Page 89 of Forever Theirs

I resisted the urge to hide my face in my coat’s collar. “Thanks. Did you hear I’ll be hanging around Anchor Bay?” I couldn’t help the wide smile that crept over my face, the joy swelling in my chest becoming too much to hide.

He paused and turned, brows raised in interest. “Really? Decided to stick around to conquer that crazy hike to the Fjords?”

I shook my head. “Nope. I’m, uh, staying with the Uplift group. Aiden and Miles particularly.” More heat flooded my cheeks, warming to the point that my coat turned constricting. Pulling it off, I tossed it over the back of a bar chair. “And to answer your question, yes, please, to a glass of chardonnay. I’m meeting the girls.” I hooked my thumb toward their table.

He nodded and turned to grab a wine bottle from the fridge, snagging a glass in the same movement. “I had heard about you and those two.” He glanced at the door and frowned. “Are they coming in too?”

“No.” I leaned against the bar, watching as the delicious liquid flowed from the bottle into the glass. “They’re out again, like the last couple of days, to help search for Caroline.”

My stomach dropped just saying her name out loud. Miles and Aiden were beyond worried about their friend, and I was too. Eleven days had passed since anyone had last heard from her, and everyone assumed the worst.

His features turned solemn as he nodded in understanding. The liquid in my very full wineglass sloshed when he slid it across the bar to me. “It’s terrible, all of it.” Someone I didn’t recognize—which wasn’t surprising since I was still learning the faces of all the locals—called out for another round, drawing Kale’s attention. “That drink is on me. Consider it a ‘Welcome to Anchor Bay’ gift.”

Smiling to myself, I picked up the glass, careful not to spill a single drop as I wove between the high-top tables toward the ladies waiting for me. Taking the empty chair beside Finley, I tossed my coat over the back and sat down, placing the wine gently on the table.

“I’m so glad you could make it,” Baylee called out from the other side of the round wooden tabletop. “I wanted to apologize for running off the other day when we met. Betsy needed me, so I couldn’t stick around to chat.”

Smooth glass rim pressed to my lower lip, I took a long sip of the crisp liquid. “Totally understand. But who is Betsy? I don’t think I’ve met her yet.”

“Betsy would be our resident asshole goat,” Finley said beside me with a teasing grin. “Who Baylee treats like a child—well, all our animals, actually, not just Betsy.”

“Oneof our goats. Betsy and her new kid are doing fantastic.” Baylee looked down at the table and spun an empty water glass between her hands. Sadness seemed to waft off her, unlike the other day when I spied her and her boyfriend, Liam, walking along the sidewalk in downtown Anchor Bay.

My lips tugged down slightly as I studied her. It wasn’t my place to ask her what was upsetting her, but I felt like I needed to. I started to ask when someone stormed up to the table, slammed a heavy purse down on the floor, and slumped into the last empty chair.

“I will end up murdering him. I just know it.” The beautiful petite woman tipped her face to the ceiling and groaned. “With my bare hands, if I can manage it.”

“Aspen, meet Juno, Uplift’s newest scheduling coordinator and social media guru,” Finley said. Juno smiled at me across the table, which I returned. “Juno and Langston have this ‘I hate you, but I want to fuck you’ relationship going on. The rest of us have bets on if it’ll end in murder or babies.”

“Shut the hell up, Finley. There will be no talk of babies with that bastard. Ugh, he is such an asshole.”

The name tickled at a memory. It took me a second to place it. “Oh.” I sat up straight and leaned forward. “Is Langston the guy who drives the boat from the airport?” I wrinkled my nose, remembering the rude asshole.

“I see you’ve met the bastard and are an excellent judge of character, based on that look,” Juno grumbled. Then she smirked. “I knew I liked you.”

“I say you just fuck it out,” Finley stated after finishing her beer and slamming the empty glass to the table. “Or…” Her smile grew, and she shot me a wicked look. “You don’t have to take part, but you could always try voyeurism to deal with your sexual frustration and just watch him and West together.” The sip of wine caught in my throat, making me cough. “Actually, maybe I should give voyeurism a go, now that I’m thinking about it.”

“Right, let’s ask Dax what he thinks about that.” Juno narrowed her eyes at the woman beside me, whose smile had frozen at the mention of her best friend, Dax. “Like you’re one to throw stones, Miss ‘I’m in love with my best friend, but I won’t tell him because?—’”

Finley stretched over the table and shoved Juno’s shoulder, cutting her off. “I’m not in love with Dax.” She pursed her lips. “Well, not in the way you’re talking about.”

“Right,” Baylee muttered under her breath. “Can we please stop talking about all the dicks around us and get to why we’re all here?” I nodded, relieved that the relationship venting never made its way to me. “What book are we pretending to read for our next book club meeting, and who is bringing the wine?” She shot a look at Finley. “If it’s you, then I need to preapprove what you’re planning to bring, because that crap you had last time was barely drinkable.”

“But we still drank it,” Finley grumbled.

“Well, yeah, it was a version of wine, so…” Juno shrugged and stood. “I’m going to get a drink. Anyone need anything?”

After she grabbed Finley’s beer request, I leaned back in the chair, slowly sipping on the decent wine, listening to Finley and Baylee discuss what book they wanted to pretend to read next month. I couldn’t stop the slow smile that crept up my lips, loving every second of the moment.

Two hotter-than-hell boyfriends who treated me well and loved to worship my body every chance they got, plus new girlfriends who liked wine and books…

Anchor Bay was truly a dream come true.

* * *

After an hour at Dave’s,the only thing we accomplished was running up a bar tab and laughing until our cheeks hurt. Smiling to myself, a little tipsy from the three glasses I downed in that short time frame, I slowly made my way back to Aiden and Miles’s cabin. They’d asked me to call it ours since I’d officially moved out of The Nest, but it was too soon, and it felt strange since it was theirs before I arrived.

With the warmer temperatures and crystal-clear sky, I took the long way back, knowing the guys wouldn’t return for a while. At least I had Jubie to look forward to greeting me and not an empty cabin. Excited about the certain nap and exceptional cuddles in my future, I picked up my pace, very ready to snooze with Jubie’s massive body next to me to sleep off the fuzziness coating my thoughts.

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