“No, the fire will kill anything on it,” Abbi said matter of factly.
That didn’t seem right, but what did I know? I shrugged and then started shoving marshmallows on the stick.
“How many marshmallows do you think go on one s’more?”
“Two? Did you forget I have no idea how to cook?”
Even in the dark, I could see Abbi roll her eyes. “Not knowing how to cook doesn’t give you the right to have no clue about food in general.”
“Since neither of us has ever had them before, what makes you the expert?”
“It’s commonsense. Plus, I may have watched a YouTube video while you were in the shower this morning.”
Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. “Fine, we’ll only put one on each cracker, but I know they’re going to be the bomb, and we’ll want more than one.”
Putting the stick by the flame, I held it out and watched as the white globs slid off the stick. “What the fuck?!” I threw the stick in the fire and backed away. “Why am I so fucking incompetent?”
“Just try again. I’m sure no one gets it right on the first try.”
Kicking the dirt, I mumbled. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
Pulling the stick out of the fire this time, I only put two marshmallows on. I made sure to keep it slightly upright even though it put me closer to the fire.
“Hey,” she took my free hand in hers and ran her fingertips along the vein on the top of my hand. “I’m sorry about Paul making the fire. I know you wanted to do it yourself.”
I wasn’t going to tell her how it made me feel like less of a man. Instead, I kept quiet and watched our marshmallows.
“I think they’re ready. Now how do we do this?” I tried to pinch the first one to pull it off the stick, but it was hot as hell, burning my fingertips.
Abbi bit her bottom lip and wrung her hands together. “Should I pull up another video?”
“You don’t need to do that.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “I know you know how to do it already. Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”
She rolled her lips and tried not to smile. “Bring it over here. I’ve got the chocolate on the graham cracker already. We’ll put the marshmallow on top of the cracker, and I’ll pinch it off between the crackers while you pull the stick out.”
“That sounds like a disaster, but let’s do it. I want to eat one of these damn things already.”
We followed Abbi’s instructions to the letter, and when I bit into my s’more, I swore my eyes rolled back in my head. Those three ingredients were pure perfection.
“This is so good.”
“I know.” That time I didn’t hide my moan.
Abbi scrunched up her nose. “What no one bothered to mention in those videos is how messy they are. It’s like I want to lick my fingers clean, but they’re covered in dirt and bark, and who knows what else.”
“I guess the only way to fix it is to eat more,” I said as I shoved the rest of it in my mouth.
“I like the way you think,” she patted my cheek with her sticky hand.
“The ones that caught on fire are even better.” Abbi moaned with her mouth full.
“Agreed.” My lips tipped up at the corners as a thought came to me.
“What’s that look about?” She nudged me with her elbow.
“Now, I can officially make one meal.”
“More like you can make one dessert, but it’s an awesome dessert that you’re going to have to make at least once a week.”
“Deal. At least at home, I have fire pits that I can easily use.” I spied a bit of white cream at the corner of her mouth. “You’ve got a little something right here.” I leaned forward until we were nose to nose. “Let me get it for you.”
“Okay,” she answered breathily, her big brown eyes becoming heavy-lidded.
Slowly, I licked the corner of her mouth. I’d never tasted anything better. Tasting her again, I dipped my tongue inside her warm, sweet mouth and tasted every inch of her. Devouring her mouth, my hands roamed over her bare back. It took everything in me not to pull her onto my lap. I had to remember her leg was broken, her brother was somewhere out there, and I had to keep my dick in my pants.
A deep voice cleared from behind us. “Get your fucking hands off my sister.”
Abbi and I jumped apart, laughing. “God, your brother is a dick.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Abbi
When we pulled up to Alex and Luke’s house, I expected to be greeted with smiles, but we were met with nervous looks and odd glances. Jenner went on high alert as he helped me across the driveway and into their house. The second he helped sit me down on their couch, he rounded on them, pacing back and forth. “What’s going on?”
Alex looked nervously from Luke to Jenner and back to her husband again. “I don’t know . . . there’s no easy way to say this. Poppy went to some gossip rag and spouted a bunch of shit about you and Abbi.”
He stopped pacing in front of them, and his body went rigid. “What did she say?”
Pulling his wife against him, Luke, the formidable blond, wasted no time spilling what Poppy had said. “She says you were both drunk out of your minds when you got married, and that you went to rehab for cocaine use instead of alcohol.”
Luckily, Paul was asleep in the back of the RV, or he would have been able to read the truth on my face at Luke’s words.
Stepping to me, Luke held out his hand to shake. “I’m sorry, we haven’t formally met. I’m Luke.” His accent was more pronounced than it was on screen, and I hated how much I liked it. Accents were damn sexy, and I couldn’t help it. I only hoped I didn’t blush around him every time he spoke.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Abbi,” I greeted back as I shook his large hand.
“This is not how I wanted to start your stay. I’m so sorry, but I thought you should know what’s being said. I don’t think you need to worry about anyone taking her seriously since she’s a known drug user, but you should probably call your publicist.”
Sitting down heavily onto the couch beside me, Jenner hung his head. “Catherine is not going to be happy.”
“No, but it’s her job. You can’t let people slander you in the press,” Luke interjected. “You’ve worked too hard to get yourself into good standing with people in the industry. You can’t let them start to have questions about you.”
His elbows were on his knees, and he gripped the hair on the top of his head and pulled. “It’s all true, though. I never wanted you to find out because . . . ” He lifted his head, and the pain in his eyes caused my heart to constrict in my chest. “I never wanted to see you look at me like you are right now.”
“I don’t understand. Why would you lie to us?” Alex’s steps faltered as she tried to sit down. Luke helped her and then sat next to her. He held her hand in his, giving her his support.
I couldn’t believe what I’d heard. Of course, I knew what went down in Vegas since I was there, and my life had changed irrevocably after that. All this time, I’d thought Jenner had gone to rehab for alcohol abuse only to find out it was something much worse.