Page 92 of Valley Girls
“I swear, Rilla, you are the most scatterbrained person I know,” Thea said.
Rilla frowned.
“How’d it go?” Walker asked, a grin on the corner of his mouth.
Rilla glared him.
“How did what go?” Thea asked.
“Nothing,” Rilla said quickly. “I was showing Petra the tennis courts.” Rilla opened the cupboard and got out a mug, steadying her still-shaking hands.
“Okay.” Thea looked at Walker as if he was supposed to explain; but he just shrugged.
“Want some tea?” Rilla asked Thea.
“I gotta head to bed,” Thea said.
Rilla held the tea box up for Walker. “Peppermint?”
He leaned forward on the counter, his long ropey arms tensing under the thin T-shirt. “Ah ...” He nodded. “Sure. Why not? I’ll take some.”
A rush of warmth ran up her spine, and she had to turn quickly to hide the smile on her face by getting a mug out the cupboard and setting the kettle on the stove.
“So, in that situation you’d want to use a clove hitch, right?” Walker asked Thea.
Thea looked up. “Oh, yeah.” She stretched. “Sorry, I was distracted. All right, I have to sleep. You’re in for the night, right, Rilla?”
Rilla nodded, busying herself with the mugs and teabags. “Want honey?” she asked.
“Nah. I’ll just drink this and be heading back. Night, Thea. Thanks for talking.”
“Anytime,” Thea said. “Thanks for bringing Rilla’s stuff back.”
They were left in silence.
Walker’s gaze flicked to hers. Judging by his tensed mouth and furrowed brow, he was holding something back.
“What?”
His mouth twitched. “Nothing.”
She raised her eyebrow.
With a wide-open palm he rubbed his mouth, eyes somehow exasperated when they flickered to her.
Her heart raced. “Oh come on, what?”
The kettle began to whistle and she turned off the stove and poured the water.
He straightened up sober and his expression in control, accepting the mug. “So I’m just everyone’s vacation fuck boy?”
She cringed. “That was not okay. I don’t even ... I was ... Everyone just ...”
“Everyone what?”
She shrugged. “You have a reputation. I’ve been warned.”
He nodded, lips pursed. After a minute of awkward silence, he said, “What are their warnings?”
