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9
August shut the cabin door quietly behind her and was surprised to find Keaton sitting on the bed, staring at Molly, who appeared to be glaring at him from across the room. His laptop was on the bed, shut, and he looked at August as she walked in.
“Work not going well?” she asked.
“It’s going fine.” Keaton frowned. “But I’m getting the ‘I’m going to kill you in your sleep’ eyes from this one.”
He flicked his hand in Molly’s direction and the dog snorted.
“If she wanted you dead, you’dbedead already,” August said, biting down on her lip to stifle a laugh. Their hate-hate relationship was amusing. Keaton had never really been a dog person and Molly was...well, Molly.
She plopped down onto the bed beside him, letting her thigh brush against his and ignoring her instinct to put a little space between them. Since all his teasing and fake flirting—she wassureit was fake—was nothing more than sport to him, acting the same would put him on the back foot.
“Congratulations on not getting kicked out of the competition on the first day,” she said. “That’s exciting!”
“I’m ecstatic,” he replied dryly.
“I can tell. You’re practically bursting with joy.” Holding her laugh in was even harder watching his less-than-impressed expression, but he didn’t move away from her.Whywasn’t he moving away? “But I think we should get in a little practice time with you and Molly. It’s lucky the judges thought her whole ‘you can’t tell me what to do’ shtick was a routine and not a personality trait.”
Keaton snorted. “They’ll find out the truth soon enough.”
“You hoping to throw it so you can go home?”
“My life would certainly be easier if Molly threw a hissy fit and they sent us packing.” He looked at her a little guiltily. “But I couldn’t do that to Leah.”
“Even if she conspired to have us in the same cabin?”
“To be fair,Iwas the one who asked you to come along and help me.”
August rolled her eyes. “She told us she’d asked for an extra room when she clearly didn’t.”
She was going to have a word with her best friend about that.
“That’s family for you.” He lifted one shoulder into a shrug.
Must be nice to have someone care about you so much.
“And with people going home, some of the other cabins will be free,” he said, echoing her thoughts from earlier. “If you feel that moving to another room would make you more comfortable.”
He delivered the words with the same arrogant smirk he’d used on her at breakfast—the one that said he was fully confident she would back down before him. Ooh it got under her skin!
“Why do you bring it up, Keaton? Feeling weird having me so close?” She leaned back on the bed, making her knee knock against his. No way was she going to be the one walking out of here with her tail between her legs. He’d had the upper hand forwaytoo long.
“Not at all. I just figured in case you were bluffing this morning, I’d give you an out.” The smirk blossomed into a full-blown grin. “Seeing as I’m such a good guy.”
“I’m totally fine. Nothing about this bothers me even a little bit,” she lied. “Now, if you’re done trying to bait me, why don’t we run through a few things with Molly?”
“If we must,” he said with a sigh.
Molly grunted from the other side of the room as if to say,I am just as annoyed about this as you are. Believe me, buddy.
“Oh come on, you two, it’s going to be fun!” August clapped her hands together and jumped off the bed. “Now, I’ve had a look over the schedule. After lunch, we’ve got a photo shoot where you can show the judges why Molly has the potential to be a social media star. So maybe have a think about that in advance.”
“I don’t need to think about it. I already know why she’s perfect for social media.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Because, like most people trying to make it big online, she’s beautiful but egotistical.”
