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August crouched and ruffled Molly’s fur, making the husky groan with pleasure. He watched her for an entire minute and not once did August look up at him, despite the fact that her cheeks grew steadily pinker so sheknewhe was looking.
What the hell was going on with her?
“So, dinner, huh?” he said. “Planning to go without me?”
“I didn’t think you’d want to come.” She cooed at Molly.
“And eat a restaurant meal over something they cooked up in the canteen here?” He raised an eyebrow. Not to say that the food was bad, because it wasn’t. But it was still summer camp–style serve-yourself fare, and Keaton had gotten a little too used to white tablecloth dining.
“It was more the ‘spending time with people’ aspect I thought you would dislike.” She stood and brushed the strands of white and black husky fur from her jeans.
“I doubt I’d be lucky enough to get two meals delivered to my room in one day. So I’ll gladly take a small dinner over a hall full of strangers.”
August’s lip quirked and she finally made eye contact with him. “Stranger danger, huh?”
“You know it. I barely tolerate the people I know, let alone the ones I don’t,” he quipped, thankful they were back to bantering again instead of wondering how to deal with the awkward silence.
“I can’t tell which lie you prefer more—the Wall Street winer and diner, or the grouchy hermit.”
“One of those isn’t a lie.”
“Hmm.” She nodded, clearly biting back a response.
“Say it,” he said, gesturing to her. “I’d rather you take a swipe than do this holier-than-thouhmmresponse.”
“I don’t want to take a swipe, Keaton. Not everyone is looking to attack you.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “You can let go of the defensive stance around me.”
“Take a look at yourself.” He laughed. “Arms positioned like you need a shield in front of you. And you’ve barely been able to look me in the eye for some reason. What’s up with that?”
She made apfftsound. “Don’t be ridiculous. I can look you in the eye.”
“You can try to bullshit me, Augie. But I see right through you.”
“Don’t call me that.” She shook her head. “Augie. It makes me sound like a child.”
With a head for business and a body made for long, sweaty nights in bed—he didnotneed the reminder that she wasn’t a child anymore. The sharp snap of attraction that gripped him by the throat made guilt rush through him. How could he be thinking about his dead wife one minute and wanting to kiss his little sister’s best friend the next?
It’s been ten years. You don’t have to berate yourself for being attracted to someone.
But it wasn’t “someone” like an anonymous actor in a dirty movie or a hot woman passing him by on the street. It wasn’t the idea of attraction and a fleeting feeling. It washer. August. And the feeling wasn’t fleeting. Far from it.
“The next group will be coming through in a few minutes. So get prepared!” The retreat’s event coordinator waved to get everyone’s attention. “We’re going to give you a station to start at, and everyone will have five minutes to take a great shot to submit to the judges. Then the bell will ring with a one-minute warning before everyone will need to rotate to the right, until you have completed all the stations.”
“This sounds like my version of hell,” Keaton said under his breath while shooting a glance in August’s direction. “This is to simulate posting on social media, right? I don’t even knowwhatpeople post on social media. Who cares what people had at their boring brunch? You like avocado toast, so what?”
August burst out laughing. “Gee, Keaton. I remember a time when you were fun.”
“Social media isnotfun. It’s performance.” He wrinkled his nose. “People feel like they need to prove their lives are relevant and amazing, so they take a carefully curated selection of things and post them online so other nobodies will think they’re cool. If their lives were actually good, they wouldn’t bother wasting time trying to convince strangers online.”
“That issocynical!”
“It’s not. I don’t count Leah in all this, because she’s creating educational content. That’s different.” He huffed. “I’m talking about the people who go to the Eiffel Tower or the Tower of Pisa and spend all their time looking at it through their iPhone instead of experiencing it firsthand. Or worse, using one of those selfie stick things because they have to insert themselves into a landscape to enjoy it.”
“Wow.”August shook her head. “I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“Not everybody will get to experience those things. I have no time for people who waste such precious opportunities.”
He saw the moment that the penny dropped for August and turned away, not wanting to see her pity. He shouldn’t have said anything. It made him feel weak to still be so bitter about his wife’s passing. Ellery would be ashamed of him for behaving this way, because she’d had a zest for life and believed that everyone should be left to enjoy things as they pleased.
