Page 7 of Chasing After You
“Any other sins against vacations I should know about? I wouldn’t want to accidentally doom us all to holiday hell.”
Sidenote, he’s not as funny as he’d like to be. But I suppose I can appreciate the effort. Not to mention, the poor man is probably nervous given the circumstances. Maybe I’ll hold off on judging his comedic abilities until after he’s had some time to get comfortable with all of us.
“Ordinarily, I’d say early mornings are definite sins against vacations, but as it was our choice to come to a dude ranch for this trip, I think they’re going to have to bend the rules a bit.” I adjust my grip on my suitcase halfway up. I’m not one of those women who can’t carry her own bag. But I’m also not the sort who gets offended if a man offers to do it for her. Maybe because the man who used to carry mine never did it because he thoughtI was too weak to do it. He just did it because he liked taking care of me. And gestures,actionswere his way of showing his love for me.
Not that I expect Oliver to want to carry my bag for that reason.
Nor do I think it’s fair to hold it against him that he hasn’t offered.
And I certainly realize it’s unfair to compare him to someone else period.
But it doesn’t stop me.
Doesn’t seem to matter how much time goes by or how many times I tell myself to let go of the past, it continues to insist on surfacing in my present. Honestly, sometimes I think fighting it only makes it worse. Like some small part of Matti is permanently attached to me and every time it senses my desire to squash it, its survival instinct kicks into overdrive. Like now, when I’m with a man, one I’m apparently perfectly suited for, and all I can do is think about how he’s not like my ex-husband.
“Huh.” I stare into the bedroom intended to house us. “Looks like we get the master suite.” It’s certainly convenient due to space but entirely inappropriate given the only place for sleeping is a king-sized bed, aromanticcanopy bed with flowing lace drapery at that.
“Makes sense.” Oliver grins. “Having it isolated up here, away from the other rooms.”
“Guess that makes us the parents on this trip.” My humor may be a bit off as well. I take another step into the suite and drop my bag. After scanning the space a second time and still coming up short of a sofa or bench or secret stashed cot to sleep on, I try to come to terms with my fate. “Be honest. How uncomfortable are you with all of this?” Because he has yet to suggest this is even remotely weird.
And judging by his expression, the thought hadn’t even occurred to him.
“I’m not uncomfortable.” He looks almost hurt. “Are you uncomfortable?”
“With sharing a bed? No.” I have a crapload of siblings and even more cousins. I’ve been bunking with people my entire life. That part doesn’t faze me. “But I know all I intend to do in that bed is sleep. And it may get uncomfortable if your intentions or expectations differ from mine.”
No point in beating around the bush any longer. We’re here. It’s done. Time to address the elephant in the room and let him know that I’m not a willing participant in this setup.
For a second, he seems taken aback. Then, I think he starts to put things together for himself. “You didn’t know I was coming on this trip, did you.”
I shake my head, biting my lip. Now I almost feel bad for him. “My sisters are crazy. I’m sorry.”
He shrugs, laughing it off. “Don’t be.I’msorry if I’ve been making all of this awkward for you. I kind of thought maybe something was off when you looked so surprised to see me at the airport this morning.” He starts to back up toward the door again. “The couch downstairs looked plenty big. I can just sleep down there.”
“What?” I shake my head. “No way. That’s totally unnecessary. Besides, with so many people in this cabin, there’s no way you’ll get any sleep right there at the center of everything.” I move toward the bed, assessing it. “This thing is huge. There’s no reason we can’t share it.” I turn back toward him. “Now that we’re both on the same page with things.”
He nods, a small smile resting on his lips. “We’re definitely on the same page.” He places his suitcase and bag in the closet near the door. “Alright, roomie. Let’s do this.”
I roll my eyes. He’s cheesy, but I’m starting to warm up to him. “Good.”
I’m about to ask him if he has a bedside preference when I hear Vale shouting from downstairs.
“Nessa!” he calls my name a second time when I don’t react fast enough after the first shout.
I hurry for the open doorway and yell back, “What?”
“You have company!”
What?How?Everyone I know in Hawaii arrived here with me, so I don’t see how I could possibly have company.
But since I’m not interested in continuing this conversation at the top of my lungs, I start for the stairs. “If you guys arranged for a backup blind date for me, heads will roll,” I grumble when I near the bottom and my sisters are within earshot.
“Trust me,” Tori answers, nodding toward Vale whose fingers are still wrapped around the door handle, an odd sort of expression on his face, “we had nothing to do with this one.” She gestures for my brother to open the front door before I can respond.
Holy shit.
“Matti.” I stop dead in my tracks, just a few feet short of the doorway. “What are you doing here?”
