Griff's Place (Havenwood #4) - Riley Hart Page 0,18

right.” I slipped around him, certain his eyes were playing tricks on him, but they weren’t. It was, in fact, a studio cabin with a bed against the back wall. Beside it was the door to the deck, and beyond it, the hot tub. I could see the lake through the glass. There was a small kitchen to the right of the front door, a living-room space with a couch and a television, and another door I assumed was the bathroom. “Well, it’s a studio.”

“No shit. That’s what I said.”

I shrugged. “I can tell them. They must have made a mistake, but I don’t think there’s a big chance they can fix it. Not with this late of notice.”

I set my bag down and took a seat at the small table for two in the kitchen. Everything was made with dark logs, the whole cabin rustic and homey.

I called the company I’d booked with, and, of course, there had been a mistake, and no, there weren’t any other cabins available. I tossed my phone on the tabletop. “There’s nothing they can do, but we did get a discount and a free weekend when they open up again in the spring.”

Griffin looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “That doesn’t help us now.”

“We’ll survive. It’s a king-size bed, at least. I know I’m irresistible, but you’re straight and Kellan’s brother, so there will be no getting handsy with each other.”

“He got handsy with my best friend.”

My eyes shot to Griffin, my heart suddenly beating way too fast.

“Fuck. I didn’t mean—Not that we’d—That wasn’t why I—Oh hell. I’m shutting up now. I don’t want to get handsy with you.”

I couldn’t help laughing. I was looking forward to this week, much more than I should.

I stood, clapping a hand on Griffin’s shoulder. “It’ll be an adventure.”

“Yeah, something like that.”

CHAPTER SIX

Griffin

I didn’t know why I was freaking out at the thought of sharing a bed with Josh. There really was no reason to. How many times in my life had I shared a bed with Chase? I wasn’t that guy who made a big deal out of shit like this, but then, I’d also never tried to randomly hook up with a Chase lookalike—or, well, any other guy lookalike—the way I had with Josh.

That had me feeling a little twitchy. Then I was pissed at myself for letting it get to me, because making a big deal out of it made it feel like it was something, when really, all it should be was nothing.

Christ, this was fucked up.

We unpacked our things real quick and decided to drive into Chimney Rock Village for a late lunch. It was a tiny town, the population somewhere around a hundred and twenty. I’d read about it online when Josh told me where we were going. It was a throwback Western village, where the buildings all looked as though they came from the 1920s and ’30s.

“Want me to drive since you drove the whole way here?” Josh asked when we got outside.

“Sure.” I tossed him the keys and went to the passenger side. I was trying not to come off as jittery and unsure as I felt. The fact that it was something I had to try not to do, confused and stressed me out even more.

We were quiet on the short drive—the village wasn’t too far from the cabin.

Our studio cabin with one bed.

Our studio cabin with one bed that I was still obsessing over.

“It’s pretty up here. I love the mountains.” Josh’s words broke through my thoughts.

“Yeah, it is nice.”

“My buddy and I, when we were kids, we used to head toward the mountains any chance we got. We found this old cabin out there, and we’d go hang out. Our parents didn’t know about it—no one did. It was just our spot.”

I looked at him, but Josh’s gaze was firmly on the road ahead of him. I wasn’t sure why this conversation struck me as important, but there had been something different in his voice. Something a little huskier, like it was thick with emotion. “Was no one supposed to know about it?” I found myself asking.

“It was just a thing. I don’t even know why I brought it up.”

I couldn’t remember a time I’d ever thought that Josh was purposefully lying to me—hell, to anyone—until that moment. It was so unlike him I didn’t know what to make of it.

I studied his profile, wondering what a guy like Josh could have to hide.