“Guess not,” Pike said innocently. “Sound doesn’t carry too well around here. What’s up?”
“I was worried,” Mia said, her brows still drawn together. “Everyone else is already back, but you two were missing. I thought maybe your knee was giving you trouble.”
“No, I’m good,” he said, glancing Tulsi’s way. “Tulsi and I were just catching up.”
“Pike was telling me I should quit breaking horses for Daddy.” Tulsi sat down on the rocks and began pulling on her socks and boots, past ready to make her getaway.
“He’s right.” Mia came to stand beside her, sending dirt skittering down the steep bank as she moved. “I’ve been saying that for months. Don’t suppose he got through to you, did he?”
Tulsi shook her head, keeping her eyes on her feet as she tugged on her boots. “Nope. I told him it was none of his business, thank you very much. My life is my life.”
“You’re getting sassy in your old age,” Mia said with a laugh. “Isn’t she, Pike?”
“She was always sassy,” Pike said, his tone far too intimate for Tulsi’s liking. The last thing she needed was for Mia to start suspecting that she and Pike had a history. She’d kept her affair with Mia’s brother a secret for years and she intended to go right on keeping it. Nothing good could come from her best friend learning the truth.
“Only with family.” Tulsi came to her feet and forced a smile. “It’s easy to tell your big brother to mind his own business.” She looped her arm through Mia’s. “I’m sorry, but I went wading instead of scavenger hunting. I hope you’re not mad.”
Mia scrunched her nose. “Of course not. I hate organized activities. The scavenger hunt was Gram’s baby. I just checked all my boxes as soon as I walked into the woods and Sawyer and I spent the rest of the time making out.”
“Hey, big brother here.” Pike fell in beside them as they started back toward the clearing where they’d had lunch. “Spare me the gory details.”
Mia laughed. “Now you know how I feel when I see pictures of you and your lady of the moment making out on some magazine cover. I swear I’ve seen at least three women fondling your butt in public. I’ve probably been scarred for life.”
“Some of those aren’t even me,” Pike said, sounding uncomfortable. “Photoshop is out of control. I’ve just got better things to do than sue the paparazzi.”
“I can’t imagine having people hiding in the bushes trying to photograph me all the time,” Tulsi said, seeing a chance to get her message across without having a one-on-one conversation with Pike. She obviously couldn’t be trusted when they were alone together, no matter how many reasons she had to keep her hands to herself. “I’m glad I’m a nobody from a small town. Being famous sounds awful.”
Pike hummed thoughtfully beneath his breath. “It isn’t for everyone, but the wives of the players are usually left alone. It’s only the girlfriends who make for interesting news. So the sooner we get married, the sooner the media frenzy will fade. What do you say, Tulsi? How’s next week sound?”
Tulsi’s jaw dropped, but before she could say a word, Mia reached out and slapped Pike’s arm.
“Stop it! Don’t tease her,” Mia said. “You’re awful, you know that?”
“It’s okay,” Tulsi said breathlessly, meeting Pike’s gaze with a warning look while Mia’s head was turned. “I know he’s kidding, and it’s not like I still have a crush on him. I got over that when I was eighteen. I’m a big girl. I can take a little teasing from an old friend, right Pike?”
“Sure you can.” Pike’s jaw clenched, but he smiled a beat later. “I’m going to run ahead and ice my knee before we head back. See you two on the trail. Good catching up with you, Tulsi.”
“You too,” Tulsi said brightly. “I’m glad we had a chance to talk. Sorry things didn’t work out with that woman you were telling me about, but I’m sure you’ll find someone great when you go back to St. Louis.”
He hesitated before nodding soberly. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
Mia watched Pike move down the riverbed in front of them before she turned back to Tulsi with a guilty look. “I’m so sorry. I can’t take him anywhere. Are you embarrassed?”
“No, it’s fine.” Tulsi smiled so hard her cheeks began to hurt, determined to hide her secret misery from Mia. “Seriously, my crush on your brother is old news. Don’t even worry about it.”
“Good,” Mia said with a sigh. “So did he tell you about his break up? I’ve been trying to get him to open up ever since he told me about it, but he’s been cagey. All I know is that it happened right before he came home and he was evidently pretty into this girl.”
Tulsi pushed away a pang of jealousy and concentrated on using this news to firm up her defenses. Pike probably hadn’t meant half the things he’d said to her. He was on the rebound and looking for comfort, but he wasn’t going to find it with her, no matter how explosive the chemistry was between them. She couldn’t afford to think with anything but her head if she wanted to keep her life intact.
“He just said he’d been through a break up,” Tulsi lied. “Not much else.”
Mia shook her head slowly back and forth. “Oh well, guess he’ll open up when he’s ready. He’s always been the kind to keep to himself when he’s upset. He just shuts down and locks everyone out.”
Tulsi made a noncommittal noise, as if she didn’t know that’s exactly the way Pike was or that one of his “shut downs” hadn’t changed the course of her life. The best thing she could do was forget she’d ever known intimate things about Pike, forget she’d loved him or succumbed to the pull between them this afternoon, and move on. Anything else would be rolling the dice, and risking everything that mattered. It wasn’t just Clem she had to consider, it was Mia, too. If Mia ever found out that Clementine was Pike’s and that Tulsi had kept her brother’s child from him…
The very thought made her shiver with fear, despite the August heat.
“Someone walk over your grave?” Mia asked.