Page 81 of Mark

“Back to me,” Drew prods.

“I was just telling Beau that it could have been worse with Max. He could have been Clay and got the paintball gun. Faith just brought up the fact you are the only one he hasn’t touched.”

Drew’s eyes draw down. “I don’t know. I still say the laxative was worse than the paintball gun.”

Beau nods, agreeing. “I returned the favour, but it seems he has a stomach made of iron because nothing happened.”

Freya jabs her finger in my direction. “Like this one. I swear, I’ve never known someone to consume so much food yet not put weight on.”

Drew clears his throat. “Mark is right though. Max does try to mess with me.”

“I think he learned his lesson when he sprained his ankle while jumping from the ladder trying to get to you,” Charlotte declares.

“Nah, I reckon it was when Drew lifted him up by the scruff of his T-shirt so they were eye level, then warned him not to fuck around when Charlotte was there in case she got hurt.”

Charlotte melts into Drew at Beau’s words. Drew grunts. “One of these days, she’s going to get caught in the crossfire. I’m still not happy about the slope incident.”

At the beginning of the year, some of us went to a cabin up in the hills. Imogen got payback on the others when her food was stolen, and they decided to take it out on Ben, her boyfriend. It backfired, and in the process, they nearly took out Charlotte on the ski slopes. Drew had been pissed, because if it wasn’t for Ben pulling her out of the way, she would have been injured.

Turning my attention back to Freya, I pull her chair closer. I smile when she glares at me. “Can I help you?”

“I want you closer.”

She arches her eyebrow. “Any closer and I’ll be in your lap.”

“I’m down with that,” I whisper, leaning in close.

She rolls her eyes and turns to Charlotte. “Do you bake cakes?”

I cough into my fist. “Buy one,” I warn quietly.

Charlotte beams at Freya. “I do. Do you need one baking?”

“Don’t do it,” I whisper.

“My friends’ cousins are moving to Coldenshire. They’ve inherited acres of land and I wanted to get a welcome back cake done for them.”

“I can do that,” Charlotte agrees. “Pass me your phone. I’ll add my number.”

Freya hands it over and I use Charlotte’s distraction to lean in. “Charlotte doesn’t always succeed in baking edible cakes. Unless you want your friends to spend a week in hospital, I would buy one.”

She rolls her eyes. “It can’t be that bad.”

“My uncle Max had to have his stomach pumped and was in the hospital for a week.” Her eyes widen. “She has good days, but only when she’s happy and distracted. We know now not to ask for something specifically. She thinks too much about it, which is why she messes up.”

“I can’t tell her no now,” she hisses.

I shrug. “I’ll taste test it for you.”

“What land are they moving to?” Faith asks, interrupting our conversation.

“I think it’s called Bluebird Meadows.”

Faith’s eyes widen. “That’s near us,” she replies. “I think it brushes against the Hayes land.”

“Jaxon’s family?” Freya asks.

“Yes. It’s been empty awhile. I actually made an enquiry about it before purchasing the land we own,” Beau explains. “It needs a lot of work.”