Page 77 of Cloudy With a Chance of Bad Decisions

“Roddy!” Mom beamed at him, moving around the table to pull him down into a hug. She’d done the same to me when I’d walked in this morning. I knew firsthand how back-crushingly lovely her hugs were. Roderick laughed, returning the hug before releasing her and standing straight. “You’re too skinny,” she said as she moved back behind the table, dishing him up a heaping plate. “Here.”

It was the same thing she’d said to me at the barbecue.

I had to cough to hide my amusement.

“Ha!” Roderick said good-naturedly, patting his stomach. “I don’t knowabout that.”

“Oh, posh.” She’d been watching way too manyGreat British Bake Offepisodes lately. Picking up the lingo. “Here.” His paper plate was piled high as she shoved it toward him. There were definitely extra strips of bacon on there beside his eggs and pancakes.

“Thanks,” Roderick beamed, accepting the food. The men behind him waited patiently. “Gotta keep my strength up for the big hike today!”

“Smart boy,” Mom winked.

“You know it!”

“Are you going too?” Mom asked, turning her attention to Joe. He nodded, a short up and down. “Why don’t you bring your brother? He could use some sun.”

“I don’t know about that,” I replied quickly. I’d been wanting to spend time with Joe today, but hiking? Ugh. No thank you.

“Honey,” Mom twisted to look at me, and my cheeks flushed anew. “Go have some fun! That’s why you’re here, right?”

Ha.

As if any of this was fun.

My thoughts—because they were assholes—slid back to the car ride with Alex and how much I’d enjoyed it. Also the pillow fight the night before. His apology pickles. And his big hand on my thigh?—

Fuck.

Okay.

Maybe hiking would get my mind off of him? Hell, that was not something I’d ever thought I’d say. At the very least, it would keep me away from him until I had a chance to calm down. It might even…be a good thing. Then I wouldn’t start panicking the next time I saw him. And I could slip in some solid big brother, little brother bonding while I was at it.

Win-win.

Alex’s offer to be “practice boyfriends” continued to weigh on me. Therewere five days left till the wedding. Five days. And he’d be impossible to avoid even if I never said yes.

There was…a lot on my mind.

Maybe Joe could distract me?

“Okay,” I finally conceded. Mom beamed. Roderick’s eyes twinkled like he knew something I didn’t. They shared a look that was less than subtle, but I was forced to ignore it for the sake of my own sanity. “Fine.”

“Hell yes!” Roderick gave me a thumbs up, plate clutched in his other hand. “We’re leaving in twenty. Meet outside cabin two. Wear a hat! And bring sunscreen.”

“Will do.”

Joe smiled at me.

Smiled.

I had no doubt that if the table wasn’t between us, he’d try to break my back with another of his bear hugs.

“See you in a bit, buddy,” I promised. He nodded, and the light in his eyes made it a lot easier to swallow the fact that I’d just agreed to go on a hike. My burns stung, and I ignored that too, focused instead on what I’d need to do to get ready.

Luckily, I’d packed a shirt with long sleeves. Unluckily, the fabric did nothing to conceal the burns on my fingertips. I pulled the sleeves down, trying to slide my fingers beneath, but that only seemed to make the fact I was hiding something obvious—so I stopped.

The numbness was still there, which made it easier to ignore, a blessing and a curse. It felt strange, like the really burned bits were all sensationed-out, but the parts of my skin that hadn’t literally boiled off were still smarting.

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