Page 28 of Unravel You

Where the hell was I? I should have been to the house by now. I didn’t slow down. instead I veered left through the trees. In an instant, I had the wind knocked out of me, as if I had run into a big, wet tree—a person. I bounced off him and slammed into the rough bark of an actual tree trunk.

“Whoa, there.” A male voice boomed over my head, loud and far away at the same time. “Are you okay?”

I peered up at him but only saw a shadow as he blocked the sunlight along with the other trees. “You’re tall.” I sounded drunk. I had Derek’s mom to thank for that. The woman made me want to chug a bottle of wine.

He chuckled. “Can you sit up?”

I nodded, but when I braced my hand on the ground, it slid off the exposed thick root. I fell sideways on a very muscular arm.

“Okay, maybe not.”

“I got you.” He picked me up as if I’d weighed nothing and sat me against the tree trunk. “Let’s take a look.”

He kneeled in front of me, wet hair and bare chest. Should I be worried? Did I leave the Cole property? Something about this stranger felt familiar and comforting, though. “Who are you?”

“I’m Wesley. Derek’s brother.” He pushed a strand of hair away from my face. “You must be Valentina.”

“How do you know?” I touched a finger to the sore patch on my sticky forehead. Blood. I stared at my hand. “I was trying to get back to the house.”

“Well, the house is that way.” He pointed exactly the opposite direction of where I was headed before he knocked me over.

“Thanks. I’m sorry I ran into you like that. Are you okay?”

He laughed again. A manly and calming sound. “Trust me, I’ll be all right. Here.” He pulled on the towel wrapped around his neck and pressed it against my temple. “Good news is you won’t need stitches. Bad news is my brother is gonna want answers. This is going to be a nasty bruise.”

“Can we not tell anyone?” This was too embarrassing. Not only had I run off like some scared little girl but I’d managed to get lost and hurt myself. “Please.” I met his gaze.

He had a look in his hazel eyes that said he understood my predicament. So different from Derek’s, but also familiar. He winked. “It’ll be our little secret. But we definitely need to ice the area.” He examined me as though he’d done this sort of thing many times.

“You’ve done this before?”

“Which part? Slam my brother’s fiancée into a tree? No. You’re my first.”

I laughed. “I feel so stupid. I got a little flustered before.” I pointed toward Ana’s house. Wesley grabbed my wrist and pointed the other way. “Ana’s house is the other way.”

“How do you know that’s where I was?”

“Well, the math isn’t that hard. Fiancée meets Mom’s chosen wife for Derek. Fiancée breaks down and takes off running.”

Technically, I’d walked, but yeah. He dabbed my cheek with the towel and cocked his brow, daring me to say he was wrong, that my eyes were red for a totally different reason.

“I thought I was reading too much into it.” I dropped my head in my hands.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Derek and Ana are just friends.” He glanced down at his hand, his playful tone gone. “She’s just a family friend. Nothing more.”

“Thank you. But I think I should head home. We’re not ready for this.”

“Wait here. You need to ice this.” He disappeared through a small path lined with gardenia bushes.

I let my head fall back on the tree trunk. The smell of flowers and chlorine lingered in the air. “Is this the pool house?” I asked when Wesley returned with a fresh towel filled with ice and fixed it gently on the side of my head.

“Yes. It’s just through there.”

“That explains why you’re half-naked and wet.” My cheeks burned hot. “I’m sorry.” Note to self. No more wine. And no more running into trees.

He barked out a laugh, rubbing his hair to get chlorinated water on my face. I didn’t have brothers. Sitting here with Wesley made me wish I had.

“How about I sit with until you feel like getting up?”

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