Going Wild (The Wild Ones Book 2)(51)

“I repeat: It was free,” I remind them.

“Yet you’re still holding that rafting trip against us, constantly threatening to tell Uncle George about it” Eric goes on.

Oh, those assholes. “That was different. You guys planned that trip without us, and waited until we visited Shasta about my art until you—”

I stop halfway through my rant when I see Jared arch an eyebrow and smirk at me, and I swallow down the other half.

“Fine,” I bite out. “If it’ll get you out of here, I’ll consider us even. As long as you don’t tell Dad about skydiving, I won’t tell him about your planned-to-leave-us-out rafting trip, all because you guys didn’t want us there while you tried to pick up girls. It’s not our fault we happen to carry around embarrassing stories.”

I cross my arms over my chest as Jared stands.

“I think our work here is done,” he finally states, a triumphant gleam in his eyes.

He’s quiet unless he’s being a royal smartass.

My other cousins all stand as well, all of them moving toward the door. Liam just drinks his beer, a ghost of a smile flirting with his lips as he stares over the rim at me.

“By the way, it was Eric who broke the toilet and not me,” Jason stage whispers before running out.

Liam just continues to hold that hint of a smile, not commenting as they shut the door behind them.

“I’m sorry they invaded your day.”

“I’m sorry you’re going to have to see me try to river dance at some point,” he states flatly as he puts his beer down. “I can promise you that will be twice as painful to endure.”

My eyebrows rise, because that’s random even by my standards.

“What?” I ask, as he pushes a plate away from him.

My cousins didn’t even bother cleaning up after themselves.

“Am I going to wake up and find you missing again in the morning, or does the bag you brought carry better news?” he asks, instead of answering.

“I brought more clothes,” I tell him with a shrug as I kick at the bag I dropped earlier when he started kissing me and making me stupid.

He fights a smile as he continues to study me too intensely.

Then he suddenly reaches into his back pocket and retrieves a phone. I walk over and take the seat next to him.

“I’ll clean up all these dishes, by the way,” I state uncomfortably as he does whatever he’s doing on his phone.

He shakes his head. “I can get the dishes,” he says absently.

That’s the closest to a domestic couple conversation I’ve ever had in my life.

He looks up and pushes the phone in front of my face, and I frown as I take it, reading whatever gibberish is on the screen.

Monday—

Charity breakfast at the Four Seasons—tax write off.

Personal shopper will be dropping off new suits at 10:00 AM sharp.

Conference call—lunch—with Landon Jones about software innovation.

Motivational speaker speech rehearsal.

Dinner reservations with Jamie Klen and his wife for some sort of celebration—find out what it is we’re celebrating, exactly.

Exhibit opening.

After dinner drinks with Calvin Lawson to discuss investing in his documentary on oil or some other environmental issue—tax write off.

The more I read, the more confused I get. There are times beside each individual line of randomness.

“I can’t say I understand any of this, since I don’t know any of these people or things you’re talking about,” I tell him, feeling sort of stupid, since it’s clear he must expect me to know.

I slide the phone back across to him, and he pockets it with a smirk on his perfect lips.

“Neither do I,” he says with a shrug. “And that was just my Monday. That’s what it looked like every single day from the day I made my first big paycheck, until the day you crashed into my life.”

I frown. “I’m not sure if I’m supposed to apologize or accept gratitude right now.”

He laughs while looking down, seeming a little uncertain of himself for the first time since we crashed back into each other’s lives.

“I chased a dream. I beat the odds and became successful. I made more money than I’ll ever be able to spend, and all that money keeps making more money. And I filled my days with things to keep me from standing still and watching life pass me by.” His eyes come back up to meet mine. “Never occurred to me I wasn’t happy.”

I sit back, and he continues.

“I might have moved to Tomahawk because of you, but I stayed because I like it here. I like the pace of life. I like never knowing what tomorrow is going to bring, though it would be an entertaining schedule to read if half of these things were planned.”