Page 85 of She Wolf

“Get back to yournap,” I say adding air quotes. “I’ll let everyone know the new plan.”

“You’re just jealous I’m getting the good napping and you’re getting shit all.” His face falls. “I just made a joke about you not being able to have sex with my sister.” He shudders dramatically and I shake my head. “I’ll leave you to your musings. See you tonight.”

He goes to close the door on me and then falters. “Wait, I…”

“Yeah Case?” He scrunches his face and then takes a deep breath.

“I think you should take Coralie on ahead.”

“What do you mean?” I ask trying to get a read on him as his face softens.

“I mean maybe you should take her to the beach house and just have five minutes to yourselves.”

“Oh wow, I dunno. I mean that would be incredible, but what about Jack? He’s really excited about getting there.”

“You’re a good man Gunner.” He claps me on the shoulder while keeping his towel fisted in the other. “Leave him to me. I’ve got you. After what he said earlier, I want to do something special with him,”

I’m liking this a whole lot. Except… “We won’t be by ourselves though, aren’t your parents already there?”

“Kinda. Dad has finally booked them on this sailing trip they’ve been talking

about for years. They’ll be there if you arrive Tuesday but then they’ll be gone until Thursday evening. You could get a chunk of time with her, and I think,” he smiles softly. “You both deserve that much.”

“Aww, Casey,” I hear Anna swooning from wherever she is in their suite.

I’m excited just thinking about it. “Are you sure about this?” Of course, I want to be with Jack but having Coralie even for just two uninterrupted days would be heaven.

“Yes!” he and Anna shout at the same time.

“Okay then, thanks, man, we’ll work out the details later.” We fist bump, and he closes the door. As it clicks, I’m heading back down the corridor to my two favorite people with a grin so big, my face begins to hurt.

***

The concierge lady, Dominique, reserved us an outside table at Fiola Mare for an early dinner. We’re now ambling toward the restaurant with Adam and Knox who are slightly louder than when we left them this afternoon.

“Dude, she was hitting on me, not you,” Adam tusks.

“Err, I beg to differ,” Knox snarks.

“Oh, you do, do you?”

Knox shakes his head. “Yeah, I fucking do. Who got her number?” They both flash a slip of paper with identical handwriting on before realizing they’ve been duped and burst out laughing.

“I see she hedged her bets,” Coralie laughs.

“Well, it didn’t work,” Knox says as he screws it up and throws it in the trash, Adam doing the same.

Luckily, we’re led to the end of the deck at the restaurant, tucked away so as not to be a disturbance, while also giving us a little privacy in the shade of the large blue parasols. After a wide-eyed server takes our drink orders, we peruse the menu.

“Gunner, I don’t know if I like anything here,” Jack says to me, his little mouth downturned.

“Let me have a look through the menu for you and then if we can’t find anything, I’ll ask if they can whip you up something nice, okay?”

“Yes, thank you,” he replies as Coralie flashes me a smile over her menu.

“Oh, look here Jack, they have a bolognese dish,” I point to the Ragù Bolognese, Parmigiano Vacche Rosse I can see in the pasta section.

“You think it’s the same as at the Orange Grove?” he asks wide-eyed.