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He should walk away. Let her cry it out and emerge with her mask intact. Wasn’t that what she’d want?
Why did he even agree to be here? It was a silly dog competition and nothing more. He could have told Leah he was too busy with work and hired someone to step in. At the very least, he could have done it on his own instead of dragging August into the situation.
He got out of the car and locked the doors. Outside, the air was crisp and moonlight shone down through a gap in the trees.
He wasn’t sure how long he stayed outside, trying to figure out what to do. Five minutes? Ten minutes? Half an hour? Ellery had always told him that his emotions were like tadpoles, slippery and impossible to catch. That’s why August scared the shit out of him.
She was...open. Like a wound waiting for some salt to be poured in. Like sunshine, bright and warm, just waiting for someone to drown her out with their rain clouds.
Around him, insects chirruped as he paced back and forth. But he couldn’t stay out here all night. He walked to the cabin, pausing at the threshold, hand hovering the room key in front of the door’s scanner panel while he wrestled with himself.
Turn around and walk away. Get another cabin. Hide. Isn’t that what you do best?
Keaton gritted his teeth and tapped the room key down. The lock clicked inside the door and he eased it open. All the lights were off, except for the bathroom, with the door cracked open so that he’d be able to see. And the blinds were open, allowing moonlight to flood in through the window, casting silvery bands across the bed and floor. They revealed the outline of her form—the curve of her shoulder and hip, and the gentle dip at her waist. The gleam of her fiery red hair spilling across the pillow like ribbons.
He toed off his sneakers and nudged them to one side with his foot. Then he carefully set his wallet and keys down on the little table by the door, trying not to make any noise. A soft muffled sound broke through the otherwise silent room. Was she...?
“Augie?” He let the door shut softly behind him.
In the corner, Molly raised her head sleepily, barely cracking one eye open, before she dropped back down and resumed her light snoring.
There was a soft sniffling, but then it stopped abruptly. She must have realized he’d come inside and was trying to hold it together. He respected her for that.
Is that only because you think emotions make you weak? Vulnerable?
He shook off the inconvenient question as his eyes adjusted to the dim light. August faced away from him, her body curled up in the center of the bed, shuddering slightly.
“Augie?” He let out a breath. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not you.”
He padded to the bed and sank his knees into the mattress, so he could check on her. Her cheeks were damp, the moisture catching the silvery moonlight. He swallowed. Inside him there was a war—one part of him desperately wanted to comfort her and the other part was screaming at him to walk away. He brushed his knuckles along her arm, his breath sticking in his throat when she shivered at his touch. But he couldn’t seem to pry himself away like he had every other time he’d thought about his feelings for August.
Every time he’d remembered how much he wanted to do more than kiss her that fateful night.
“I shouldn’t put my misanthropic shit onto you. That’s not fair.” It felt like there was a fist around his throat, trying to stop him from saying more. “I feel bad for saying those things, because...shit. I didn’t mean to belittle your dreams.”
Get out of here.
“But let’s not get into that now. It’s late. I’ll let you sleep.” He pulled away, but she rolled, her hand reaching out for him. The movement caused the sheet to slip further down, revealing a pale shoulder and arm, the curve of her bust pressing against the slightly twisted fabric of the T-shirt she slept in. “I can... I can find another room.”
“Stay,” she said. “There’s not going to be anyone at the front desk now.”
“I should...” Should what? He had no idea how to navigate this situation. What was he going to do, sleep outside? In the car?
“Get into the bed.” She tugged him to her. “We did it last night, we can do it again.”
Lord he was being tested right now.
But the tremor in her voice was one he’d never heard before. Usually he could find sense enough to back away, but now he was stripping down to his jocks. Then he lowered himself down onto the bed. The mattress shifted under the additional weight and he kept a slight distance between them.
But the urge to touch her was too much. He rubbed his hand up and down her arm, hoping it might soothe her enough that she would fall back to sleep. Her skin was like silk.
Get her to sleep and then you can go back to your original plan of sleeping on the floor. Tomorrow, you’ll both pretend like this never happened.
That would be the smart thing to do.
He’d tried to maintain a little distance between them, but she wriggled until her back lined his chest, the curve of her ass cradled perfectly in his lap. A jolt of arousal shot through him, but he held his breath and stifled the reaction. It was like trying to swallow a pill without water.
