Page 65 of Wildcat
THIS IS HAPPENING
SCARLETT
The driveto Lake Laurie takes two hours. Enough time for me to feel human. The coffee helped. So did breakfast about an hour back.
Leo has one hand on the wheel, the other drums along his thigh absently to the beat of the music. He pulls into the driveway of a brick home. It’s serene. Trees line the property, and I can imagine how green and pretty it must be in the summertime with all the landscaping.
“This is nice,” I say as I step out.
Leo comes around and takes my bag. I hold tight to my camera equipment.
“He stays here during the offseason.”
“You don’t have a matching one down the street?”
His lips curl up. “Not yet. Wanna help me pick one out?”
This guy. He’s too freaking much.
I follow him to the front door where he knocks and waits a beat before going right in. “They’re probably out back.”
He sets my bag on the couch in the living room and leads me out the back door, where we’re throwing distance to the lake. It’s overcast and windy, but it’s still breathtaking.
“You made it,” Ash calls. He and Tyler are sitting at a table with plates of food in front of them.
“There’s more inside if you’re hungry,” Ash says, around a mouthful.
“We ate on the way up.” Leo pulls out two chairs, and we sit with them.
“You missed a hell of a run this morning. I took Tyler down our summer trail.”
These two already went for a run on their day off? Upon closer inspection, they’re in workout clothes and sweaty.
“I got a quick five in before we hit the road.” Leo leans back and laces his fingers together at his waist.
“You did?” I need some of his energy. He couldn’t have slept more than four or five hours tops.
“He’s a morning person,” Ash says and lifts his brows like it’s an awful thing to be. He’s not wrong.
“Gross. Really?”
“I’m a morning person, a day person, a night person. I don’t need a lot of sleep.”
“Wow. It just gets worse and worse. Well, thanks for a great time.” I place my hands on the table like I’m going to stand.
“Okay wise-ass,” Leo says. His foot finds mine under the table. He looks to Ash. “Are you taking the fishing boat out today?”
“Yeah. We already got the cooler and gear loaded up. Do you fish?” Ash asks me.
“Ihavebefore.”
“Not an outdoorswoman, eh?”
“I like the outdoors just fine, but I prefer activities where I can photograph along the way.”
“You can do that from the boat,” he says.
“The four of us won’t fit in that boat,” Leo says. “Not comfortably anyway.”
