Brandon, Lila, and I were heading back to Pinedale for a week. It might not be a long time to be away, but my dad had raised me to never go to bed angry, and I had this deep-seated feeling that Lila shouldn’t walk away from her home without some resolution. Even if it was only for a week.
I couldn’t let Lila leave this town the way things were. It wasn’t like her to avoid conflict, and honestly, the way she’d been acting this week… well, it worried me. She wasn’t herself. It was like the fight had gone out of her. And while I supposed maybe it was to be expected with all she’d been through and learned, neither Brandon nor I wanted to see her lose the only real family connection she had… aside from Brandon.
Lila had been staying with us since the night of the party. Mainly because she didn’t want to see Devereaux, but it wasn’t a secret that she’d been avoiding her sister too. I was all for her steering clear of Daddy Devereaux. If I had my way, she’d never see that jerk again for the rest of her life. But Tess—that was another matter.
And that was why we were currently sweating it out in the tutoring trailer, waiting on Lila to show up. I couldn’t stand watching her hurt anymore, and losing her sister, who she loved even if she never wanted to admit it…
I wasn’t going to watch that happen.
Brandon sighed. “Couldn’t we have had this pow-wow in my trailer? The AC works great. It’s like an icebox in there.”
Tess tapped her foot with impatience. “She’s not coming.”
“She’ll be here,” I said for the tenth time. “You know Lila’s never been on time once in her life.”
Tess made a scoffing noise, and Brandon outright laughed. “That’s the truth. The girl knows how to make an entrance.”
“Or maybe I just love to watch you suffer,” Lila said in a syrupy sweet tone as she climbed up the short stairs and paused in the doorway like she was modeling for the runway.
Despite the fact that the tension in this trailer buzzed like a current, I couldn’t stop myself from taking in the sight of her. She was wearing these short shorts that did amazing things for her already amazing legs. And the slinky little tank top was somehow both elegant and sexy as hell.
For the millionth time this week alone, I was forced to consider just how lucky I was.
“Dude, stop leering at her like that.” Brandon smacked my arm, and I shut my mouth.
Lila laughed, walking toward me and sliding down into my lap, making Brandon groan in dismay.
It had been a week since the two of them had filled me in on the epic craziness that was their new sibling status. A week in which Brandon had turned into an overprotective big brother right in front of my eyes.
Considering I’d always thought of myself as his overprotective big brother, the family dynamic in our little threesome had been interesting to navigate this past week.
For better or for worse, Brandon had insisted on giving Lila his bedroom so she could have some privacy, which left him on the pullout couch and me on an air mattress. This was not my ideal sleeping arrangement with my new girlfriend, but the logical part of my brain knew that he was probably right to be setting some boundaries.
What Lila and I had was new… but it would last.
We had all the time in the world.
That was what I reminded myself as I ran a hand over her smooth thigh and nuzzled her delicious neck.
“Eh-hem.” Brandon had perfected his throat clearing skills these days, and Lila shot him an apologetic grimace before shifting off my lap to sit by my side. “So,” she said, pointedly ignoring Tess. “What’s with the serious vibe? I hustled all the way from school because I thought you guys were wrapping up early and wanted to grab dinner.”
Yup. That was what I’d told her. She looked from me to Brandon and back again, once again ignoring Tess who glared at her from her corner and eyed the three of us with open curiosity.
“Did I miss something?” Tess asked, her gaze darting back to Brandon, who’d crossed his arms to watch Lila and me with the most big brotherly warning stare he could muster.
Tess’s question was the confirmation Brandon and I needed. I knew Lila had been ignoring Tess’s texts and calls this