Page 33 of Wildest Dreams

His phone vibrates gently on the flowery quilt.

The screen is facedown.

Tanner stands up quickly, grabs the phone, and curses.

“Fuck. I have to take this.”

I wince at that all-too-familiar twisting pain in my gut.

“Give me the box,” I say as calmly as I can, gesturing with a hand for him to just pass it over already.

He watches me for a moment, a deep frown on his brow. Then, slowly, he passes it to me.

I practically run out of the cabin, my heart pounding in my chest, and as much as I try not to, I can’t help but listen out for the quiet rumble of his voice as he talks in a gentle hush to whoever is on the other side of the line.

The last thing that I hear before I decide to call it a night is him chuckling softly and saying, “I love you, too.”

Chapter 9

Tanner

Present day

I scrub the towel over my face before tossing it over the shower frame, grabbing my shirt and the take-out bag, and making my way out of the cabin.

The morning sunlight reflects off the face of the lake and I naturally chance a look toward the other side of the water, hoping for a glimpse of Aisling.

It’s only been a week but the lake house already looks different to when we first arrived. The porch may still be in a state of disrepair but everything else is glowing a rustic caramel brown. She’s had contractors coming by all week, checking on the plumbing and electric, and from what Fallon’s been saying Aisling’s finally got the all-clear.

From here on out she’s going to be soloing this house-flip.

After a moment of silently staring I realise that Aisling’s truck isn’t where it’s usually parked, beside their porch. Plus, Hunter’s kicking back with Austin around the fire-pit, meaning that wherever Aisling’s gone to, Fallon must have gone too.

A frown settles on my brow as I glance over to the dirt road, thinking about where the hell they could have gone.

I heave myself down onto the last unoccupied log and I pull my shirt over my head as I speak to Hunter.

“Thought we were all going hiking this morning,” I rumble, inconspicuous as hell – my subtle way of askingwhere did Aisling go?

I keep my eyes on the dirt as I pretend to be very fucking busy tying my laces.

Hunter hurls a small rock off my boot and gives me a knowing grin when I glance over at him.

“They’ll be back any minute. Aisling had something she wanted to do in town.”

My frown deepens. “Like what?”

He shrugs a shoulder, then checks his phone to see if Fallon’s sent him anything. “I think they were getting coffees.”

I scrub roughly at my forehead, well aware that Aisling already saw me leave this morning to grab breakfast for everyone.

I clear my throat and stare down at the brown paper bag resting next to me on the log. “She coulda just asked me.”

Aisling has been working tirelessly for the past week on the lake house. I was kind of hoping that with today being Friday – with the whole weekend ahead of us – we could get back to where we were last Saturday, before she started giving me the silent treatment.

Ideally, we’d get straight back to the part where she’s standing in my cabin and I’m on my knees in front of her, but if she needs me to take it slow this time then I’ll be down as hell for that.

I’ll be down as hell for anything that Aisling wants of me.

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