Page 14

Chapter fourteen

Day Four

I woke up with Skyler wrapped around me like a giant sloth.

And I had no complaints.

Except I needed to get up and really didn’t want to wake him.

I slowly and carefully shoved him over and slid off the far side of the mattress.

When I finally made it out, he was still asleep and clutching my pillow.

His face looked so serene, like an angel, though he was anything but.

Skyler was a fireball and related more closely to a devil.

Well, even Lucifer was supposed to have been beautiful, and I could not deny Skyler was that.

The rest of the morning was taking care of business, cleaning up, and getting breakfast, and hopefully all of that before Skyler got up.

I didn’t want him to be self-conscious about the night before.

Hopefully, breaking the morning tension with food would help.

I carried a plate of scrambled eggs, sausage, and a couple of pieces of toast back to the campsite.

Skyler was up, stretching, and showing a sliver of skin around his middle that made me want that for breakfast instead.

“Mmm…do I smell sausage?” he asked, bringing my attention back.

“Yes. I also have scrambled eggs and toast.” I stretched my arms out, offering him the meal.

He took it and peeked under the plate I’d put on top.

“Mmm…yum. Thanks, Crow. You didn’t have to get this for me.”

I brushed him off.

“It was no problem.” I sat beside him with my plate at our little picnic table and dug in.

I was grateful for the food at that moment because I couldn’t think of anything to say to him.

Well, anything that I didn’t think would get him running away.

By the time we finished, Danny and Lee showed up.

“Hey, Skyler. Today’s a free day, so we’re going to play cards for a while. Want join in over at our site?”

“Yeah, sure. Crow, you’re coming too, right?” Skyler’s invite surprised me.

His eyes were big and welcoming, as if he actually wanted my company.

That was a first.

Danny put an arm around Skyler’s shoulder while staring at me, and his eyes were full of challenge.

“There’s room for you, big guy. If you can handle the competition.”

I grunted but nodded.

“Let me clean up here a bit and I’ll be right over.” Truthfully, I needed a minute.

It wasn’t that I was surprised—okay, I was surprised.

Danny and Lee probably only invited Skyler to start with, knowing he hated me and it would give him an out for the morning.

And now, my biggest enemy was asking me to join in.

And why?

Because we fooled around a little bit?

Or was he softening toward me?

I didn’t know for sure, but eventually, we were going to have to hash things out.

But not right now.

At Danny and Lee’s campsite, they had set up a folding table and chair.

Danny was short and could barely see the table, so after complaining, he stuck a pillow under him.

Lee shuffled the Uno deck.

“We were going to play Cards Against Humanity but it seems like no one had brought it.” Lee scoffed and started dealing.

“This is Uno No Mercy. It’s a little different than regular Uno, so we should talk about the rules.”

Danny wiggled in his seat.

“Like if you play a zero, everyone passes their hand to the next person in whatever direction the play is going. That’s my favorite.”

“Okay, that’s weird.” It had been a long time since I played Uno, and it sounded like this version was going to be more enthusiastic.

“What else?”

Lee dealt the cards.

“If you play a seven, you have to swap hands with someone else, your choice who. That’s great near the end of the game.” I already thought I’d hold on to that one until someone was low on cards.

This could be fun.

Danny finished up the instructions.

“The rest of the cards are pretty self-explanatory.”

“Maybe not the discard all,” Lee said.

“Right. That one means you discard all the cards in your hand of whatever color we’re on. So if I play a blue card and you have a lot of blue, and you have the discard all, you play that and dump ‘em all.”

I picked up my cards and arranged them by color. “Shit.”

“What?” Skyler asked.

“I have a card I don’t know what it is, and it’s going to give it away, but…” I held up the wild card with the little square frowny faces.

Danny bounced in his seat. “Oh! Oh! I love that one too.”

Lee put his hand on Danny’s shoulder, probably to calm him down. “It’s like a regular Wild, except that the next player chooses the color and has to draw, putting the cards face up until he gets that color.

Then they all go in his hand.

”

“And he doesn’t even get to play the card!” Danny said without the bounce this time, but he was overly loud.

“Got it.” A very dangerous card.

Danny bumped his shoulder into Skyler, who was sitting next to me.

“Hate to be you, getting that one thrown on ya.”

Skyler rolled his eyes and pulled his cards closer to his chest.

“Whatever. You don’t know what I have.” I imagined Skyler would be a shrewd player based on what I’d seen of his performance in the courtroom.

We would have most definitely won the case had I not stepped away from it to negotiate a settlement on my own.

