A lifetime ago, I’d daydreamed about living here. Making this my home. I hardly remembered what it was like to have a home, now.
We talked and played well into the night. Gibson produced some snacks from the kitchen, and neither of us said anything about the time. I needed to go. It was a long drive on winding roads to get back to my motel. But I couldn’t seem to make myself leave.
Finally, my eyes were getting too heavy for me to deny how tired I was. “I should probably get going.”
Gibson rubbed his chin and seemed to consider something for a moment. “It’s late. You should just crash here.”
Every bit of me wanted to take him up on his offer. But I couldn’t stay here. “Thanks, but I shouldn’t.”
“Sweetheart, it’s three in the morning and I’m not gonna let you leave just so you can run off the road on the way back to your crappy motel.” He stood. “Come on. You can sleep in my room. I’ll take the couch.”
“You don’t have to—”
He turned and leveled me with a glare. Apparently he wasn’t taking no for an answer.
And really, I didn’t want to go.
“Thanks.”
“Mm-hmm,” he mumbled. “I’ll get you some fresh blankets.”
I followed him to his room and Callie made a momentary reappearance, my heart fluttering and cheeks flushing at the thought of being in Gibson Bodine’s bedroom. I tried to tell myself I was being silly. I was far from the teenage virgin of thirteen years ago.
But being with him in his bedroom, even while he was making up the bed for me to sleep in alone, felt a little thrilling. Even dangerous.
I liked it.
He said a gruff goodnight and left me there. I glanced around at the tidy room. The walls made of logs and the bed with a quilt that looked homemade. It was so very Gibson. And I still couldn’t quite believe I was here.
8
GIBSON
The sound of someone knocking on my door woke me with a start. It felt like I’d fallen asleep about five minutes ago, but sure enough, light peeked in through the curtains. Whoever it was knocked again. I groaned, hauling myself off the couch. Why the fuck were so many people banging on my door these days?
I ran a hand through my hair, still blinking the sleep from my eyes, and opened the door.
Scarlett stood on the step, an accusatory look on her face. “Mornin’, sunshine.”
“What do you want, Scar?”
She crossed her arms. “Well, you weren’t answering your phone, so I came by to find out why you weren’t at Moonshine this morning. But I think the reason is pretty obvious.”
I scratched the back of my neck, still trying to wake up. “What reason?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe the owner of the car out front and those pretty little sandals in there.” She pointed at something behind me.
Oh, shit.
I glanced over my shoulder. Sure enough, Callie’s sandals were right there in plain sight.
“That’s none of your business,” I snapped.
“Trust me, Gibs, I don’t want to know the details. But you’re an ass for missing breakfast because you brought some hussy home last night.”
Anger flared, running hot in my veins. I pointed a finger in my sister’s face. “Don’t you fucking call her that, you hear me?”
Her eyes widened, but instead of attacking me like a feral cat, her mouth turned up in a wide grin. “Oh my god.”
I’d rather face the feral cat—and Scarlett was a biter—than that smile. Crap, why had I said that? “What?”
“I know you have a girl in there, but Gibson Bodine, is it a girl you actually like?” She stood on her tiptoes, trying to look past me. “Who is she? Do you have a secret girlfriend?”
Damn my nosy sister. Why’d she pick today to stop by unannounced? It was like she was drawn to family drama.
“No.” I moved forward, bracing an arm against the doorframe to block her access. I didn’t want her trying to slip inside. What could I tell her? Callie Kendall’s alive and sleeping in my goddamn bed? “It’s not like that. She’s just a friend who needed a place to crash last night.”
Inwardly, I congratulated myself on that one. It wasn’t even a lie.
Scarlett, however, clearly wasn’t buying it. “Since when do you have friends?”
“I have friends.”
“Like who?”
I glowered at her. “I’m not telling you who she is.”
She grinned. “Because she’s your secret girlfriend.”