I have a strong inkling that this trip is far more than a vacation for him. It’s a revival. A start of something bigger than even he can predict, with the power to change him.
“I know you love me, sis. I do. And I promise to have fun. Well, as much as I can. I still need to figure out what that looks like without her and my next steps. There’s still so many questions I don’t have the answers for.”
The way I’m dying to know whoheris, and how she got to be so deserving of this man…but also enough to have him this torn up.
Easton glances over his shoulder at me and I send him a small smile. I’ve never physically felt someone else’s pain before other than with Capri. I guess it surprises me because he was so willing to offer for me to come along on this trip with him.
Entertaining a hot mess stranger was the last thing he needed.
Yet, despite Easton’s personal struggles, he saw mine and offered a hand. Which I’m learning is far greater than he leads on. But it’s not my job to fix him, and also not my job to ask those questions.
This new evolving friendship between us has a timeline,and although we’re pretending to be husband and wife at the campsite, Easton owes me nothing.
“I’ll try. Yeah, there’s other people here too…” The drag in his voice causes me to pause. So does the quick glance at me over his shoulder. “Yes, there’s women, Palmer. I’m not in fucking outer space.”
Hmm…
That’s when his voice lowers a decibel. But lucky for me, I have great hearing. “There will be no fucking and forgetting,” he whispers on a groan. “Not sure I’d even know what to do. But shit, Palmer. Why am I talking to you about this? Get your head out of the gutter and remember our boundaries.”
Fucking and forgetting, you say?
I’m not sure what exactly Easton’s dear sister is suggesting with that, but it sounds a lot like she wants her big brother to have some fun and forget about the dark cloud looming over him for a while.
At least while he’s here.
“Would you just drop it? I can barely tolerate myself right now. How do you expect me to entertain a woman? Especially after what I just did.”
The questions just keep accumulating. He’s a closed-off mystery.
But…maybe I can offer some assistance?
If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s having a good time. Just by reading Easton, I’m not sure fucking and forgetting would be a smart choice for either of us, but I’ve gotta say, I’m really good at being a distraction.
I’m always down for a good time if the moment calls for it. Sometimes, having someone there to get off and move forward works more than therapy ever could.
I know from experience. Hell, even my close friends,Freddie and Berkley, back home know that when we go out, it’s prime time.
And Easton Voss looks like a delight to tempt. Would it really be so bad to use our fake marriage and closeness on this trip as a way to break down his walls a little? Help him release some of that tension he holds onto like a vice.
I could be his vice. The thing he clings to when he wants to explode.
He can rip me apart. Mold me. Bend me, preferably.
I’m not breakable. I can handle it. And I think he can, too.
“Listen, we’re about to head back to the campsite. I’ll call you next time I head into town. Tell Mom and Pops I’m thinking about them.” A pause stretches between him and Palmer. “Fucking hell. Yes, I’m with a woman. She’s just a friend. Are you happy?”
It’s almost as if he’s embarrassed to admit he’s with me, and now I’m more intrigued.
“I love you too. Later.”
Without another word, Easton hangs up the phone and walks to stand in front of me. “Sorry about that. My sister.” He holds up his phone for physical proof.
“All good. Just enjoying the views around me.” I pretend to take in the mountain beyond the strip.
I’m so full of shit. I never should have spoken my idea into existence because it’s as if now I’m looking at Easton in an entirely different way. I noticed him this morning—hard not to when he’s giant in size.
But right now, I’m drinking him in. Imagining what he looks like naked and vulnerable.
