Page 12 of Never Less

“Hiking for an hour or two is fine,” Liliana says. “It’s not like I hate the outdoors in general. Just long stretches of it without showers and toilets. We’ve talked about this, Nate.”

“Babe, it wouldn’t work. You wouldn’t be able to keep up.”

I shrug, hoping I appear nonchalant when all I want to do is yell at my son for being such an ass. “I wouldn’t mind slowing down for an hour or two.”

“Yeah, but we’d have to backtrack to get her back to her car or wherever, and then—”

“It’s fine. I don’t have to go.” She slides off her stool and turns away. “Thanks for breakfast.”

My hands curl into fists as I watch Liliana head outside. Her shoulders are all bunched up, and now that I know everything she told me last night, her reaction feels more than warranted.

As Nate keeps talking, I bite my tongue. A lecture this early on in their trip will just piss him off. And goddammit, my son is an adult. He’s not supposed to need lectures from me anymore.

Nate and I discuss his plans for another twenty minutes before I step into the garage to get out the tent for Charlotte. Honestly, seeing how Nate is treating Liliana makes me want to skip out on hiking with him, but I keep that thought to myself. Hopefully he’ll come to his senses soon.

By the time Charlotte shows up, it’s been around forty-five minutes since Liliana went outside. I tried to find her after I got the tent, but it’s like she disappeared. My guess is she went down to the water to get some air—my backyard turns into sand at some point, giving me my own private slice of the beach.

Still, I’m worried. It’s hot as hell out today, and she didn’t bring any water with her.

“Nathan!” Charlotte exclaims as he opens the front door. “Oh, I didn’t know you were in town!”

“Last-minute trip,” he says with a charming grin before pulling her into a quick hug. “How’ve you been?”

“Oh, amazing. I’ve been busy all day getting ready for our party.”

“Oh, yeah. Congrats!” Nate gives Charlotte a more enthusiastic smile than he’s given Liliana ever since they showed up.

I grit my teeth while neither of them are looking at me. If he wanted out of his relationship, Liliana almost left. Supposedly he’s the one who convinced her to stay. So what’s his deal?

“Oh, and there’s your sweet Lily.” Charlotte looks past me and smiles. “As beautiful as ever. You look amazing, dear.”

“Thanks.” Liliana brushes past me, and Charlotte scoops her into a hug. “So do you.”

Relief floods me. She looks all right. Maybe she snuck inside while I was in the garage or something, because she doesn’t look all hot and sweaty.

“You should both come to our party tonight,” Charlotte says with delight. “John would love to see you both. Oh, and Nate, the boys will be there, too.”

At that, he perks up. “Levi and Matthias?”

“Who else? They’d love to see you.”

“I didn’t know they were in town. Yeah, that’d be great. When’s it start?”

“Anytime after six. Your father has all the details.” Charlotte pulls me into a hug and plants a kiss on my cheek. “But right now, I’ve gotta get back home to help with setup. The tent?”

“I’ll load it up for you.”

It only takes a minute for me to grab the tent and stick it in the back of Charlotte’s SUV. I wave her off before heading back inside. The air conditioning feels amazing on my skin even though I was only outside for sixty seconds max.

Nate and Liliana are waiting for me in the kitchen. She has her arms wrapped around her waist, and she’s chewing on her bottom lip. Nate, on the other hand, is enthusiastically typing away on his phone. Probably messaging Levi and Matthias. They’ve been friends since high school.

“What kind of party is it?” Liliana asks me.

“Nothing horribly fancy, but it’s not as laid back as a barbecue or something like that. I believe the instructions Char gave me were to aim somewhere between smart casual and cocktail attire.”

“Ugh, whatever that means,” Nate mutters, not even looking up from his phone.

“Oh,” Liliana says. “I, um… I didn’t pack anything to wear to something like that. I mostly just brought shorts and T-shirts and tank tops.”

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