“Mav is the king of mess. He probably feeds off it. Have you ever seen his room? His refrigerator? His hamper?” I shivered, thinking back to the times we all lived under the same roof. Even though he had a successful and glitzy life in New York City, it didn’t mean that my brother had changed very much from the sloppy but gold-hearted guy who had everyone else’s best interests at heart over his own.
“I’ve seen way more than I ever should see,” Rex said. “And I agree, he’s probably more happy about the news than anyone else.”
“Probably,” I said, smiling. That pretty much meant my entire family knew about me and Rex, the only ones I really cared about. They all knew and they were all happy about it, making me even happier. There had been plenty of road bumps getting here (one of those road bumps lasting an entire six freaking years), but at least we got here.
“We’re here,” Rex said, reading my mind, as the trees opened around us and the sound of the small waterfall filled the air. A gentle mist floated through the darkening sky, the sun already setting, having moved down past the tree line. He tied Electra to the same tree as before. He dropped the heavy bag on the floor and unzipped it while I got Canyon settled in and secured.
“Oh, and get this.” Rex started to pull out a thick blue blanket from the bag. “Sylvia, my dad’s wife—well, ex-wife now—was the one responsible for that text message. The one you got in Costa Rica. She’d been the one to buy me that phone, and she had rigged it so she could see and respond to my messages. She saw our texts and replied, deleting it on my end so I never even knew what she sent you.”
“Are you—what the fuck. Seriously?”
“Seriously. And she did something similar when she went around my father’s back and emptied out my bank accounts.”
“Wow, that is evil.”
Rex nodded, shrugging. “Thankfully, my dad came to his senses and filed for divorce. It’s going to be a really hard road to reelection, but I already see him a thousand times happier. Plus—” He smiled at me as he took out a set of candles, setting them on the corners of the massive blanket. “—I managed to switch the labels on all of her boxes and loosened up a few of them from the bottom. She’s going to have an interesting time unpacking.”
That had me cracking up. “Oh man, that’s going to make her move so much more hellish.” I lifted a hand, and Rex met it with a slap. “Nice.” And then I leaned in to kiss those big lips, both of us smiling as I almost pushed Rex onto the blanket. He managed to stay up and finished emptying his backpack, pulling out a lantern that crackled to life when he lit it and set it on the side, near the river’s gently rolling edge. Next, he brought out a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries and a bottle of champagne, with two well-wrapped glasses.
“Jeez, it’s like watching Mary Poppins after she put the kids down to sleep.”
Rex gave a loud belly laugh.
“Any other goodies in there?” I said, looking in and expecting to see an entire damn elephant looking back at me.
“That’s it,” Rex said, lifting the champagne and popping the cork. Golden bubbles fizzed upward, the foam dripping down the side of the black bottle. He poured a healthy amount into one flute and then the other, before handing me a glass.
“Cheers,” he said, “to new beginnings after second chances.”
“And to Karma diligently working her magic on heartless bitches.”
“Cheers to that, too.” Our glasses clinked together, and I drank the bubbly drink, an instant buzz working itself up through my body. I set the glass on a smooth patch of grass and leaned in, putting a hand on Rex’s knee. It was getting dark, but the sky above was beginning to blink to life with a field of stars shining through. The moon, hanging full and bright, added to the light, almost making the candles and lantern unnecessary.
They did add some really sexy vibes, though, and I wasn’t complaining about that one bit.
“This was such a great idea,” I said. Rex picked up a strawberry, but instead of bringing it to his own lips, he brought it to mine. I leaned in and took a bite, smiling as I chewed. He took the rest of it, leaving a little tuft of green between his fingers.
“It reminds me a little of our Costa Rican trip. Now that was an escape. I needed something similar after today.”
I looked around, envisioning the tall Costa Rican canopy taking the place of the dwarfed-by-comparison woods of Georgia. Instead of the birds chirping, we’d be hearing monkeys howling and singing, the air thick with humidity and possibility, sparking with the same energy that electrified the space between us.
“It’s like that night.”
Rex, kissing me, spoke against my lips. “That velvet midnight. I’ll never forget it.”
“Never,” I said, kissing him back, this time successful at pushing him down onto the blanket.
26
Rex Madison
Six Years Ago
“I don’t think I’m ever forgetting this night,” Benji said, lying down next to me as we looked up at the Costa Rican jungle, an almost surreal sight. It felt so alien, the trees stretching up toward the stars, a huge difference from the trees in my backyard.
Everything about this trip was different. Was it being so far from home that did it? Or was it Benjamin Gold, the guy who could get my heart skipping beats with a smirk and a few blinks of his long lashes?
Not even winks. He didn’t have to wink. Blinks were fine. Anything was fine when it came to Benji. He could chew his toenails off with his teeth and I’d probably still find that attractive about him. I couldn’t explain it exactly—I just felt it, down deep in the center of my chest. Everything about Benji was just right.
Tonight was our last night before going back to the real world, and I wanted to enjoy every second of it.
So I asked Benji if he wanted to spend the night in a tree house that had been built by the owners of the primate sanctuary. Normally it was supposed to be used for events or paid renters, but I managed to sweet-talk my way into borrowing it for the night.
Benji had seemed really excited when I’d brought it up to him. We didn’t want to bring up any questions about the two of us spending the night together, so we agreed to wait until everyone was asleep. We snuck out and made our way to the tree house, climbing up the rickety steps and settling into the large room.
It was built like a studio apartment, as one large room with a comfortable bed and a small couch, along with a tiny dresser and a mirror up against one of the wooden walls. There were windows all around and a glass moonroof that looked up at a star-blotted sky.
I wasn’t sure at exactly what point it was, but we found ourself in the bed, lying down, facing up and looking through the clear glass at the midnight sky.
“I’m never forgetting this trip,” I said, looking over at Benji. “I’ve learned so much. And not just about primate conservation either. I’ve learned a lot about myself.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah. A hell of a lot.”
Benji leaned up on the bed. There was only one light in the tree house, but we had turned that off pretty early in the night. There was plenty of light coming in from above to let us see every little detail.