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After breakfast, I dodged the firing squad by changing quickly and waiting outside for the boys before the hike I knew once I returned to the house I’d be in for it, although I ade without acknowledging that sleeping with the guys they’d been seeing for weeks noas not, in fact, what they wanted to do

But as Si you in the face" Tonight should be interesting

I pushed up and over the last little ridge and made it to the top Simon was only a few yards behind me, and I could hear hi at s It was chilly, but I ith exertion It had been a while since I’d gotten out of the city, and , , and I couldn’t rehed out loud as I looked down at the lake below, spying a feks gliding on a downdraft The steely blue of the lake, the deep green of the forest, the clean whites and creams of the rocks: it was beautiful

And then there wasas deeply as I was He stretched his arms wide and took in the valley below He’d peeled off layers as we cli a white T-shirt with a flannel knotted at his waist Khaki shorts, hiking boots, and a wide grin co at the natural wonders all around us And those blue eyes--I could see the each shot as he looked around

"Beautiful," I breathed, and he turned to"Iwidely with , and I felt the blush come up in my cheeks Luckily, I was still a bit winded from the climb, and I hoped I was already sufficiently red

"Yes, it is beautiful actually Very beautiful" He smiled, and we stared at each other He took a few steps closer, and I felt the air shift and change I bit h his hair We smiled There were no words, but even the woodland ani about to happen and wisely stayed in their hidey holes

"Hi," he said quietly

"Hi," I answered

"Hi," he said again, taking one last step towardinside my little circle One more step and he’d be practically on top ofhim know he could take that last step

Sioing to…

"Parker!" thundered froain, and I recognized Ryan’s voice underneath the jungle-man yell

"Ryan," we both said and smiled

Now that the voodoo wasn’t so concentrated, I could see things clearly again, and I repeated the word hareain in my head

"Up here!" Simon yelled, and Ryan appeared from around a bend

"Hey there! Neil is done, kaput, thrown in the towel, so to speak You guys about ready to head back down?" he called, juain with the ease of a oat He didn’t even appear to be winded Huys," I said, kickingup behindout so close to the top?" Siht across the trail like he owns the place, refusing to go any higher" Ryan laughed, bounding ahead and calling down to Neil to let him knoere on our way

"You sure you didn’t want to stay up here a little longer? I et all the way here," Si down the mountain after Ryan

I felt the warmth of his hand on my shoulder and willed my hormones to flee to the other side of et back Looks like a storroup of dark clouds had begun to build His eyes followed ht We don’t want to get caught out here all alone," he muttered

"Besides, if we don’t hurry, we can’t tease Neil about getting beat up the hed loudly

"Hell, we don’t want to o"

And down the trail ent

"So hoas your gangbang, Caroline?" Sophia sang sweetly as she found us all in the kitchen drinking water after our hike The three guys each did different versions of a spit take, but I cal like a lady

"Fantastic, thanks Neil especially We practically had to carry him back down the mountain after I finished with hiaht tank top Her actual suitor? Playing Spot The Mi so fast I could have sworn he was an owl I shook my head and put him out of his misery

"Where’s Mimi?" I asked

"Shohich you four clearly need It’s freezing outside How could you have gotten so sweaty?" she asked, wrinkling her nose

"We worked hardis harder than you think," Neil puffed, and the rest of us wisely kept silent about the heart attack he alrabbed an apple and headed in the direction of my room with Sophia hot on oing easy on her--just asking her about it, giving her an out

"Those shorts look terrible on you, Caroline," she re to happen No easy out "Thank you, dear Should I have packed a little cat food for you when I packed Clive’s travel bag?" I sneered

She collapsed on iant pillows "Where is he anyway? Who’s watching hi with Uncle Euan and Uncle Antonio That cat is lounging on a silk bed being handfed tuna rolls right about now He’s living the life"

"He has the life, that’s for sure," she said, her face clouding briefly as she got comfortable

I peeled offon the back of the door She cohed when she saw that I’d paired it with leopard panties, but then she went back to her previous wistful expression

"What’s up, Sophia?" I asked, lying on the bed next to her and wrapping , why?" she asked

"You look like a sad sack"

"Eh, I just didn’t sleep well, I guess"

"Oh really? Mr Ryan keeping you up late at night, hy on the ed her withlike that I just…I dunno I just couldn’t get settled last night Normally I sleep really well up here, but it was so quiet last night, I just…" She beat her pillow a little with her fist, forcing it into a new shape