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“Ha, ha. Very funny.” I playfully rolled my eyes, even as I turned the offer over and over again in the back of my head. I couldn’t pretend like it wasn’t tempting, delaying my inevitable return to Wild Woods HQ, where Jacob would get on my case for going to a dry cabin and not telling anyone about it and Damon would happily join in on the chorus of that-was-a-really-bad-idea-Parker.
“You okay?” Nicholas asked, concern lining his tone. “You went quiet on me for a moment. I’m not really used to that.”
“I don’t think you’d get it.” I shook my head. “I mean, look at you. You look like you were made to survive in the Virginia wilderness.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“I just…” I let out a loud sigh. “I want to get better at this outdoors stuff. I mean, not that I’m not pretty good already but it’s different when some people just sort of know it like the back of their hand and I feel like I’ve been studying it for years. It doesn’t come naturally. I guess I just wish that it did.”
“Hence the whole dry cabin thing?”
“Hence the whole dry cabin thing.” I weakly smiled. “Hence this whole vacation.”
“Then, stay.” Nicholas’ voice was low again, vulnerable in a way that sounded unsure. “If you want, I can teach you everything I know. That way, you don’t have to go home empty-handed, at least not when it comes to being more knowledgeable.”
“Nicholas, I just don’t?—”
“Stay,” he murmured, gently placing his hands on my shoulders, keeping me in place in front of him. “Please stay, Parker.”
A pleasurable chill moved through me, my skin warming at his touch.
What the hell was happening right now?
I felt as though I’d been glued to the spot. There was also the matter of what felt like butterflies bursting right through my stomach, my limbs feeling strange, all loose and dangly. There was just something about the way Nicholas was looking at me, an intense intimacy mixed with something I couldn’t quite name.
It was… intoxicating.
And also completely inappropriate since there was no way Nicholas wasn’t straight as a fucking arrow. Which meant that I needed to find a way to take my mind off Nicholas, a way to distract myself from forbidden, completely unattainable fruit.
“Fine. I’ll stay. Under one condition.” I smirked.
“All right. Name your price.”
“You have to take me somewhere fun tonight,” I replied. “The most fun place you can think of. The thing everyone likes to get into.”
“Oh, I don’t know if that’s really my?—”
“Come on, Nicholas. You can think of something.” I playfully patted him on the shoulder as I headed into the house. “I believe in you.”
Oh, wow.
Nicholas did good.
Or at least as good as he could’ve done in a small-ish town. We were standing outside of a genuine honky-tonk bar, with country music being blasted so loud we were able to hear it on the sidewalk. I peered through one of the glass windows, spotting a few women with jean shorts that were just a little too short and guys in pants that were just a little too tight.
“So? Does this fulfill your requirement for fun?” Nicholas asked. He was wearing a plaid shirt with his sleeves rolled up and dark jeans to match. He’d even put on a pair of cowboy boots for good measure.
“I think so, but we’ll have to see inside first.” I beamed as I started to walk into the bar. “If the vibes are right, the requirement has definitely been fulfilled.”
“How do you measure vibes?”
“By checking out the scene. Obviously.”
“Of course. Checking out the scene. The scientific method…” Nicholas’ words trailed off as we approached the bartender, a familiar face smiling at us from behind the bar.
“Sadie!” I smiled back at her. “You work here, too?”
“What can I say?” She chuckled. “It’s a small town. Bartending is a multiple bar kind of gig if I want to make rent. Everything’s open on different nights.”