emery tucked Riley close as she stood and adjusted the blankets to keep from tripping on them.
I grabbed the flashlight and jumped up. Keeping the light beam on her path, I walked with her to the tent. Between Nora and my cousins, the other three kids were herded through the cabin for the bathroom.
“Just remember,” I said as I unzipped Emery’s tent and held the flap for her as she ducked in with her bundle. I lit the inside for her, keeping the beam off Riley’s face. “I’m right next door if you need anything.”
“Thank you.”
Once Riley was cocooned in the blanket nest, Emery pivoted and crawled out.
She brushed her hair off her face. “When the others get back and settled, I’ll go use the bathroom.”
Nora and Isla were in the cabin. It was just me and Emery for a precious few minutes. I flicked the flashlight off.
“Ooh, it’s dark,” she said with mock innocence. “I’m scared.”
“You’ll have to stick close to me, then,” I murmured as I leaned down for a kiss. I found her lips easily enough. Was it just today I’d been inside her?
Couldn’t be. Because if I let my control down, I’d be hard as the rocks lining the shore. I’d tent these sweats so badly my shadow would give me away.
I didn’t keep the kiss light, instead wrapping my arms around her and sweeping my tongue into her mouth.
She might’ve tried to stifle her moan, but I felt it as much as I heard it. I devoured her, the sweetness of chocolate and marshmallows on her lips.
When the sound of the cabin door reached us, I pulled back and swiped her bottom lip with my thumb. “You taste good. Even if you do torch your marshmallows.”
She let out a scandalized gasp and tightened her grip on my sweater. “You hardly get them brown. Like, what’s the point?”
“Brown, not charred.”
I took my turn using the bathroom while she tucked the kids in. When I came out, country music streamed through the place. Isla was at the small island, one leg crossed over the other. She held cards in her hand. Lyric was across from her.
“Nora’s gotten sneakier at pinochle,” I said.
Stetson snorted. “That’s why Lyric can’t be partners with her. I know Isla won’t let her cheat.”
Nora rolled her eyes. “I don’t cheat.”
“But you let Ricky do it.”
Lyric slapped Stetson’s shoulder. “Prove it,Stoney. Oh, wait, you can’t.”
He gave her a shit-eating grin. He grumbled about her nickname for him, but I suspected he liked it.
I suspected he liked a lot more about Lyric than her name for him. But for whatever reason, whether it was because Lyric was the opposite of what his mother would want or because he didn’t want to feel like he was getting between Isla and her closest friend, Lyric was the one woman he didn’t pursue.
The cabin door nudged open, and Emery stepped inside. She was still in jeans and her pink hoodie, and she carried a little backpack.
“Hey. I was just going to clean up.” She glanced out the window in the living room that faced the tent.
I knew exactly what she was nervous about. “I’ll go outside in case they get scared.”
She gave me a relieved look and rushed to the bathroom.
I was about to walk out the door when Isla whispered, “Holden.” When I stopped, she leaned so far forward she was going to face-plant on the wood floor if she moved another millimeter. “We’re going to be playing a while. So,you know, take your time when she’s done.”
I whispered back, “Okay.” But I walked out of the door with a huge grin.
