Page 48 of Entwined Hearts
Slowly, she nestled her body into mine, her head resting on my chest. I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her in close. I kissed the top of her head and buried my nose in her hair. Her shampoo smelled different, but everything else about this was the exact same.
And before I knew it, I was falling asleep.
My eyes shotopen at a shriek, and then the water hit like ice. I sat up with a strangled yell and wiped my eyes, looking around. Savannah was soaked to the bone, bearing her teeth and breathing hard. Beau, Claire, Emmett, and Delilah stood over us with the hose and empty buckets, grinning like the assholes they were.
“I’m going to kill you!” Savannah screeched, slinging wet hair off her face.
“It’s time to rise and shine, lovebirds,” Delilah chirped.
In all the years we had spent nights out here like this, we never got caught until now. I slicked my hair back, laughing at the ridiculousness of it.
Savannah looked over at me, livid. “You look good wet,” I said, biting my bottom lip and grinning like the fool I was when it came to her.
Her eyes nearly popped out of her head, her cheeks going rosy. She scrambled to her feet and yanked the blanket off me before storming off and mumbling to herself about how she was going to have to do her hair now. Delilah and Claire followed after her, probably wanting to ask what happened.
“You know, there’s these things called beds,” Beau said, smirking.
I stood, shaking out my hair. “You couldn’t have left us alone for like…ever?”
Beau grimaced, wiping water droplets off his arm. “Colt and Britt’s barbecue is today, remember?”
My back was stiff as hell as I bent over to pick up the soaked blanket with a grunt.“Yeah, at one.”
“It’s already eleven,” Emmett said.
My head reared back, and I looked up at the sky. Sure enough, the sun was high, the sky a bright, cloudless blue. “Damn. I haven’t slept that late in forever.” How had I not noticed the sun come up?
“Must be nice,” Emmett sighed. “I’m lucky if I get three or four hours tops.” I wasn’t going to say it, but he looked like he hardly slept most days.
“You should do the outreach program once Delilah has it runnin’,” Beau suggested, and I shot him a glare.
“Stay out of the man’s business, Beau.” He was worse than the fuckingWhispers. Emmett didn’t peg me as the kind of guy who wanted everyone speculating about how much his deployments affected him. It was something we never talked about, but we all knew. So I knew he definitely didn’t want Beau, of all people, telling him that he needed to get help.
He raised his shoulders. “I’m just sayin’. It might help.”
“I’ve thought about it,” was all Emmett said. Then there was a painfully awkward silence that made me fidget. “I’m gonna go get dressed for the barbecue.”
Once he was out of earshot, I turned to Beau. “Nice, dickhead.”
“We all know he needs the help, Weston.”
I rolled my eyes. “Just because you and Claire are off skipping into the sunset, doesn’t mean you need to shove your happiness onto everyone else and try to fix them.”
His expression hardened. “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly what I said. I’m going to shower sincesomebodydecided to be a jackass and spray me down with the hose.”
“Looks like I’m not the only jackass today, asshole!” he called after me, and I gave him the bird over my shoulder.
I walked toward the house, water dripping from my hair and boots squelching with every step. I had less than two hours to make myself presentable and try to figure out what the hell that was with Savannah last night.
Colt and Brittlived in a nice two-bedroom in town, the kind of simple place I could see myself living in. There wasn’t anything fancy about it, but it was clear the place was full of love.
The door was open, but no one was inside, so I just followed the sound of Anna and Brittany’s squawking to the back. When I stepped out into the backyard, the smell of smoking meat filled the air, and the chatter of people talking created a low hum.
“Whoa there,” I laughed, sidestepping Henry and Luke chasing after each other as they nearly plowed into my legs.
“Sorry, Westie!” Henry said without stopping.
