Page 52 of Wild & Worthy

Fuck. So much for that. Guess I’ve got no choice but to face him. Except he’s not even looking at me. His back is still turned as he grabs his T-shirt off the table and pulls it over his head. I watch the muscles in his back flex with the movement, momentarily forgetting I was trying to avoid him in the first place.

Good Lord, I need to get it together.

I cross the small distance to the table where the coffee is waiting. The faster I can get out of here, the better. I just need to pretend my brain isn't a jumbled, confused mess and stop checking him out every five seconds.

He turns and leans against the table as I approach. Normally, he’d have some smart-ass comment waiting for me first thing in the morning, knowing full well I’m not a morning person and hoping to get a rise out of me. I’d fire something snarky back, and that’s how we’d spend the morning, drinking our coffee and giving each other shit until I eventually wandered off to feed Dusty.

This morning is different though, and I’m painfully aware of every second of silence between us. He just watches me cross toward our makeshift kitchen, saying nothing at all. He doesn’t need to. Last night is sitting right here between us, unspoken but impossible to ignore.

He picks up a cup beside him that I hadn’t noticed before and holds it out to me. When I take it, his fingers slide slowly over mine, the touch lingering just long enough to feel like an almost imperceptible caress. It’s probably just my overactive imagination. People accidentally brush hands all the time. That doesn’t stop the tiny shock waves from zinging through me at the contact. “Thanks,” I whisper to the coffee, wrapping my hands around the warm mug.

“Mm,” he says as he moves past me, his arm grazing mine on his way toward the fire. He bends to throw another log on, like that tiny bit of contact didn’t just send another shiver across my skin.

So I guess we’re not talking about it then. God help me, I can’t decide if the silence is a prison sentence or a mercy. Somebody’s going to have to say something eventually, but it sure as hell isn’t going to be me. This would be so much easier if he’d just make some sly comment. Some flirty jab. Something that tells me we can go back to normal.

I take a chair by the fire, mug in hand. “Have you even been to bed?”

“No. Couldn’t sleep.” He looks at me over the rim of his own mug, meeting my eyes directly.

I don’t touch that, not with my brother snoring away in a tent five feet from us. The silence stretches between us until I can’t stand another second of it. I finish the last of my coffee and push to my feet. I need to get out of here for a while. I put my coffee cup down on the table and turn to go, only to be met by the immovable wall that is Chace. I didn’t even hear him get up. How is someone so large so damn stealthy?

He shoves his hands into his pockets and rocks back on his heels. “Sooo, we’re just not going to talk about last night, then?”

I immediately put a hand up, defensiveness creeping through me. I’m not ready for this. “Chace. Don’t. Not now.”

“We’re just pretending that didn't happen?” He steps closer. “Because I can’t get it out of my—”

“I’d think you’d be used to pretending. Wouldn't you, Chace?” I cut him off. “Like we’re pretending you didn't come home hurt? Or that you still haven't given me an explanation?”

He cups the back of his neck and lets out a long breath. “Addie, I told you I’m sorry.”

“Just forget it.” I move to squeeze past him.

His hand closes gently around my arm, stopping me, and I can’t help the flutter that goes through me at his touch. “Do you regret it?” he whispers earnestly.

I search his green eyes for a second, not sure how to respond. He looks so serious right now; I don’t know what to do with it. Because no, I don’t regret it. But I’m still angry with him for ghosting me yesterday and refusing to explain himself. I’m not giving him a pass on that just because of what happened between us.

Before I can figure out what to say, the sound of a tent zipper cuts through the morning. My head snaps toward it as Eli comes stumbling out, barely awake.

Chace lets go of me and steps back, casual but quick, like we weren’t just discussing something incredibly intimate. He busies himself with pouring another cup of coffee as Eli wanders over to do the same.

“I’m going to tend to Dusty. I’ll be a few hours. See you later.”

“Wait.” Hazel steps out of the tent behind him, somehow looking as beautiful as ever despite getting almost no sleep. “Eli and I have some news to share!”

Hazel is bouncing on the balls of her feet while Eli has gone bright red. I know before she even lifts her hand and waves it in front of her face, fingers spread wide.

“We’re engaged!”

“Oh, my God!” I’m halfway across the campsite, probably waking up everyone nearby with my high-pitched squeal. I grab her hand and bring it toward my face to inspect the ring. “It’s stunning! Congratulations!” I pull her into a tight hug as she laughs over my shoulder.

“When? How did he do it? Tell me everything. I need every single detail.” I’m so damn happy for them. It’s been such a long time coming. My brother and Hazel have basically been in love their entire lives, and they deserve every moment of happiness.

I glance over at Eli and Chace, half expecting Chace to give him shit for settling down or something, but instead I catch the tail end of an embrace. There’s a glimmer of pride and pure joy in Chace’s eyes, and I can’t help but smile at how genuinely happy he is for them.

Over the next twenty minutes, Hazel tells us how Eli proposed. He took her out to a special spot on the property they share, only for her to find a construction site. He’d been secretly working on building them a home, centrally located between their two properties. Then he got down on one knee and professed his love, promising her forever.

As I listen, I find myself wondering what it must be like to have someone who wants nothing more in the world than to simply exist beside you. Someone you share that profound, soul-deep connection with. If it weren’t for my brother and Hazel, I’m not sure I’d believe in the whole concept of soulmates, but they’ve proven to me that kind of love can exist.