Page 5 of Code Word
He’d worn his sweatpants and hoodie to bed—I probably should have been grateful he wasn’t naked—and told him to get up.
He’d squinted and cracked one eye open at me. “The fuck...?”
I’d laughed. “Get your ass in the Range Rover, gorgeous. We’re going away, just you and me.”
He didn’t argue. He didn’t ask questions. Maybe he’d guessed where we were going.
Maybe he didn’t care.
He sat in the passenger seat, all kinda curled up but facing me, snoozing as I drove. He had his hood pulled up, his hands inside his sleeves again, like he couldn’t get warm. I cranked up the heat for him, but it didn’t seem to make any difference. Like the coldness was inside him.
I had to wake him when we got there. I gave his shoulder a gentle shake. “Hey, sleeping beauty,” I said. “We’re here.”
He sat up, stretched, and looked out the window, smiling when he saw where we were. That smile, the hint of perfect teeth, the way his eyes creased...
I hadn’t seen it in far too long.
“I’ll grab our stuff,” I said.
He got out and stretched his arms high, his hoodie riding up just far enough for me to see his happy trail and the fact that he wasn’t wearing underwear.
It made me snort.
“Here,” I said, handing him his duffle bag. “I threw in a bunch of shit. It was in the dryer, so I assumed you’d worn it recently. If you need anything else, just come grab mine.”
His cheeks were pink; from embarrassment or the cold, I wasn’t sure. “Thanks.”
I slung my bag over my shoulder and grabbed the basket of food. “I’ll put this in mine,” I said, nodding to my cabin. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, you will be helping me cook, but less mess this way.”
Luke smirked but nodded slowly, looking around at the other cabins. He didn’t say anything, didn’t mention the other guys, if they were coming or not. Then with a sigh, he headed for his cabin.
They were small; enough room for one bedroom, a smallbathroom, a kitchenette, and a couch. There was a small porch out front of each. They were formed in a circle, along with the barn, with a firepit and a built-in grill in the middle.
It was perfection.
I fucking loved it here. We all did.
When Maddox had first suggested building us each a cabin, I’d thought he’d lost his mind. But Jeremy had seen what he’d meant when they’d stayed at Roscoe’s family ranch in Vermont. Then we’d all gone over for a vacation the next winter. We’d skied and snowboarded during the day and sat around our cabins at night, and by the time we’d gotten back to LA, we were all on board with the idea. He’d found the perfect property, had plans drawn up and submitted, and just a few months later, we were making each little cabin our own.
The cabins, as we called the property, were only a few hours’ drive from home, but it was so remote, so removed from the rest of the world, it may as well have been in a different world.
No one could find us here. We switched off our phones and disconnected from everything.
Even now, with the craziness of Atrous behind us, we still switched everything off.
No, we didn’t have the masses watching our every move anymore. We didn’t have the paparazzi hounding us, stalking us. They were still around but not like they used to be.
But still, the pressure of modern life sucked.
It wasn’t as if we had nine-to-fives. We weren’t in the rat race, so to speak. Not anymore. And we did have the privilege of money, so we could distance ourselves for privacy and security.
We were doing our own thing these days.
Maddox was still in the spotlight more than we were, and quite frankly, he could have it.
He still did interviews, photoshoots. He was writingmusic and producing shit, but it was at his pace now. When he wanted to.
Jeremy was helping Madz most days. They were a great production duo; that was undeniable.
