“Tillie, what the fuck?” I ask.
Tillie frowns. “No, no, no, you should be like, ‘Tillie, thank you for the rescue. You are the best cousin ever. You saved us.’” She pushes her sunglasses over her head.
“Are they in there?”
I groan when I hear Ollie’s voice.
“Yup, and ungrateful as ever,” Tillie replies as Ollie walks through the door in a white camo ski jacket and pants. He pushes his goggles down to his neck.
“Great, they are alive.” Ollie looks at Tillie and then the table. “Is that sardine in tomato sauce? I love those.”
He hustles to the table and begins his inspection.
I look at the twins in wonder. “Tillie, Ollie, get the fuck out.”
“We’ve got a team with an excavator for you. He is not grateful at all. You’re right,” Ollie says to Tillie as he pockets two tins of sardines.
Tillie shrugs. “I’m telling you.”
I close my eyes and inhale, trying not to get angry. Noelle softly chuckling breaks my anger.
“You find this funny?” I ask.
Still slightly hidden under the sheet, she says, “Yes, I do.”
“Morning, Elle,” Ollie says as he is about to step closer to the bed.
“I will kill you if you make one step closer, Ollie.” I grunt.
Ollie stops mid-step and smiles. He raises his hand in surrender and steps back.
“I’m heading out,” Ollie says as he taps his twin’s shoulder.
Tillie stomps her feet. “Fine.” She stands and dusts her pants leg. “Just so you know, the whole family is outside waiting. Also, they now know while they were worrying, you two were fucking.”
Noelle rolls and groans into the pillow.
“Bye, see you both in a bit.” Tillie skips out of the room and shouts. “They need time to change; both of them are still naked.”
I chuckle because I know Noelle is dying in shame.
“Come, princess. Let’s get dressed,” I say and roll out of bed. I peep through the window, and Tillie was correct; my parents, Liam, and Tessa were all outside.
NOELLE
After our “rescue,” we made it back to the lodge in record time. We then spent two more hours driving back to the house. All the while, I feel so cherished…and loved. Loved? Can a person fall in love after a week and some days? Jesus, what the hell is wrong with me?
Maybe I should just enjoy Roman till the end. I shouldn’t put a label on whatever this is. It would only make things painful in the end.
The house is quiet as everyone is off doing their own thing. I decide to sit in the family room and read a book by E.L. Howard calledAnything for You.
“Hey, I was looking for you.” Roman comes into the room.
“Me?” I lean my head back, and as if we have been doing this for years, he bends and kisses my lips.
“What are you doing?” Roman asks as he pushes up his glasses.
“Reading. You?”