“Okay. You go first, Crow.” He motioned around the direction of the play and dropped a yellow four on the discard pile.

I played a yellow seven.

“Already?” Danny called out.

But Lee explained, probably based on my blank face.

“That’s the swap hands card.”

“Oh. Shit. Can I take it back?”

“It’s our first time playing this one,” Skyler argued.

“I think we should let him. And we now know two cards in his hand. That’s fair.” I wasn’t wrong about him.

So cunning.

Danny opened his mouth as if to argue, but Lee shut him up quickly.

“Okay, but last time. Don’t forget the rules. Seven you swap and zero everyone shifts hands.” He motioned again around the circle.

“Okay. Got it.” I took it back and played a yellow six.

We went around with Skyler playing a yellow four, Danny playing a blue four to change the color, and so on.

Lee and I also played blues, and then Skyler popped a reverse card and a shark-like smile as he glared at me.

“You’re in trouble now, Crow.” Then he laughed maniacally, and the rest of the table cracked up.

“Well, shit.” All my good cards would now be aimed at Lee.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but I didn’t have to wait long to see what happened because I didn’t have anything else that would play.

“Sorry, Lee.” I played the Wild frowny faces down.

“Why did I know that was coming?” Lee hung his head.

“What color?” Danny asked.

Lee looked at his hand.

It probably didn’t matter much since no one had even drawn from the pile yet.

“Green, I guess.” Then he flipped three cards until he got to green, and none of them were special cards.

“Go, Danny.”

Danny played a green four, and then it was Skyler’s play, and that worried me.

He scrunched his nose.

“Well, no fours and no greens, so…” He played a Wild card.

Not just any Wild card, either.

This one was better than the frowny faces, and I hadn’t expected it.

Draw ten.

“Really?” He gave me an odd look, accompanied by a foot nudge.

Okay then.

I drew my ten cards.

“What color?” Lee asked.

Skyler answered, “Blue.”

He probably thought I didn’t have blue since I didn’t before, but I did now that I’d drawn so many fucking cards.

We went around the circle a couple of times until Danny and Skyler were both down to two cards.

I slapped down a Wild I’d drawn with my draw-ten, which I was pretty sure would reverse the play to Skyler as well as making him draw four.

“I see how you are,” he said as he drew, but then we were exchanging sexy looks and more foot nudges.

Danny bounced in his seat again.

“What color? What color?”

“Red.”

Danny slammed a red card down and yelled, “Uno!”

Then it was Lee laughing as he slapped a seven down, which made me think I should have done that since I still had mine, but I hadn’t thought it through.

Lee made a gimme sign with his hands and exchanged with Danny, who pouted and stuck his tongue out.

“Mean Daddy.”

Lee looked smug.

“Your go, Crow.”

I slapped my seven down, now that it was in my head, and changed with Lee.

“Uno, in case I need to say it.” I smirked, then looked at the card.

It was a blue two.

Skyler gave me a sexy, pouty look.

“Hmm…red, right?”

“Yep.”

“Well…I don’t know what I have to do here except…” He played a red zero.

He hadn’t let on at all.

I did not want to play poker with him.

Now he had the single card and said, “Uno.”

Danny giggled.

“If this keeps up, I might actually get that back. At least we all know what it is now.”

That meant keeping the play off of blue at all costs.

But.

Skyler rubbed my leg with his, and I looked at my new hand, which had been Lee’s.

I held up a red one that had an arrow in a circle.

“What’s this?”

“Skip everyone. It goes all the way around and back to you. It’s a way to get rid of an extra card,” Lee answered.

“Ah…” I put it down because that only helped me.

But then I played the same card in blue.

And then a blue reverse.

“Uno.” I was also down to one card.

And it was another Wild.

“Fuck.” Lee dropped a blue three.

“That was my plan, you know.” We all laughed at that.

Danny made a little growly sound as he examined his cards.

He was too cute, but not as cute as Skyler.

He was also staring at his remaining card and making a face.

We all knew what his card was, so the question was, what was Danny going to play.

“No blue.” He drew.

And drew.

And drew.

“Fuck.” He slapped down a blue card.

A four.

Skyler dropped his card on the pile.

“I win!”

The rest of us groaned, but I secretly was very happy.

We played a few more games, and the entire time, Skyler nudged and rubbed my leg.

He even put his hand on my thigh at one point.

I wasn’t sure if he was trying to distract me or not but combined with the sultry looks he kept shooting my way, I didn’t fucking care.

I wanted to get him back to the tent and show him what his little flirting was actually doing to me.

