Double Team Read online

  It’s been almost twenty-four hours since what happened between Aiden and Grace and I. Aiden and I are good. We spent a few hours in the gym one-upping each other and lifting weights and not talking about jack shit.

  But it’s weird with Grace. She’s barely been around all day, off hiking in the morning with the campers, and then breezing through the house on her way to some kind of trust exercise in the afternoon that she pointedly did not ask us to join in on.

  Now, the campers are gathered around a roaring fire on the last night of the camp roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. Aiden and I are out here hanging out with the kids trying to make up for being dickheads the other day and getting into a near-fight in front of them. We even spent the last hour before the hot dog roast throwing footballs and teaching them plays.

  Grace has definitely been avoiding us. She’s hardly made eye contact, and she’s either really fucking busy with the camp or she’s pretending to be so she doesn’t have to talk to us. I don’t know what the hell that means. Either she’s totally freaked out by what happened or else she thinks it’s no big deal. Regardless, she can’t just avoid talking to us forever, at least I hope not – especially because I want what happened to continue happening.

  “Now it’s going to be really awkward having her as a neighbor,” Aiden says. “I told you it would be weird.”

  “You said no such thing,” I correct. “In fact, I’m the one who told you not to shit where you eat.”

  “That was good advice.”

  Grace has been making the rounds, talking to all of the campers and counselors, and she chooses that exact time to greet Louis and Spencer, who are standing near us elbowing each other and cracking jokes about wieners.

  “Did you guys get hot dogs yet?” she asks them.

  Spencer nods. “We’re about to go get wieners.” He heavily emphasizes the word wieners before snickering.

  Beside me, Aiden chuckles under his breath. “Wieners,” he repeats.

  I give him a look.

  “I want a big fat wiener,” Louis says, snorting. “Do you want a big fat wiener, Spencer?”

  “Go get hot dogs from the counselors over there,” Grace says sternly, obviously trying to change the subject. “And don’t run with the roasting sticks.”

  “Yeah,” Spencer says, elbowing Louis. “Walk to get your wiener.”

  “Can I get a stick to roast two wieners at the same time?” Louis asks. “I’m starving. I want two.”

  I think I hear Aiden snort.

  Grace’s face pales.

  “Don’t be greedy,” Spencer says. “The counselors said one at a time, not two. Only greedy people want two.”

  I cut him off. “Go get your hot dogs.”

  There’s an awkward moment of silence between the three of us, before Aiden breaks it. “Yeah. So, speaking of two wieners…”

  Fucking hell.

  Grace’s eyes get big and she clears her throat. “No, no, no,” she says, shaking her head before she mumbles something and grabs the arm of a counselor passing by, pretending she needs to talk to the counselor but it’s obvious as hell that she’s just trying to get away from us as fast as she can.

  I glare at Aiden. “Fuck, Aiden. Really? That's what you lead with? ‘Speaking of two wieners?’”

  “What? They were laughing about two wieners. Come on. You weren’t thinking the same thing?”

  "That's besides the point," I hiss. "She's already uncomfortable, obviously. Way to make it even more uncomfortable."

  "You're assuming she's uncomfortable. Maybe she just wants to hit it and quit it."

  "Do you want to hit it and quit it?"

  Aiden looks sheepish. "No."

  "Well, then we need to talk to her. And we need to make it less awkward. Got any bright ideas?"

  "Flowers," Aiden suggests. "Chicks love flowers."

  "Great idea," I tell him sarcastically. "Why don't you go run out and get flowers at seven o'clock at night? Maybe the gas station down the road has some classy bouquets."

  "Yeah, well, maybe you should knit her a scarf."

  "I don't know what you're talking about."

  "Oh, I think you do."

  I look at him through narrowed eyes, my fists clenched at my side. "Who told you?"

  "You left your knitting needles out one day."

  "One day when?" I ask, increasingly pissed off. "Did you go through my shit?"

  "One day like six months ago," Aiden admits. "At your old place."

  "You've been sitting on that for six months?"

  "I know. It was a real gold nugget of information. I was waiting for a good time to drop it."

  "Your sense of timing is fantastic."

  "What can I say? I'm Aiden Jackson."

  "Go find some flowers," I tell him. "And take your fucking time. Take all damn night, actually."

  28

  Grace

  Okay, so I ran. It was poor form, getting up and leaving in the middle of the night. I know that. But I really need my sleep and the two of you are insanely loud snorers, so I left. Have you thought about getting those nose strips?

  I exhale heavily. Nope. That's definitely lame. Worst apology ever.

  I take another deep breath. Just be honest. I can be honest. I was freaked out.

  Who wouldn't be freaked out, anyway? I don't have sex for two years and my first foray back into dating – no, not dating, casual sex - is having two men come in my mouth. And on my ass. And bend me over in the bedroom…

  Oh God. My face feels like it's on fire.

  I'm not sure if Noah and Aiden even want to see me tonight, not after what happened at the campfire. But come on! Aiden and that wiener comment right in the middle of the campers and counselors? Someone could have put two-and-two together. It was far better to get out of there than to faint, which was probably what was about to happen next.

  It's also the last night of the camp and we're leaving tomorrow. Even though Noah and Aiden and I are going right back to being neighbors, I'm feeling a sudden sense of urgency to apologize.

  Or run back to my house and never see either of them again.

  The rational, responsible part of me says I should do the latter. It would be safer, easier, and less complicated.

  Yet I've been wandering around this house looking for the two of them and going over my explanation in my head. And now I'm standing here in front of the only door in this house that I haven't tried.

  I take a deep breath and knock before pulling the door open. Noah is sitting in a deep leather chair in the corner of the… whatever this is. A library? A man cave? The room isn't as rustic as the rest of the house. In here, it's mostly mahogany and rich colors with books stacked in shelves from floor to ceiling. One corner of the room holds an immense wooden desk and another wing of the room holds a pool table.

  I feel Noah's eyes on me. He makes no attempt to hide his gaze trailing down the length of my body, making me all too aware of the fact that I showered and changed out of the jeans and t-shirt that I wore earlier in the evening at the campfire. My reasoning was that the campfire made my hair smell like smoke, but that's not really the entire truth. At least, it doesn't explain why I changed into a dress – casual, black cotton, nothing fancy – and added mascara and a hint of lip-gloss.

  "Impressed?" Noah asks.

  “Mildly.”

  "She does have a sense of humor, after all."

  "I have a sense of humor," I protest. "Just not when it comes to…"

  "Wieners?" Noah asks.

  "Exactly."

  "And staying the night?"

  My face warms. "About that…"

  "About that." Noah looks at me, his expression blank, except his eyes are intense, focused on me.

  "I came down here to explain," I start. "Actually, I've been wandering around the house for a little while, looking for you and Aiden."

  "Aiden's been gone for a…" Noah looks at his watch. "Couple of hours now."

  "Oh."

  "