“Our happy honeymoon couple finally left?” I glance over at the cabin next door.
“Yes.” She grimaces. “And they left behind a mess.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised.” They were really going at in there. The groans and thumps broadcasted their activities every time I walked by.
We walk over to the cabin together, our arms brushing periodically, sending a flash of awareness through me with each accidental contact.
I expected things between Finley and me to be stilted and awkward after our almost-kiss, but they’re not.
If anything, we’re more comfortable around each other than before—except for the ever-present tug of attraction. Okay, it’s not a tug, it’s a lightning bolt of electric tension, humming between us, growing in strength every time our eyes meet or fingers graze.
But I can’t think about any of that because we’refriends.
Once inside, I’m immediately assaulted by the smell of sex and stale food. Finley leaves the door open to air it out, even though it’s a little chilly and overcast outside.
“Wow.” Trash is scattered over almost every surface. The comforter is on the floor, and the sheets a tangle on the bed. One of the lamps has fallen over on the side table, the shade sitting on its side on the ground. “It looks like they had an epic party in here.”
She wrinkles her nose. “Or an orgy.” She snaps on some gloves and hands me a set, and we get to work.
I set the lamp to rights. “There were only two of them, right?”
“Yeah, but this is nothing. I’ve seen worse.”
“Oh, yeah?”
She picks up an old banana and chucks it in a trash bag. “One time, a guest painted the entire toilet pink.”
“Pink? Why?”
She shrugs. “Beats me. People do weird things. Another time, someone left some kind of glitter bath bomb in the tub. It took us forever to clean it out.” She chuckles. “After trying to clean it up, Dad was showering twice a day, and we were still spotting glitter in his hair and behind his ears three weeks later.”
I laugh and pull the sheets from the bed, exposing an entire box of condoms near the foot of the bed. I pick it up. “I think this is full.” I peek inside. “Yep. A whole new pack.”
“Here.” She lifts her hands, and I toss it to her. She shoves it into the bedside drawer.
I lift my brows.
She shrugs. “Other amenities provided?”
We laugh, then a knock at the door has us both turning.
“Finley?” A dark-haired man in a suit stands in the doorway, one hand in a pocket.
I recognize him vaguely. Must have seen him around town.
“Hey, Reed.” Her voice is overly bright.
“You’ve been avoiding my calls.”
She sighs. “I know.”
There’s a tense silence. Reed glances over at me and then back at Finley.
I have no right to feel anything about any of this, but it doesn’t stop the jealousy from curling through me anyway. Who is this man, and why is Finley avoiding his calls?
I try to catch her eye and find a way to wordlessly communicate if she needs me to get rid of him.
But she doesn’t meet my gaze when she introduces us. “This is Archer. Archer, this is Reed.”