“Good. I’ve got the hot tub ready.” Beckett’s hand slid up my spine as I chugged half the water in one swallow. “Figured after that performance you could use it.”
My brain immediately went back to the obstacle course and the way Beckett had been there right beside me, matching me, watching me…
“Perfect,” I said. “That sounds…like heaven, actually.”
“I thought so.”
“Performance,” Peter said, chuckling, but there was nothing amused about it. “You always did like an audience.”
I turned back to him, ready to fire off something that would shut him down completely, only for Beckett to beat me to it.
“I think he just likes people who show up for him,” he said, his tone coming off all easy and controlled, but it was laced with something fierce. “Not everyone gets that right the first time.”
Dead. Silence.
A flush crawled up Peter’s neck, his jaw clenching before he finally got a clue and stepped back. “Well. Enjoy the hot tub.”
“We will,” Beckett said, not missing a beat.
Peter’s eyes lingered on me a second longer before he turned and headed back through the crowd toward Alec.
And just like that, the pressure eased.
I blew out a breath and looked up at Beckett.
“All good?” he asked.
I smiled and nodded, meaning it this time when I said, “I am, yeah. Thank you.”
His hand slid down my back and across my waist before falling away. How was it possible his touch could have even more of an impact than the man I was with for two years? It seemed impossible, but maybe that was what a healthy relationship was like.
A healthyfakerelationship. How ironic.
“Come on,” he said, nodding toward the path. “Let’s go before your brothers decide they want another round.”
“God, don’t even joke about that.” There was no way in hell I was putting my body through that again. Now that the adrenaline had made its way out of me, I could feel every single muscle, even the ones that had been dormant for years.
It was worth it.
As we started toward the cabin, Beckett’s hand found my back again like it belonged there, and I realized something.
Peter knew exactly how to pull me apart, but Beckett?
He somehow knew how to put me back together again, and that was priceless.
12
BECKETT
IWAS IN trouble.
I couldn’t even deny it at this point, and it wasn’t just because of the lie.
It was because somewhere between last night, on the other side of that stupid pillow barrier, and watching Sawyer take off across that obstacle course like he had something to prove, I’d stopped pretending I was just here to play a part.
I wanted Sawyer. And that was a problem.
Stepping out onto the deck, I set the towels on one of the loungers and then flipped the cover off the hot tub. Steam curled up, the jets hummed, and the water beckoned. Beside it I’d set the champagne in a bucket of ice with two glasses…and strawberries.