Chapter 37

His health and well-being weren’t at all at risk with her. It was more just about me, uncertain about whether I should be leaving him right now.

In the end, she once again proved why she had a reputation for never taking no for an answer. She’d waved away every last one of my protests between the Airstream and my truck, assuring me that she and my dad would be fine, and then literally watching me leave until I’d driven out of her sight.

By the time I pulled into the motel parking lot, Avery’s old pontoon boat was hitched behind his truck while coolers, tents, fishing poles, and crates of beer were scattered across the asphalt. Theo was shirtless, securing straps over a pile of camping gear on the boat.

Sunlight warmed his tanned skin, dark tattoos winding over one shoulder. I nearly swallowed my tongue at the sight of them. I hadn’t known he had any, and while I shouldn’t have been surprised, I was.

Part of me couldn’t wait to see them up close. Possibly lick?—

No. No, Raquel. You’re not licking him. For God’s sake.

All that thick brown hair was pushed back from his face and curling a little at the ends, slightly damp with sweat. He was laughing when I pulled in, his head tipped back. The lean muscles in his arms flexed as he tugged at the strap.

Both he and Avery grinned when I parked beside them, and unfortunately, my knees went the tiniest bit weak at how genuinely happy Theo seemed to see me. Immediately, I realized it would be completely unacceptable for either of them to even guess at the state of my legs right now, so I rummaged around the glove box for my sunglasses and slid them on before climbing out of the truck.

“Well, well, look who decided to join us after all,” Avery called. “Frieda got to you, huh?”

“She manipulated the hell out of me,” I said as I slammed the door behind me and strode over to them. “Do you know she can actually benicewhen she’s trying to get you to do something?”

“I’m surprised she didn’t just tell you that you were coming and let that be it,” Theo said, but he was still smiling like I’d made his whole weekend. “That’s what she does with me.”

“Yeah. It’s what she usually does with me too, but when that didn’t work, she got all sentimental and stuff. Needless to say, I didn’t even realize what she was doing until I was packed and halfway into town.”

Avery laughed. “Well, we’re just happy to have you. We’ve got enough beer and camping equipment to start our own government if we need to, but I hope you brought your own toothpaste. I don’t know how many people will remember that.”

“You guys really do go full Neanderthal on these weekends, don’t you?” On that note, I pulled out my phone and opened the cabin rental site for the lake. “You know I don’t mind getting dirty, but there’s no way I’m sharing a tent with someone who hasn’t packed toothpaste and I’ll be damned if I don’t have access to AC for two days, so you guys enjoy the camping, but if I’m coming, I’m getting a cabin.”

I clicked to confirm payment for one of the tiny, one-bedroom units and grinned. “There. Money well spent. Happy sweating.”

Theo laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he shook his head at me. “I thought you were tougher than that.”

“There’s being tough, then there’s being smart. I’m smarter than I am tough. Trust me, you’re going to be wishing you had my AC around bedtime.”

He nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. “Yeah, I’m definitely going to be thinking about you when I go to sleep.”

I felt a definite flush creeping into my cheeks, and this time, I didn’t even try lying to myself. I, Raquel Thompson, was blushing. It was ridiculous, but shit. The things I felt because of what he’d just said were unreal. I couldn’tnotreact.

Thankfully, Avery was too busy wrestling a folding chair into the boat to notice, but Theo did. A faint smile formed on his lips as he turned to tighten another strap across the supplies.

Frieda might’ve told me to smile more, but it wasn’t smiling I was thinking about when I walked back to my truck once they were ready to roll. It was moaning, grinding, and all sorts of things I really shouldn’t have been thinking about when the star of the show was none other than my brother’s apparent new best friend.

CHAPTER 15

THEO

On Friday afternoon, I was hauling coolers through the Arizona wilderness like it was my job while loud country music blasted from somebody’s truck and tents were going up like they were materializing out of thin air.

The lake was tucked between rocky desert hills. Shimmering blue water was surrounded by brush with campgrounds scattered around the shore. It had only taken us about an hour to get here from Quartz Pass, but again, this felt like a whole different world.

I’d done a lot of things in my life, been to a lot of different places, and tried just about everything, but this was a new experience for me, the scene more reminiscent of what I imagined summer camp to be like.

Maybe Alex or Nate had gone to those. I wasn’t sure, but I did know that by the time I’d come along, Westwoods and summer camp hadn’t gone together. I’d always wanted to go, though.

Avery’s pontoon boat bounced lightly against the dock while people unloaded gear in loud, energetic waves. Plans were being yelled across our campsite as they debated what to do first. Since I didn’t know most of them, I gravitated naturally toward Raquel after I’d helped offload.

Avery drifted easily between groups, helping to set up camp, but I hung back with her, not really sure how to help when everyone else seemed to operate like a well-oiled machine.

Raquel stood beside me with her arms crossed loosely over her chest, watching her brother and his friends before she arched a dark, clearly skeptical eyebrow at me. “Are you actually looking forward to sleeping in a tent out here?”