Page 15 of Reckless (Adventures in Love 3)
“No, we were talking about the message that Mav and I just got from Blake.”
“Is everything okay?” she asks.
“Yeah, but he’s asking if we can all make it to the lake house at the end of next month. Him and Everly decided that they are going to have a small ceremony there but want to make a whole weekend of it, so we’d go on Friday; then Sunday would be the wedding.”
“Oh.” She looks at me, and I hold up my hand because I know she’s thinking that since I’m here, she shouldn’t go.
“Please do not even worry about me. I’ll be just fine here on my own.” I look around the space, which I didn’t really get a chance to take in, then smile at Tanner. “You’ve got some skills. The last time I was here, all this was just rusty bare walls and a concrete floor.”
“I had some help,” Tanner tells me with a proud smile.
“Honestly, this place is nicer than the apartment I had in Oregon and maybe even bigger. The only difference is it’s all one room.” I motion to the bed just on the other side of where the couch and TV are set up in the middle of the room.
“That’s why we put this in.” He walks across the room to where the bed is and grabs ahold of what looks like a piece of metal folded against the wall and pulls. As he does, a wall on wheels unfolds, cutting off the bed from the rest of the room, making it feel like more of an apartment. “You can leave this open or keep it closed.”
“That’s so cool. Did you make it?” I ask because I can tell that it was custom built for the space.
“No, a friend of ours, Mason, did. He’s a bartender in town but used to be a welder on the pipeline. You’ll meet him at some point.”
“Well, if your whole adventure-lodge business ever goes under, you guys could get into home remodeling and make a killing,” I say, referring to their business, which is basically one of those places where they take people out into the woods and have them work on team-building exercises. It’s not exactly my cup of tea, but Cybil did meet Tanner on one of their retreats for couples, a trip she was supposed to go on with her ex-fiancé but ended up taking alone, so it worked out for her.
“So what do you think?” Cybil asks.
“It’s beautiful.” I walk to the kitchen and open the fridge, which of course is already stocked with my favorite drinks and foods. I turn to look at my best friend, shaking my head. “You’re going to spoil me, and I’m never going to leave.”
“That’s the plan.” She comes over, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. “Do you want to see the best part of this place?”
“There’s more?”
“Just one more thing.” She pulls me along with her to a door on the opposite side of the bedroom area and opens it.
“Stop it.” I rush to the bathtub that is placed at the end of a long, partially enclosed glass shower and get inside of it. “I have a bathtub.”
“You do, but just so you know, I might use it sometimes.” She gets in it with me so that we are sitting face-to-face. “Right now Claire knows exactly when I’m about to take a bath, so I never really get to enjoy mine and Tanner’s.”
“You can use this, or better yet I’ll bring Claire down here so that you can enjoy your bath along with some alone time with your husband,” I whisper, then smile when she blushes.
“I might just take you up on that offer,” she says under her breath, eyeing Tanner when he and Maverick both walk into the room.
“Mav and I are going to head back to the house in case the guy bringing Jade’s car shows up,” Tanner says while helping Cybil climb out of the tub. “Do you want me to take Claire? That way you can help Jade get settled.”
“I can unpack later.” I get out after her. “We can all go back to the house.”
“While we’re there, we can figure out what to do for dinner. I was thinking that tacos sound good,” Cybil says, then looks at Maverick. “Do you want to join us?”
“I would, but I got plans,” he tells her, and I wonder if those plans involve a woman. I also wonder why I care. I shouldn’t. I know I shouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean I don’t.
“Next time.” She hooks her arm with mine, and as we head back to the house, I ignore the way my stomach feels, because I should definitely not feel funny about him dating someone, especially when I’ve barely spent a handful of hours in his presence.
