Page 39 of Last Chance Love

“I just want to drink it,” he whined. “It’s colder than the bottles.”

“You try drinking that in one go,” I said, eyeing the size of the cup in his hand, “and you’re going to put yourself in shock.”

“Seriously?” he asked in bewilderment.

“I have no reason to lie,” I informed him. “Almost freezing water dumped into an overheated body is a bad idea. Sip it.”

Leon jammed a thumb over his shoulder. “You heard the man. You can drink it if you want, but if you start guzzling, you’re in the shit. If we have to drag you back because you decided to shock your system, I will put you on special duty.”

“What, uh, what does special duty involve?” Elliot asked, and I rolled my eyes, knowing he wasn’t actually curious. He was gauging whether or not risking getting into trouble was worth trying to drain the whole glass.

“Scrubbing every bathroom on this property, including the outhouses,” Leon said, and I didn’t have to see his face to know he was arching a brow.

Elliot’s expression stretched into one of outrage. “Theouthouses? Jesus, that’s laying it on a little thick, don’t you think?”

“I guess you won’t have to worry about it if you don’t start guzzling that, now will you?” Leon asked.

“Man,” Elliot sighed, filling the cup up. “Sipping isn’t nearly as satisfying.”

Leon huffed, turning toward the wall. “Reno?”

“What?” Reno grumped.

“Make sure your idiot partner doesn’t stupidly send himself into shock.”

“Fine.”

I arched a brow as Elliot disappeared out of sight and Leon turned back to me. “Interesting.”

“What?” Leon asked.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say Reno sounds unhappy about whatever Elliot’s doing rather than just being mad at everything around him,” I said.

“Yeah, they’re making a lot of progress, actually. I’d love to know what’s working for them. Maybe I could apply it to other things in the future, but they’re not exactly the most forthcoming.”

I thought about it for a moment and shrugged. “They sleeping together?”

“They’re in the same cabin, so…wait, like?—”

“Yes, Leon, like the big scary word.”

Leon rolled his eyes and then scrunched his nose. “Do you think they’re fucking?”

“I have no idea,” I said with a laugh, ensuring we weren’t overheard before continuing. “Do we even know what Reno’s into?”

“No, but that’s no surprise. I only know the guy likes ribs and salad because he eats plenty of the second and devours the first whenever they show up,” Leon said with a shrug. “Anything else about him is a complete mystery.”

“Eh, it was just a thought. I mean, that would be one way to take the sting out of the tail, so to speak,” I said thoughtfully. “I’ve seen it before, not here…as far as I know.”

“What, a cranky guy and a weird guy hooking up and suddenly not driving each other crazy?”

“Well, notthatspecific. Just two people who seemingly didn’t get along, and then they do after a few turns in the sheets.”

“Oh. Weird.”

“I mean, not really,” I said, lowering my voice. “Just look at Max and Riley.”

“Yeah, that I did not see coming,” he admitted with a snort. “Always thought Max was completely straight.”

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