Page 50 of No One Wants That (Blitzen Bay)

KIT

“He kissed me on the top of the head—like a puppy.”

After a restless night of sex dreams about Butch, I woke up frustrated and way too stimulated. I quickly packed a bag for the day, snuck out of the inn, and sprinted the ten minutes to Nash’s place like I was being chased by a bear. When I burst into the house, they were making breakfast.

“Yeah,” Elle says, yawning as she nurses a cup of coffee, “but it sounds like it was a really sexy kiss on the head. I mean you said when he pressed you against the door that you could tell he was ready to go—”

“But he didn’t go. That’s the point. I mean, he knew I was ready, but he blue balled himself instead of having sex with me. Guys don’t do that unless they’re totally not into you. Right, Nash?”

Nash looks over from the stove where he’s scrambling eggs. “Again, and I can’t emphasize this enough, I don’t want to be involved in this conversation—at all.”

“I don’t think it has anything to do with you,” Elle says, patting my hand. “Maybe he doesn’t like sex.”

“Really, Elle? Come on. Do you think that man doesn’t have sex at least once a day, every day?”

“Yeah, he probably does,” she says, stretching up for a kiss from Nash as he scrapes eggs onto her plate. “Thank you, baby.”

“So the question is what do I do now?” I hold my hand up to stop Nash from putting any more food on my plate. I’m much too preoccupied to eat. “I’m thinking either I have to leave town or hide until he leaves town. Those are my only options.”

“You’re not doing either of those things,” Nash says, sitting down. “You’re coming out on the boat with us today and you’re going to act normal. Well, as normal as it’s possible for you to act.”

“I thought you didn’t want to be a part of this conversation,” I say, sneering at him over my coffee cup.

“Eat your breakfast, Kit,” he says, pointing at my plate. “We’re meeting them at ten out on the lake. All of us. Seriously, it’s not a big deal. You were both drinking. You flirted a little. Don’t read too much into it.”

“Fine,” I say, shoving a piece of bacon into my mouth. “You’re probably right. I guess I really don’t need to be rebounding anyway—at least until I talk to Mateo again. I should get a new phone at some point. I need to answer his texts.”

“I’ll drive you to Big Bear tomorrow,” Nash says. “In the meantime, you can use my computer to grab your messages. And call him on one of our phones if you want to talk to him.”

Elle hops up. “I’ll grab the computer. We can analyze the texts before you decide if you should call him or not. Nash, you can help.”

“Not a chance,” he says, grabbing his plate and coffee. “I’m going to eat on the porch and then make sure the boat’s ready. Both of you be ready at nine-thirty sharp.”

* * *

“Did you talk to Mateo?” Elle says as I walk down the hill to the dock. “What did he say?”

“He didn’t answer. It’s weird. I called him several times, but he didn’t pick up. He always picks up.”

“Well,” she says, “it’s late in Spain, right?”

“It’s early evening.” I take Nash’s hand as he helps me onto the boat. “He might be at dinner or something but he always has his phone with him.”

“It’s been a couple of days. Maybe he thought you were blowing him off.” Elle pats the seat next to her. “Do you think he changed his mind?”

“Changed his mind about what?” Nash looks over at me as he starts the boat. “Does he want to move here with you now?”

“Nash, you can’t straddle this conversation,” I say, throwing my towel at him. “You’re either in or out.”

“Out. Definitely out.”

I look back at Elle. “Maybe he did change his mind. Is it weird that I don’t really care, though? I mean, I need to talk to him, but I don’t want him to move with me anymore.”

“It’s not weird,” she says, taking my hand. “Like you said, you’ve been dealing with this for six months. Maybe this whole thing is finalizing what you were already thinking.”

“Maybe.” I take a long, cleansing breath and squeeze her hand. “Can we not talk about it again today? I want to forget about it for a while.”

“Definitely,” she says. “Let’s just eat, drink, and soak up the sun. Not one more word about it.”

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