Page 42 of Liberation

“We’ll see.” He gives her a sly wink as he saunters back to his blanket.

“You remember Deacon.” I roll my eyes, shaking loose the blanket I’m holding and dropping it to the ground before I point to the tiny blonde sitting next to him. “And Tiff. Then there’s Ryder, Cade and Cora, and Finn and Ally. Guys, this is Becca, and you remember Jace.”

Becca offers a tiny wave while Jace fist bumps the guys, who he met during his first trip here with Axel. Then he hands us each a beer as we all sit down.

“Where’s Lennon?” Becca asks Tiff as she crosses her legs on the blanket.

“She’s working. We alternate who works on concert nights so neither of us miss all of them.”

“And Axel?” Becca turns to Jace. “I was hoping to meet the guy you work with.”

“He’s probably in Lennon’s office, hoping for a quickie when she takes a break… What?” Tiff looks around at the shocked faces. “Haven’t you guys seen the new couch she put in there? It’s not just so he can watch the TV she installed.”

“Language,” Cade admonishes as he lunges at Tiff to ruffle her hair.

She dodges his advance. “What did I say?” she cries.

“That’s how rumors get started.” Cade throws a handful of grass at her since he couldn’t muss her up.

“It’s not a rumor if it’s true.” She untangles a piece of grass from her hair. “And what’s so bad about Axel wanting to hook up with his girlfriend anyway? They’re hot for each other.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Deacon backs her up with a wink that makes her cheeks turn pink.

“Don’t encourage her.” Cade shakes his head at Deacon.

“She’s got a point, though,” Deacon objects. “Who cares if we know what goes on behind that door.”

“Cade doesn’t want Tiff talking about it because he doesn’t want anyone talking about her that way. It’s a brother thing.” Ryder sips from the flask in his hand as we all fall into a stunned silence. It’s sort of rare for him to speak up nowadays, much less make such a coherent statement.

“Self-appointed brother,” Tiff mumbles under her breath, although I’m not sure Cade hears it. His focus is on Ryder, whose eyes are closed as his finger taps the flask in rhythm to the music drifting over the crowd.

A throat clears on the other side of me, and I shift to see Finn extending his hand to Becca. “Hi. I’m Finn, and this is my wife, Ally.” He tilts his head toward the redhead sitting next to him.

“Finn’s the Director of Operations at the resort. And your counterpart on the snow side,” I explain as Becca shakes his hand. “He’s building some black runs on the back side of the mountain we’re cutting trails on.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t around your first day. We took a little trip for our anniversary and just got back. I can’t wait to see what you’re working on.”

Becca darts a glance toward Jace, who’s now deep in conversation with Deacon, before offering Finn a warm smile. “Sounds like you have a pretty interesting project going on as well. And I think Lennon mentioned you the other day,” she says to Ally. “Something about owning your own business?”

“I have a boutique on Main Street. You should stop by. I have a jumper that would look great on you.”

“Really? That’s great.” Becca’s tone is friendly, though I can hear the subtle hesitation in her voice. I’m assuming that stems from the fact that her style isn’t anything like Ally’s, who doesn’t include the word casual in her vocabulary.

“Ally likes to dress everyone, especially for costume events. It’s sort of her hobby,” Finn smiles bashfully.

“She dresses you?” Becca gives my t-shirt and shorts a once-over as if to say,'This is what she picked?'

I bark out a laugh as Ally rolls her eyes. “The guys only let me dress them in costume. Or for special occasions. They all assume I’m going to make them wear something they don’t like just becauseIthink it looks good.”

“Ah, gotcha.” Becca visibly relaxes now that Ally’s put that particular fear to rest.

Figuring it’s safe to leave Becca with her now that she knows a full makeover is off the table, I excuse myself to visit with Ryder.

“Hey.” His cloudy eyes track me as I sit, pulling my knees up so I can prop my forearms on them. “Bike park’s coming along, you should come check it out.”

He looks at me with a blank expression.

“Remember how Carter talked about making lift accessible bike trails on the mountain?” I try again. “We’re doing that now. Me and Becca.” I jerk my head in her direction, and though his head stays still, I’m pretty sure his eyes shift. “Swing by tomorrow and I’ll show you.”

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