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It was the perfect moment for Wilder to return, carrying not just one glass but two.
He offered one to Amelia with a wide grin. "Long time no see. If you'd like, you can eat at the bar. Unless, of course, you want to keep enjoying Gray's irresistible presence. Then I might suggest…"
"Wilder," I growled, which didn't stop him from continuing to chatter, grinning widely because he enjoyed tormenting me.
"You can eat wherever you like, Amelia," I finally snapped, earning a sharp sideways glance from her.
"Is that so? When it came to whether I could rot away the rest of the day in the cabin, you flat-out forbade it."
"And does being at the barbecue kill you?"
Her gaze swept over me. "No. But that's not because of the barbecue."
I ignored the fact that Wilder was whistling through his teeth. "Is it just me, or did the temperature just shoot up a few degrees? I'll leave you two alone before I get burned."
If he wasn't careful, he was going to burn something else entirely.
"He suits you," Amelia suddenly declared, eliciting a questioning look from me. "The sun shines out of your ass, and his attitude complements you perfectly. You could be brothers. You're not, though, are you?"
"In spirit, maybe. In all other respects… if he were my brother, I'd have to teach him a lesson or two. Now, eat up. It only tastes half as good when it's cold."
Amelia took the opportunity to cheekily salute despite having her hands full. "Yes, sir."
Was this the perfect moment to tell her that she should lie across my lap so that her ass could meet my hand because her comments like these drove me crazy and made it difficult not to react?
If so, that moment passed quietly.
7
AMELIA
It must have been Wilder who had slapped the guitar into Gray's hands and made him play. One foot propped on the log in front of him so he could balance the instrument on his thigh while he bent slightly forward to tune the strings.
Right next to him, the fire crackled, casting playful shadows across his face. Although he was clearly uncomfortable being the center of attention, it didn’t alter his confident expression.
So far, I had only seen Gray truly upset once—the first moment we met, when I had blurted out that my ex-boyfriend had cheated on me. Other than that, Gray seemed to lack any truly negative emotions. Meanwhile, no matter how much our conversations entertained me, I hadn't managed a single smile. Of course, he had seized the first opportunity to point this out, which now made me painfully aware that I simply wasn't able to laugh yet.
A few isolated notes rose above the background noise, but they weren't coming from the guitar. Gray was humming softly to himself as he continued to wrestle with the instrument.
Across the fire, I looked over at Wilder, who now had a beer bottle in his hand. His gaze also rested on me before we both shifted our eyes back to Gray and then to each other. With a nod of my chin, I signaled him to come over.
When he finally stood beside me, we both turned back to the fire. He handed me the bottle, and I took a sip before giving it back to him.
"Gray is a good person."
"I didn't miss that." The thought of hurting him did more than just make my stomach queasy. Quite the opposite—it made me feel downright sick.
"No idea how you two ended up finding each other…"
"Does it really matter?"
As Gray started performing some classics in the background, I wondered why Wilder was so keen on bringing us closer one moment and then acted as if he was the one who needed to protect Gray the next.
"You're young. You could decide to go back to Toronto in the next five minutes, just like you decided to leave the city." He spoke softly. Was he afraid Gray would overhear his little sermon?
This time, I looked at Wilder. "And you think this is a game for me? That I came here to play house for a while and then disappear as soon as I feel better about myself?"
"How old are you, Amelia?"
