Unsurprisingly, Nico and Brianna never rejoin the group. Instead, they slipped into one of the tipis a while ago.
The other couples around the bonfire get closer until, about the time I completely lose feeling in my arse from sitting up here, they start calling it a night.
Jodie and Toby disappear first, quickly followed by Emmie and Theo.
Seb and Stella finish their drinks with Calli and Alex, all of them laughing and enjoying themselves before Seb finally stands, throws Stella over his shoulder and marches her toward a tipi.
My chest constricts as Alex reaches out to tuck a lock of hair behind Calli’s ear. She’s drunk. The last time she got up, she could barely walk in a straight line—and that was a while ago.
Grabbing her hand, he pulls her to her feet and wraps his arm around her shoulder, keeping her tucked into his body.
My temperature and frustration soar as he supports her in the way I’m desperate to.
They come to a stop at the tipi, and Calli looks up at him like he’s the most important person in her world as he hesitates.
She says something to him, something I can’t make out, before she retakes his hand and tugs him inside the tipi with her as my heart plummets out of my chest.
“No,” I breathe, my grip tightening on the branch beneath me until my nails dig into the bark.
Squeezing my eyes closed, all I see is the two of them inside that tipi.
His lips brushing hers, his fingers dragging her shirt up, exposing her to him.
Their limbs are tangled, her back arching and her nails scratching down his back.
“Fuck,” I bark, loud enough to send a bird flapping out of the trees in fright as I jump down.
My heart is in my throat as I make my way toward their camp and drop down in front of their glowing bonfire.
Reaching out, I grab a marshmallow and throw it into my mouth, letting the sweetness coat my tongue, all the while wishing it were something else I were tasting.
Finding a half-empty bottle of vodka that Stella and Emmie were making drinks with, I tip the neck to my lips and swallow down a couple of shots. Anything to get those images out of my head.
A loud female scream floats around the camp from one of the tipis. The sound is like a fucking bat to my chest, even though I know instantly that it’s not Calli. The tone is all wrong.
It gives me hope that maybe she’s just fallen into bed and passed out, and my horny brother is just lying there, watching her sleep, wishing he was man enough to make the move we all know he’s desperate to.
Something’s holding him back, though. He’s never really been hesitant with girls. So why is he with Calli? Is it because he really does like her and is trying to treat her as she deserves? Or on some level, does he already know? We’ve never really been the kind of twins who feel each other’s pain and all that jazz, but we’ve definitely got a connection that I don’t share with anyone else. Can he sense something that’s holding him back?
Or did that all shatter to pieces the second she towed him into that tipi?
My heart races with the thought of him experiencing a side to Calli that only I know.
Swallowing another two shots, I abandon the bottle on the table as I make my way toward the tipi they disappeared inside.
My heart threatens to beat right out of my chest as I peer around the door and look through the window.
It’s dark inside, apart from the faint glow of soft fairy lights that are strung up around the ceiling, and my breath catches in my throat when I find both of them asleep.
The relief that floods me when I find that Alex doesn’t even have his arm around her is something I’ve never experienced before.
Lifting my hand, I comb my fingers through my hair, fighting with myself to do the right thing. To walk away and let her sleep. To go back home, knowing that my brother doesn’t have his hands all over her.
But when my feet move, it’s not in the direction of my car.
And when my hand drops, it’s not to my side but to the door handle that will let me inside their little haven.
The sound of their heavy breathing barely overpowers the roaring of my blood past my ears as I close the space between the door and the bed, my eyes locked on the lump under the sheets that belongs to my girl.