She turns her head to look at me. “Is it like this all the time now?”
“Worse when you’re not here.”
Her face softens. “That’s why you need a man.”
I bark out a laugh. “Um, think I’ll just get a sound machine or something.”
“A noise machine can’t bend you over and—”
“Harleigh.” I pull one of the pillows from behind my head and toss it at her.
“I’m serious,” she insists. “You could use a good manhandling.”
Before I can respond—before I can even figure out what to say to that—there’s a soft knock at my door.
Harleigh and I both look at it, then at each other.
The door creaks open, just enough for Charli to poke her head in.
“Are you guys still awake?” she whispers.
“No,” I say flatly.
“Yes,” Harleigh says at the exact same time.
Charli grins and slips inside, closing the door quietly behind her. “Scoot.”
I sit up, frowning. “Why aren’t you at your cabin with Bryce?”
She shrugs out of her jacket and tosses it over my chair. “I told him I needed an hour of sister snuggles first.”
Harleigh’s eyebrows shoot up. “And how did he take that?”
Charli shrugs again, climbing onto the bed with zero hesitation. “I told him if he fell asleep before I got back, I’d find a very creative way to wake him up, so he relented pretty quickly.”
I snort despite myself.
We shuffle around, adjusting pillows and limbs until we’re all squeezed together, Harleigh in the middle. It’s cramped and warm and familiar in a way that loosens something knotted tight in my chest.
Once Charli’s settled in, the inquisition begins.
“So, Shell,” she says casually, “how do you think the evening went with Dixon?”
My shoulders lift in a shrug before I can stop them. “He’s nice.”
Harleigh snickers. “That’s code for boring.”
Charli scoffs. “What? Dixon is great.”
“I didn’t say he wasn’t,” I say, staring up at the ceiling. “I just said he’s … nice.”
Harleigh hums thoughtfully. “Mmhmm. Sure.”
Then she grins, wicked and knowing. “You know what didn’t look boring?” Her eyes come to me.
Charli’s attention sharpens instantly. “What?”
“That scene between you and Waylon I walked out on,” Harleigh says. She turns to Charli. “Very not boring.”
