“Quick trip?” he asked.
I tossed the keys at him. He caught them easily.
“You should probably go get your boy.”
Patrick tilted his head, as if he couldn’t believe what I’d just said. “He’s not in the truck?”
“Does it look like he is?” I countered.
Then, he doubled over and laughed so hard that he had to wipe tears out of his eyes. His shoulders shook, and his smile was magnetic.
“Oh, man. Fuck. I needed that.” He shook his head. “You actually left him somewhere?”
“Left who? Where?” Heidi asked, striding out the front door. She gave me an innocent look, as if she weren’t aware that I’d left somewhere with Austin.
“Austin,” Patrick said.
“Somewhere called Make-Out Point,” I told them.
Heidi’s jaw dropped open. “He didn’t.”
“Oh, he did,” I said.
“I guess I’d better go get him,” Patrick said with a shake of his head. “Idiot.”
“You can say that again.”
Then, I brushed past him and into the lake house. I’d picked out my room earlier after Austin dragged me into the lake. Apparently, I was sharing a room with Morgan because everyone, except Austin and Patrick, were paired up. That was fine by me. Better to be with Morgan than someone assuming I should be with Austin.
Heidi followed me into the back room and flopped down on the bed. “Want to talk about it?”
“No,” I told her as I grabbed my sweatshirt.
“This was a mistake. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
“This is not your fault. This is Austin fucking Wright thinking that, just because I’m single, I want to fuck him.”
“Do you?” Heidi asked.
I whirled on her, tugging the sweatshirt down over my head, and glared. “No!”
“Not even a little?”
I blew out a breath and released it. I wasn’t angry with Heidi. I didn’t need to snap at her. It was Austin who was irritating me.
I took the seat next to her with a sigh. “Maybe a little.”
“Yeah. You two have this…thing.”
“What thing?”
Heidi shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s like the air gets thicker when you two are together.”
“The air gets thicker?”
“You know what I mean.” She nudged me with her shoulder. “You two have chemistry. It’s hard to ignore. But that doesn’t mean he’s for you if you don’t want that chemistry.”
“I want…” I trailed off.
What the hell did I want?
“Nice and normal?” Heidi offered.
“Like that worked out last time.”
“You’ll find someone. I promise.”
I lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. “I told him I wanted Patrick.”
Heidi laughed and slapped my shoulder. “Now, that’s just mean.”
“I wanted to be mean.”
“How did he react?”
“He acted like he didn’t care. He acts like that about everything.”
Heidi sighed. “Are you ever going to tell me the real reason you two broke up?”
“Look, I already told you,” I said, averting my eyes. “He used me and then dumped me. I don’t want to go back to a guy who did that to me. I don’t ever want to be used. I really don’t ever want a guy who makes me feel like Austin does.”
“Isn’t that half the fun?”
“Sure,” I grumbled, picking at the comforter. “It’s loads of fun. And then reality sets in. Austin is like taking a hit of cocaine and riding out the high. You feel fucking fabulous while you’re on it, but then you hit rock bottom. And it fucking sucks.”
Five
Austin
“Fuck!” I screamed as I watched Jensen’s truck skid out of the parking lot.
Julia had fucking left me!
What the actual fuck?
I kicked the gravel, as if that would do anything. Then, I stormed back to the cliff’s edge.
She was going to come back. She wouldn’t abandon me. Sure, we had been fighting, but we always fought. And, anyway, she was the one who had crossed the line. That defiant tilt of her chin had told me she knew it, too.
Patrick.
Patrick!
She wanted to rebound with Patrick.
Fuck that noise.
Whatever we’d had all those months ago wasn’t much, but it had been something. More than I’d given another woman pretty much ever. Until it had all gone down in flames, I’d actually considered for a second that this could be it. And she had, too. I’d even thought, now that she had seen the light with that douche from accounting, that we might have some fun this weekend. Who am I to walk away from the best fuck of my life?