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“Nah. I’m keeping you around.” I laughed and kissed the top of his head. I tried to keep my tone joking, but a note of seriousness stole in.
“Can’t wait to see your cabin,” he said sleepily as I used my discarded towel to clean us off. My chest clenched hard. I wanted him there with a frightening level of urgency. Yeah, I was keeping him around as long as he’d let me.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ambrose
“Your brothers might have had a point.” My right leg kept twitching, rubbing against the passenger-side door and making Hercules grumpy. The dog was already restless because we were several hours into the trip to Harley’s cabin. I’d let Harley drive this last part because he was way more familiar with mountain roads, but the lack of something to do made me nervous. And every other vehicle we seemed to encounter was an SUV or four-wheel-drive truck, which only put me more on edge.
“Don’t let them hear you say that, or they’ll never shut up.” Harley laughed, but there was a grimace there. The younger brother who would always be in competition with the twins.
“I merely meant I’m worried about my car. Just a little.” I held up two fingers, but Harley’s focus was more on the winding road. Maybe that was the source of my unease—unfamiliar elevation and lots of twists and turns had me vaguely nauseous, which only made me more unsettled because I could usually count on a drive to relax me.
“We’re fine. I wouldn’t drive your car here in winter, by any means, even with chains, but we’re several weeks beyond the thaw with clear skies. Not even much wind. Couldn’t ask for better weather. And I promise if the gravel drive at the cabin dings your finish, I’ll cover it.”
“You will not.” Now I felt silly for my nervousness. Not for the first time, I wished I could better control my anxiety, but brains and mental health didn’t give a fig about wishes. “The scenery is gorgeous. I’m just being…”
“You.” Harley finished the thought for me. “You’re being yourself. It’s okay to be nervous about a new situation or something outside your comfort zone. Truth be told, I’m a little antsy too.”
“You?” This I didn’t believe.
“Sure. For all that I loan the cabin out to buddies and their significant others, it’s been a while since I brought someone with me. Someone…I’m seeing. Can’t say I’ve done that. Someone more than a friend. ” He said the last part gingerly as if he was still deciding whether he liked how the words tasted.
“Well, I appreciate the invitation. And for all my silliness, I’m excited too. I love road trips, but I haven’t spent nearly enough time in rural places. I can’t wait to see the cabin.”
“It’s not much,” Harley warned yet again. “And here’s hoping I can get the generator to kick in, or we’ll really be roughing it.”
“There’s a generator?”
“You’re totally a city boy.” Harley laughed, and I tried to join in. Duh. Of course there weren’t power lines out this far.
“Guilty. Maybe I should be more worried about hazards like no electricity and wild animals than the roads.”
“I’ll keep you safe,” he said confidently.
“I know you will.” And that was a huge part of what I liked about Harley. I trusted him. He’d keep me safe on multiple levels, not push me further than I could go, but also not treat me like a kindergartener like some did. His matter-of-fact manner about others’ limitations was incredibly appealing. “And if I can’t check email every three minutes, maybe that will help me relax as well.”
“Is your sister blowing up your email?” Harley asked.
Informing Cressida of my plans via text had been rather cowardly, but I simply hadn’t wanted a bunch of drama. Her lectures were much easier to take in digital format.
“She’s worried about my mental health, running off with you. But she’ll get over it.”
Harley quirked his lips, not quite a scowl, but definitely perturbed. “The fake dating was more or less her idea.”
“Oh, I know. And it’s not that she has an issue with you. She’s merely being overprotective as usual, worried I’m going too far outside my usual routine.” Looking out the car window gave me a fresh shot of courage. The landscape was nothing short of stunning, with deep valleys and craggy mountain tops gleaming under a perfect blue sky. I might be far from my LA life, but it was worth pushing past my discomfort to see vistas like this. And to get to be with Harley.
“What do you think?” His forehead creased, attention on the road, but the tension in his arms said this was more than a casual question. “Are you going too far from your usual?”
His cautious tone added to my sense that he didn’t mean only the mountains or cabin living.
