Informed decision? I rolled my eyes. Wasn’t like he was voting for president or something.

I rolled onto my back and glanced at the clock. Tiny balls of ice filled my stomach when I realized an hour had passed since I’d walked into my bedroom. My gaze flicked to the bedroom door. Wasn’t he coming? Better yet, should I be okay with him sneaking into my bedroom even though he really didn’t pay much attention to me once our friends showed back up?

Then again, had I paid attention to him?

I bit down on my lower lip as I stared up at the ceiling, only able to make out the shape of the quietly moving fan. In all honesty, it wasn’t like I’d gone out of my way, either. I mean, I hadn’t been sure what to do or how we should act.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I told myself that all I needed to do was wait. Tanner would show. He would. So I waited.

And I waited—waited while the seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours, and my door didn’t open and Tanner…he never came.

Chapter 16

Andrea

Two. No. Three. Maybe it was four? Hell. I tipped the bottle of beer to the side, frowning as I stared at the label. Maybe I should ask Syd. She’d know. She always knew.

“It’s five,” Syd said with a troubled-sounding sigh.

Straightening the bottle, I looked at her. She sat in the chair across from where I was stretched out on the still-damp chaise lounge on the deck. It had rained most of the day and the sun had only peeked out behind the thick clouds a couple of hours ago. “Huh?”

“That’s your fifth beer,” she explained, reaching up and pulling her thick hair—God, I wanted her hair—into a ponytail. “You have that look on your face. I recognize it. You’re trying to remember how much you’ve drank.”

My lips turned down at the corners. “I have a look?”

She nodded. “Yeah, you do. The look usually comes before you ask me how many you’ve had.”

“Ha,” I laughed. “I was just about to ask you. Huh.” Tipping the bottle back, I took a huge gulp. Immediately, I felt the need to burp that baby out, but as I glanced to where Kyler and Tanner stood, I decided that wasn’t very ladylike.

Tanner.

Ugh.

I took another drink and then rested my head back against the cushion. I couldn’t even look at him without reliving everything that we’d done in, like, real-time, and that was just awkward. Really awkward, because as soon as I thought about what we’d done, I thought about the fact he’d virtually ignored me all last night and had never showed up. And then I had to acknowledge that I’d probably gotten played. I’d gotten played hard. What in the world had I been thinking earlier? I hadn’t been thinking. That was the problem.

“But if you’re counting the shot of vodka you did between beer number two and beer number three, I’d say you’re probably at six or seven,” Syd added.

My eyes narrowed on her. “I do not follow your logic.”

She glanced over to where the guys were. Since the storm had cleared out, we’d ended up grilling steaks. Ribeyes—the good, fatty kind. Like my thighs. Except I doubted my thighs tasted good when chargrilled.

God, I think I might be a little tipsy.

Opening my eyes, I turned my head to the side and my gaze collided with Tanner’s. I sucked in an unsteady breath. Kyler was talking to him, but it didn’t look like he was paying attention at all. So now he wanted to eyeball me like—like he had every right to do so. What the fuck ever. I looked away and I finished off what was left in my bottle.

I did not want to think about him. I did not want to think about how wonderful it had been the few fucking hours that I’d had him. And I sure as hell did not want to think about how…how nice it had been to just talk with him, to have that bond that I thought went beyond sex. And I really, super-duper did not want to think about how pathetic he must believe I was, because here I was, in love with him, and there he was, probably counting down the days until we would leave. Not that I’d told him that I loved him. Thank God. Anyway, I didn’t want to think about any of that.

“So what are you guys doin’ tomorrow?” I asked, and then grinned, because I was positive I didn’t slur my words.

Syd shrugged dainty shoulders. “I don’t know. What’s on the schedule, Kyler?”

“Spending all day in bed,” he replied.

I laughed—loudly.

She pursed her lips. “Yeah. No.”

He pouted, and I admitted to myself that Kyler looked good with a pout. A man pout. Ha. “Whatever you want to do, Syd. I’m at your service,” he added.

A grin crossed her face. “I like the way that sounds.” Looking at me, she shrugged again. “I really don’t know. I think we’re going to try to go hiking again tomorrow. Oh! Or go fishing. There was this lake we came across. It would be perfect. You’re more than welcome to join us.”

I laughed again and just as loudly as the first time. “No.”

“Then I guess Tanner’s going to skip, too,” Kyler replied blithely.

Tanner shot him a look that should’ve knocked him flat on his ass, but Kyler chuckled as he tossed his bottle in the trashcan on the deck.

I could feel Syd’s gaze on me, and whatever relaxation I’d gained faded as the muscles along the back of my neck tightened. She had been trying to get me to talk about what had gone down between Tanner and me while they’d been camping, but my mouth was shut. No way was I talking about any of that while I was still stuck in this stupid cabin and I was likely to lose my shit. “He can do whatever he wants,” I announced.

Tanner’s arms folded across his chest and his biceps stretched the sleeves of his shirt in a way that should’ve been indecent. “Thanks, Andy, for reminding everyone that I can do what I want.”

I snorted. “You’re welcome. That’s what I’m here for.”

“To point out the obvious?” he replied.

“Oh dear,” Syd murmured under her breath.

A wide smile tugged at my lips as I fastened my gaze on Tanner’s handsome face. Now this I could deal with. The smartass Tanner. That was who I was familiar with. Not the sweet and charming Tanner who made me think that I was different—that we were different—before painfully reminding me that in fact nothing was any different. “Well, if I don’t do it, who will?”

Tanner arched a brow. “No one else?”

I shrugged a shoulder. “Whatever. I’m getting another drink.” I glanced at Kyler. “Want one while I’m up?”

He opened his mouth, but I saw his eyes shoot to where Syd sat. “No. Thank you.”

There was most definitely something up with that, but I didn’t care. Swinging my legs off the lounge, I stood. And then I wobbled.

“You sure you should have another?” Tanner asked, stepping forward.

I shot him a nasty look. “Did I ask you for your opinion?”

“No. But I’m going to give it to you.”

A very unattractive snicker came out of my mouth. “I bet you’re going to try.”

“Um,” Kyler said.

Tanner’s jaw flexed, but before he could reply, I volleyed back at him. “But again, not something I’m interested in.”

Understanding flared in his eyes, and he barked out a short, dry laugh as he turned his head to the side. “Yeah, you know, that’s the funny thing about my opinions. You usually just ignore them because you know they’re right.”

“I don’t understand what is happening,” Syd said under her breath.

“You know what else is funny?” I asked sweetly as I dropped the bottle in the trash.

“What?” He looked bored.

Meeting his gaze, I raised my right hand…and my middle finger. “This.”

“Oh. Wow,” he said. “Keeping it classy, I see.”

My eye-roll was so powerful, I thought my eyeballs would roll back in my head, never to be seen again. “Oh, whatever. My middle finger offends you when every other word out of your mouth is ‘fuck?’”

“She has a point,” Kyler commented.

I bestowed him with an awesome smile. “Thank you.”