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“Why can’t we be alone?” I folded my arms, looking back and forth between them. “Three-headed snake going to get me?”
“I mean . . .” Oliver pointed, and I followed his finger to see a snake wrapped around a tree branch not far away, and I cringed and backed up a few steps. “Okay, granted, it only has one head. Think one is enough based on his, uh, thickness and length.”
Mya slapped the back of his head. “Thickness and length, huh?” Her gaze snapped another direction a beat later, and I followed her eyes to see my sister there.
“Lucy,” I said under my breath at the sight of her outside the treehouse door. Mason had his hands braced at the top of the doorframe, and he was leaning in and kissing her.
It wasn’t a long kiss. Hell, maybe no tongue involved. But it was surely meant to be a private moment. Instead, they had an audience, including a tree-hugging snake.
Mason eased back a second later, as if he knew there were eyes on him. His arms fell to his sides as he stared straight at Mya, like he’d been caught doing something that’d upset her.
I looked at Mya. Then Oliver. “Who is the ex? And who is your situationship you’re using to get over your ex?” I’d watched too many of my sister’s TikToks and was now sounding like her.
“I’m sorry, what?” Oliver blinked, eyes on me for only a split second before he went back to studying Mya as if trying to get a read on her reaction to the kiss.
“Don’t bother answering,” I said in frustration. “It’s clear you all know each other. I may be overly perceptive in general, but you two are going to make it obvious to everyone soon.” I focused on the trail again, discovering my sister’s kiss had even more spectators.
Jack, Gwen, and Carter were just up ahead, but they weren’t walking our way, simply standing there in surprise, same as us.
“It’s not what you think.” Mya reached for my arm as if worried I’d run and tattle to Stephen that the game was rigged. Yeah, not my concern. “Don’t talk to him here. It’s not safe.” Those weren’t the words I’d expected from her.
My normal instinct would’ve been to pull away, but there was something about her, and hell, about all of them, that made me want to do the very thing I never did—trust.
“And Stephen is on his way with cameras,” Oliver added, but I was too focused on Jack to even notice Stephen.
Why was Carter blocking Jack’s path to me?
I looked toward the treehouse to see my sister climbing down the ladder with Mason just behind her.
“Breakfast is ready if you want to eat before the first competition of the day,” Stephen called out, his booming radio-host voice jostling my attention his way.
“And what’s the first event?” my sister asked, joining me with a sheepish grin as if I hadn’t caught her hand in the cookie-kissing-jar.
Stephen removed his Ray-Bans and smiled. “You’ll soon see.”
When I pivoted to locate Jack again, he was almost right in front of me. He flipped his hat backward as he completed his approach, making me feel stupidly turned on. “How’s your leg?” He crouched and reached for my calf without waiting for an answer.
I resisted the urge to set a hand to his shoulder for support when my foot slipped free from my flip-flop as he examined the wound I’d forgotten about. His thumb smoothed over the bandage the medic had placed there, and I sucked in a shaky breath. “Fine, I think.”
I peered down at him as he peeled the edge of the bandage aside to check for himself, and I had no choice but to set a hand to his shoulder, in no mood to fall and give him the opportunity to catch me again.
“Okay, looks good.” He righted the bandage, helped me put my flip-flop back on, then kept his eyes on me as he stood upright, forcing me to finally let go of him. He tipped his head, continuing to study me. “Sleep well?”
“As good as can be expected.” I frowned, unsure what to do next. I felt like I was stuck in quicksand, slowly sinking into the abyss as I stared into this man’s gorgeous and mesmerizing eyes. Eyes that turned my brain to mush. No easy feat. Downright impossible. Well, it had been impossible until this tall, sexy man with great biceps, a killer smile, and an even better personality found his way into my life.
Jack leaned forward, catching my forearm in the process, and brought his mouth to my ear. “I’ll tell you everything tonight, I promise.” His warm breath sent a trail of goose bumps streaming down my arms. “But we need to win a night in the treehouse first.”
He freed my arm, then stepped back, searching my eyes for confirmation I was on the same page.
And was I? Did I really want to spend the night alone with him?
Yeah, I supposed I did. I needed answers. And I hated that I also wanted a hell of a lot more than that from him.
Breakfast beneath the pergola with the morning sun cresting the sky in such a beautiful setting should have been a moment to savor. Instead, I was fumbling with something as basic as a, thank you, as Jack wordlessly handed me a coffee just how I liked it. A little milk. Two percent, always. And one sugar.
“You remembered,” was what I went with instead of courtesy.
Standing poolside at the buffet table, he tore a pack of sugar for his own cup, then dumped it into his black coffee. “Of course I did,” he answered without catching my eyes.
