And dang it if it doesn’t make Derek even more attractive, just like everything he does.
Mason and Farah join us a few minutes later, and it looks like most of the other guests are starting to stir, which means I have plenty of buffersto keep me focused on my job instead of the man next to me sprinkling cheese on the ‘Trash.’
“Why does everyone look so grumpy?” Farah asks as she picks up the first dutch oven to take it over to Thiago. “Rough sleep?”
He takes it from her and shrugs. “Someone forgot to bring the paddle back last night.”
“Seriously?” Mason says with a groan. “The most important rule!”
“Who was it?” Farah asks, returning for the next dutch oven.
“Dunno,” I reply. “Not me, I can tell you that.” Memories of last night spark to life in my brain, and as much as I try to shove them back into the corner I hid them in last night, they are determined to stay front and center like they did most of the night.
Derek holding my hand. Derek listening to me blubber about Cygnus. Derek looking very much like he wanted to kiss me.
Me almost beating him to it.
With heat flashing across my cheeks, I glance at the man, curious to see if there’s any chance he might be remembering last night too.
He’s completely frozen. Like when he almost cut himself last night, he’s standing there without breathing, his wide eyes fixed on the Hopper line and his body tense.
I lean closer, nudging his arm. “Derek?”
A curse slips from his tongue, and he drops the bag of cheese on the table, ignoring the way the shreds spill across the tablecloth. Jaw clenching, he runs a hand through his hair before another curse falls free and he takes two steps back.
I think I just figured out who left the paddle behind. “Hey,” I say, holding a hand toward him. He looks like he’s about to start panicking. “It’s not a big—”
“Derek.” Hunter comes out of nowhere and puts his hand on Derek’s chest, pushing him backward with such force that I’m convinced he’s going to knock Derek into the sand. But Derek’s feet move back withhim, taking wide steps as Hunter continues to push until they disappear beyond the tents.
“What in the world was that?” Farah whispers.
I feel like I’m just as frozen as Derek was, staring at the place he disappeared. “I have no idea.”
“Should we go check on them, or…”
I glance at Mason and Thiago, both of whom must have also watched the strange interaction because they’re looking back at me with confused expressions. As far as I can tell, no one else was paying attention, but there’s a chance some of the others saw whatever that was.
If I had to guess, Hunter recognized signs of something Derek wouldn’t want people to see and took control of the situation, moving his boss out of sight and away from everyone. But what was about to happen? It looked like the beginnings of a panic attack, but I don’t know how a forgotten paddle could trigger something like that. Nor has the internet ever mentioned Derek struggling with anxiety.
People would eat something like that up if they knew.
So either Derek is very good at keeping things under wraps, or this is something new.
“Hey,” I say to Farah, gesturing for her to come closer. “I’m going to make sure they’re okay. Could you go through the packing process early this morning? The ‘Trash’ will take an hour to cook anyway, so we might as well get people moving while they wait.”
“And distracted,” she guesses with a sympathetic smile.
“Exactly.”
“I’m on it.”
“Thanks, Far.”
Double checking with the boys that they’ve got breakfast handled, I head down the beach in search of Derek. There’s only so far he could go, but I still have to climb around some rocks and through a dense clump of coyote willow before I catch sight of Hunter. “Hey, iseverything—”
Hunter grabs my arm, his grip firm but not painful. “It’s fine,” he says curtly.
Leaning to the right, I try to see past him but am disappointed when he leans with me. “Are you sure? Derek looked…” I don’t even know what word to use. “Spooked?”
