a whole other way.
Fuck. Stop! An invisible hand slapped my head, shoving me off the inappropriate path I was heading down. Irritation wrinkled up my features, forcing out the flush of heat moving down my legs. I heard her descending from the back of the van, Goat trotting down next to her, padding over to me for a rub on his head.
Hearing a stir in the bushes, he took off running after a rabbit darting across the desert. The sun hinted on the horizon—violets, lavenders, and deep purples coating the landscape, the sun glowing like a lightbulb from the east. Barely a chill in the air, I could sense the heat of the day coming fast.
Busying myself with making the instant coffee, acting like NASA level attention was needed, I ignored her figure moving in next to mine, reaching for the cup I filled with hot water, melting the flakes into caffeine heaven.
“Coffee.” She sighed happily, bringing it to her lips to test, not putting anything in it. “What?” She peered up at me. I hadn’t even realized I’d been staring at her. Her skin was clear, shockingly pale for living in San Diego, with a few freckles over nose. Her features were very dark, like a lake of rich chocolate you could drown yourself in. “What?”
“Nothing.” I snapped my head back to the stove, pouring my water into the mug. “You just seemed the kind who would like milk or sugar.”
“Wow, that’s stereotyping.” She took another sip. “I like my coffee like my soul. Dark and bitter with no filter or bullshit.”
A laugh fell from my mouth. That actually perfectly described the Kinsley I remembered. Compared to her siblings, Kinsley had been blunt, skeptical, and could see through the crap. Especially mine.
While Kasey took whatever spewed from my mouth as gospel, her head nodding in agreement, Kinsley always huffed and snorted from the other side of the room, her eyes rolling at my nonsense.
I tapped my mug against hers. “I like mine strong, to the point, and bottomless.” Subconsciously, my eyes drifted to her legs, which were only covered in tiny sleep shorts now.
Her gaze met mine briefly, then we both looked away.
Fuck… was I flirting? I hadn’t meant it to be about her. Get it together, asshole. You can’t touch her. You shouldn’t even think of her as anything more than your buddy’s little sister.
“So,” I cleared my throat, “what was on your plans today?”
“I had planned on going to the Grand Canyon today, then driving through Monument Valley.”
“We can still do that, but I have another stop I think you’ll like.” I downed half my cup. “If you’re open to it.”
Her lids tapered. “I’m not that uptight.”
My eyebrows lifted.
“What is it?”
“You will see.”
“You’re not going to tell me?”
“No.”
“You hijack my vacation and then start calling the shots?”
“Take a leap.” I moved past her, needing to change my shirt, running no longer an option as the sun rose higher in the sky. “You might actually have some fun.”
“You don’t know me enough to peg me as some boring stick-in-the-mud. I have fun.”
“What was the last spontaneous, fun thing you did?”
A scowl furrowed her brows. “I’ve been in school for the last four years.”
“So?” My cell buzzed again with a familiar number. Frowning, I shoved it back in my jeans. “And my point is proven.”
“I don’t have to prove anything to you.” She slammed her empty cup on the stove. “You are the one who interrupted my plans.”
“Fair enough.” Yanking a fresh shirt from my bag, I held up my hands. “How about we make a deal. We each get to choose one activity each day the other has to do?”
“Has to do, huh?” An evil grin hinted on her lips. For someone just waking up, her hair knotted slightly, pasty and sweaty from pain, with no makeup, she was sexy as hell…
Stop.
“You up for it, Nettles?”
“Don’t.” She folded her arms.
“What?” I tugged off my dirty shirt, watching her gaze move over my torso, a puff of air expanding her lungs, her head darting to the side. “I think the nickname is gonna stick.”
She cringed at my corny joke, her head shaking. Her attention fluttered back to me, though she never let herself fully land.
I knew my body was fit. There was a time I had a lot of time to work out. But between construction, gym, and soccer that my buddy, Chance, got me into on the weekends, my physique was pretty good, down to the deep V-line