We helped put up the table and chairs when we finally finished playing and then walked over to the food station for lunch.

Today was simple sandwiches and chips.

All the fixings were laid out on the table set up between the RVs, and everyone hit it buffet style.

Lee had his piled high with every meat and cheese available.

“Dang, Lee, you eating for two?” I teased.

He smiled back at me with a cheesy-ass grin.

“It’s a Dagwood special.” He added potato chips to the top of the sandwich before topping it with another slice of bread.

“How the hell are you even going to eat that thing?”

“I have a big mouth.”

Danny snorted a laugh.

“You can say that again.”

Skyler giggled at their banter.

Out of everything, it was his smiles, laughs, and snarky giggles that I enjoyed the most.

Every time one popped up, my heart felt like champagne had been poured over it.

We headed back to our campsite to eat since it was closer than Lee and Danny’s.

Everyone else’s sandwiches were more modest, but I did put extra chips on my plate when I noticed Skyler skipped them altogether, and I was glad I did.

He was stealing them off my plate before we even sat down.

But I loved it.

Loved everything about him.

I recognized I was falling hard and couldn’t stop, but I was also scared to death because I could easily see him breaking my heart.

In fact, all the evidence pointed in that direction.

He was having fun and enjoying the attention now, but as soon as this trip was over, he could swing right back to hating me.

And I did not want that to happen.

If it did, I’d be devastated.

After we ate, Danny and Lee decided to go put their kayaks in the water.

The sun was out, and it was getting hot.

They cleaned up their plates and headed off to get ready.

“Hey, Skyler. Would you like to go with them?”

“Uh, I don’t have a kayak or paddleboard. And I don’t think the tubes were organized for us again.”

I had a solution to that.

“You can get on mine.”

He looked at me with those big green eyes and made an O with his mouth.

Damn, if anyone needed a daddy, it was this boy.

And I wanted to be that for him so hard.

“You won’t have to do anything but sit on the end of the board. Or lay across it.” I shrugged like it was no big deal.

“Put your feet in the water. Swim. It’s fucking hot, right?”

“Yeah. It’s hot. I think that sounds good.” He didn’t sound sure.

He seemed skittish and ready to bolt.

I couldn’t have that.

“It’ll be fun. We’ll paddle upriver and float back. A shorter trip than last time.”

He threw his hands up.

“How can I say no to that?”

I had him pack a bag with a few things, including the water pouch for our phones and a couple bottles of water, sunscreen, and towels, while I inflated the board and got us ready.

Then we hauled the board and our asses down to the water.

Danny and Lee were putting in when we walked up.

“Hey!” Danny shouted.

“Catch up with us.”

“Okay!” Skyler waved back at him.

There were a few people in front of us, but it didn’t take long before we were in the water with Skyler sitting on the front end of the board, leaning back on his arms, looking so casual.

I stood in the middle, just behind him, and paddled us toward where Danny and Lee were doing their best to wait for us.

But they were making an effort to keep moving upriver a little at a time and not being pulled back by the current.

Finally, they pushed out to a calmer area of water and hovered for a bit, and we caught up.

“Hey, let’s look for a place we can beach for a bit. So we can get in the water and swim.” Danny pointed up the river at the side of the shore.

We paddled along for a little while until Lee found a spot he liked.

It had a tree with a low branch that we could climb on along one side and a little bit of shallow water with a sandy bottom across the main opening.

We paddled into the cove and propped our boards in with the trees and overgrowth so they wouldn’t float away.

I helped Skyler off the board, not that he needed it.

“Thanks,” he muttered, then splashed over to Danny.

It was my understanding that they had known each other for a long time, and it was interesting seeing them playing in the water together.

Lee chuckled at their antics.

“They used to be best friends. It’s nice seeing them have some fun like this.”

“What happened? Why aren’t they still friends?” Yep.

I was very curious.

“Oh they’re still friends, only not as close. Time gets in the way. Plus, Danny found another Little friend he hit it off with, and well, Skyler is not a little.”

He could have fooled me with the way he and Danny were playing in the water.

“Maybe not a Little, but he sure needs a daddy.” I didn’t know Lee well, but since he was into that stuff, and I knew he was Danny’s daddy as well as husband, I felt comfortable with it.

“I’ve been saying that for years.” He stretched his fist out for me to bump.

So I did.

“Let’s show them how to have fun.”

“What do you have in mind?”

He pointed at the large branch hanging over the water.

We climbed up and jumped off, surprising the boys with cannonballs.

Then they had to get their turns in.

