Page 84 of Places I've Never Been

Mattie swore as she scrolled through messages. “She just can’t let me have these few days, can she?”

“What’s wrong?” Adam rested his chin on her shoulder to peer at the screen, but Mattie clicked it off before he could read any of the messages.

“Nothing.” Mattie threw the phone back in the drawer and shoved it closed. “I’m going to take a shower. You should go get a change of clothes.”

She launched out of the bed like she’d been poked in the butt with something hot.

Adam blinked. One moment they were having a sleepy late morning in bed, the next Mattie was wide awake and pissed off. He had whiplash from the sudden change, and he wanted to know what the hell had set her off.

“Mattie. Hang on a second. What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” She rounded on him. “We only have ten days left, and westillhaven’t finished the second song. You won’t talk about the third one at all. This trip is going to end,and it’ll be the first time in three years that I haven’t finished a project, and my stupid sister wants to turn my life upside down again and won’t leave me alone until she manages to do it. And I’m just tired. I’m done.” Mattie ended on a shout so loud it scared a bird outside the window.

Adam got out of bed.

She turned toward the bathroom. “Go get changed, Adam. We’re late.”

“They’ll wait.” He tugged gently on her shoulder until she turned around. Her hazel eyes had intensified until they were a deep green, with gold flecks of fire in them. She wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Which sister?”

“Della.” Mattie huffed out an irritated sigh. “It’s always Della.”

He nodded, encouraging her to go on.

She didn’t.

He knew everything public there was to know about her sisters, but he’d learned from his own experience that public information was a skewed version of the real story.

“You don’t talk about her much.” He tried to keep his tone light. “I thought you all were really close.”

Mattie snorted. “‘Were’ being the key word.”

He considered her. He’d never seen this much fury in her eyes. “Right. So if you aren’t close, why are you so angry?”

“It really doesn’t matter. It’s just something I need to deal with when I get back.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. He didn’t believe that for a second.

Mattie huffed out an impatient breath and shrugged her shoulders as if that would somehow ease the tension. “Shealwaysdoes this. She knows I’m on a project, but once she decides she wants something she can’t leave it alone. Piper’s right. Della’s a spoiled brat with no sense of boundaries.”

“What does she want?”

Mattie pressed her lips together and looked away. “I need a shower.”

She left the room before he could stop her. He followed the irritated woman into the bathroom.

Mattie was already in the shower. Her back was to him, and the water flowed down from her hair to trace the muscular curve of her ass before dripping to the ground.

“Mattie.” He kept his voice soft, trying not to startle her.

She didn’t turn around. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

He stepped in behind her and picked up the washcloth. “It’s okay to be pissed off, you know. Especially at family. The world won’t fall apart.”

She sniffed. “Shereallyknows how to push my buttons. And the shitty thing about it is I don’t think she even knows she’s doing it.”

He worked the washcloth over her back, careful to take his time to leave room for her to say what was on her mind.

Mattie stayed silent.

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