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Boone nodded and then turned his attention back to Cade. “And I’m guessing you couldn’t sleep, either?” He quirked an eyebrow. “What a coincidence.”
“Coincidences happen,” Cade shrugged. “And besides, this storm could have woken anyone. Isn’t that why you’re down here now?”
Boone grumbled something I couldn’t quite hear, something that had been directed at Cade and hadn’t sounded very happy at all.
Cade turned back to me and gave a sheepish smile. “Guess it’s time for me to call it a night, too. Next thing you know, your uncle will be down here, and we’ll all be in trouble.”
I laughed nervously, but my eyes darted toward the dark hallway behind Boone just in case. God, Uncle Justin showing up right now was the last thing I wanted to happen.
“Yeah.” I nodded, wrapping both hands around my warm mug. “I think I’ll go back upstairs now.” I took a couple of steps and then turned back toward Cade. “Thanks for keeping me company. Good night.”
He gave a little wave as I slipped past Boone and hurried toward the stairs. I could hear them talking in hushed tones behind me but couldn’t make out any of the words.
Judging by the way they’d both been exchanging uncomfortable glances, though, I had to assume they were arguing about something.
And I was afraid that something might be me.
I walked back up the stairs as quickly and quietly as I could, cringing every time a board creaked or groaned under my feet. I think I held my breath until I was finally back inside my own room with the door closed behind me. Only then did I think back on everything that had just happened.
Cade had been ready to kiss me—would have kissed me if Boone hadn’t shown up. I was pretty sure of that much, at least.
But earlier in the evening I’d felt like Boone might have been interested in something more than just a comforting hug. He was harder to read, though, and I didn’t have enough experience with guys to be certain.
I crossed the room and sat down on the edge of my bed, making room on my bedside table for the mug of cocoa as I strained to listen for the guys’ heavy footsteps on the stairs.
God, what if they had both come in here after me? That would have made one of my hottest fantasies come true. Not that I really thought it would happen in a million years, but still… no, I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like.
I’d heard rumors about them, though. About how Cade and Boone sometimes liked to share a woman.
I crawled back under the covers as I tried to picture what kind of woman it would take to turn both of their heads. I liked and respected both of them, but God, they were just so different.
And after tonight, I might have just blown any chance I might have had with either of them.
Tomorrow would be a new day, though, and I’d hopefully get a chance to see them before they left to go back home. I wouldn’t be able to get close to either of them like I had tonight, but I’d at least be able to make sure things weren’t still awkward between the three of us.
For now, that was probably the best I could hope for.
Chapter 5
Boone
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been lying awake in the Thoresons' guest bedroom. Too long. Tomorrow—today, whatever—was going to be long and tedious with no sleep, but every time I closed my eyes all I could see was Cade standing there with Janessa.
He’d sworn to me that nothing had happened between them, but I honestly couldn’t tell. The guilty expressions on their faces when I’d walked into the kitchen hadn’t helped Cade’s story, though.
Not that I could have blamed him if he had kissed her. I’d certainly been tempted earlier in the evening.
Except, well… I would have blamed him. We had an agreement. And yeah, I’d given her a hug, but there hadn’t been anything inappropriate about that. She’d been missing her parents, and I had just been trying to comfort her. It would have taken a real asshole to walk away from someone in need like that, and I might be a lot of things, but I would never intentionally cause anyone pain.
Especially not when Janessa was involved.
I thought back to the conversation I’d had with Cade on the way over here. We’d both agreed to keep things friendly but to keep our hands to ourselves. Just like we’d agreed that we wouldn’t let any potential feelings for a woman come between our friendship. We should be old enough and mature enough to separate the two.
But now I was feeling a little pissed off at Cade, and I was pretty sure he was across the hall in his room feeling the same way about me.
I closed my eyes again.
I just needed to fall asleep and forget about it. What else was I going to do?