After a lot of jumping off the tree, splashing around, and exploring underwater with Danny’s snorkel and mask, we finally decided to head back.

On the way, Skyler jumped in the water and swam around.

Then climbed back on.

Several times.

He was growing bolder and enjoying himself.

I made a quick promise to whatever god was listening that I’d get him outside more if we stayed together after this trip.

Once we returned to the dock, we pulled the kayaks and paddleboard up on the grassy area between there and the swimming hole and jumped in.

We’d only been out a few hours, and dinner was still at least an hour or so away, so we walked around the cool water.

Skyler jumped on my back, wrapping his legs around my waist.

“We should have brought the noodles to float around on.”

“I can go get them if you want.”

“Nah. Next time. Right now, you’ll work.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Hell yeah.” He was laughing, but when I fell back into the water, dunking him, he came up spurting water.

“Not funny.”

I couldn’t help laughing because I was simply happy he was warming up to me.

“Okay. I won’t do it again. Hop on.”

He started swimming away, but I grabbed him, pulling him back.

After a little good-natured wrestling, he climbed back on me, and I waded farther out.

He pulled himself in close, so we touched, his chest pressed against my back.

He kissed my neck.

“Crow?”

“Yes…”

“You seem like such a good guy now. I don’t understand why you blew my case. Why?”

“Really?” I knew we would get to this conversation, but I didn’t expect it yet.

Skyler dropped down in the water, and I turned to face him.

“Yeah. I mean. I drew up the contract myself. That out clause was solid. No way we could lose.” He grabbed my arm as if he was begging me for an answer.

“Sometimes in life, you do the hard thing because, like it or not, it’s the right thing.” I hoped he could understand.

The situation was spiraling out of control at the time, and I needed to move fast.

I didn’t regret my decision.

My holding company was trying to buy a business, but it turned out there was baggage associated with it that I didn’t want to deal with.

I took what Skyler called the out clause .

It was a stipulation in the initial contract that allowed me to back out of the deal.

But then I found out more about the owner’s financial situation, the reasons behind him selling when he didn’t actually want to sell in the first place, and the reason he sued me.

He felt he had to.

It was such a complicated situation.

Skyler crossed his arms over his chest.

“How was paying that guy twice the purchase price and then not ending up with any ownership of the business right? Fuck, I could have at least negotiated a better deal for you if you would have told me you wanted to settle. I don’t understand.”

“Skyler, that guy ? He needed the money a lot more than I did. He was only selling his business, the business he built from scratch, because his wife had cancer, and their crappy insurance left them with astronomical bills. Avoiding the PR nightmare we would have had to face because of this lawsuit alone was worth that price. And settling gave him the opportunity to take the money and not have to swallow his pride.” That was the truth.

No way was I going down as the big bad businessman who squashed the guy whose wife was dying of cancer.

Not happening.

But a part of our deal was that both sides would keep quiet.

“Nobody told me this. You didn’t tell me.”

“Two reasons, Skyler. First, you didn’t give me a chance to explain. But the conversation was private, and an NDA accompanied the agreement. Technically, I wasn’t allowed to tell you. I’m still not. And your career was never in jeopardy. Drew knew.”

“I should have known. All Drew said was drop it.”

“Sky…man...” I held my hands out, hoping he could put this aside.

“I couldn’t keep hurting that guy. Not after knowing what they’d been through.”

“I didn’t know. That’s so not right. All this time, you let me think—” He pursed his lips and glared.

“Stop finding things to hate me for.”

“Finding? I thought my job was on the line. And if I got fired for this, no other firm was going to hire me. How do you not understand that?”

“Drew wasn’t going to fire you. He understood the situation. We couldn’t tell you. But you didn’t trust us. You didn’t trust me, but worse, you didn’t trust Drew. If your job was in jeopardy, it was because you didn’t trust your boss. Not what I did.” I hated throwing that in his face, but sometimes hard calls had to be made, and we had made them.

Skyler had to find a way to deal with it.

“You’re a great lawyer. No one is taking that from you.”

He stood there, water up to his shoulders, and stared at me like he was trying to figure me out.

His eyes were bold, but that could have been the sun on the water reflecting in them, but I doubted it.

Skyler was intense.

“I need to think about things.” He walked off, crawling up the steps out of the water and then over to the grassy walkway.

He grabbed a towel and his phone out of our bag.

Our bag .

There wasn’t an our in any of this.

Skyler was running again, and I wasn’t sure how it would end.

I rubbed my aching chest, feeling like I was going to throw up.

The conversation had not gone how I wanted it to.

At all.