Page 61 of Falling Madly
I had to be kind and cut him off before I hurt him even more. But that meant cutting myself off. I huffed in frustration.
“How’s it going?” Trevor asked, appearing behind me. “We were just talking about the sleeping arrangements. I don’t think anyone should be driving back tonight. There’s one bedroom, two empty rooms with no beds that I’m still… um… decorating, and then there’s the couch.”
“Bess and Charlie will take the bedroom, obviously,” I said. “You can take the couch and I’ll take an empty room and that camping bed I had last night. I’m already used to it.”
“Great!” Charlie said. “Really appreciate it.”
“You can have the couch. I’ll camp on the floor,” Trevor corrected.
I shrugged. “I’m easy.”
At that moment, our gazes caught, and Trevor’s mouth quirked. “Debatable,” he said.
“No, I mean it. A nice meal and a glass of wine and I’m good to go.” I rolled my eyes, and everyone laughed.
I didn’t miss the hungry look in Trevor’s eyes. If I truly wanted to cut him off, I had to ease up on the stupid jokes and innuendo.
“Anyway, it’s not bedtime yet.” Bess raised her hand. “And we planned some stuff on the way.”
“Work stuff?” I asked hopefully.
“Yes!” Bess announced.
“No! Not likeworkwork,” Charlie corrected. “We were looking up team-building exercises. I mean, we appreciate you both. You’re amazing at what you do. But there’s been a lot of tension at the office.”
“We thought this could be an opportunity to work on all that,” Bess continued, beaming at us with hopeful eyes.
Oh, fuck.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Trevor
Charlie was my best friend. I would have walked through fire for him, but right then I wanted to send him packing. Teresa and I needed team-building exercises like we needed a hole in the head. What we needed was to sit down and talk about us. I loved her. She… liked me enough to stick around. I couldn’t be entirely sure where she was at, and I desperately wanted more time with her.
For months, I’d been hoping and dreaming and buying overpriced furniture, listening to my friend’s concerned commentary. Nobody believed I had a chance with Teresa, but I couldn’t let it go. And now she’d finally returned my affection. A fraction of it, maybe, but still.
I felt vindicated. I felt invincible. And I was dying to tell Charlie, but I’d seen the look of terror in Teresa’s eyes. She wasn’t ready for them to know. I’d already waited for eighteen months. I could wait a little longer.
I sighed. “Fine. Let’s team-build. What did ye have in mind?”
Ten minutes later, I was tied to Teresa, trying to coordinate my left hand with her right to tie a piece of string into a bow. We were not making progress.
“Do we really need this?” she whined, tugging against the cargo strap holding our sides together. “We could just both agree to use one hand.”
“It’s the rules!” Bess laughed, resting her head on Charlie’s shoulder.
They’d already tied three bows, working perfectly in sync. Me and my feisty elf had only managed one knot that looked nothing like theirs.
“We’re both right-handed,” I pointed out. “Charlie is left-handed. They have an advantage.”
After we painstakingly managed one lopsided bow, Teresa cheered. “Done!”
She stretched her arms overhead as soon as we were freed from one another. “So, what’s the plan for the rest of the day?”
Charlie grinned. “You think we’re done with team building? That’s adorable. There’s a whole list.” He picked up his phone and browsed. “There’s the staring into each other eyes one, and one where you build a statue out of wet toilet paper…”
“For crying out loud!” Trevor huffed. “I have actual building work to finish in this house. Why don’t we get some sugar soap, putty and sandpaper and prep some walls for painting?”
