Page 89 of Twisted Beauty

“So?” Katie asked again.

“My new little friend here was trying to talk me into hiking to a waterfall today. As if.” Sebastian dried the tears of laughter from his eyes. “If that’s not the funniest thing I’ve ever heard, I honestly don’t know what is.”

Liv wanted to kiss him. She leaned her face against a hand to hide her lips from everyone else and mouthed thank you. Sebastian winked at her again.

“A man after my own heart,” Katie said.

Matt grabbed the coffee and filled two cups for Katie and Zach as they sat down at the table. After pouring his own, he opened the fridge and pulled out several nondescript bags of food.

“How do you even know what’s in there?” Liv asked. “Didn’t Nate bring the food?”

“Yep, but I made the shopping list.”

“And I did the shopping,” Zach added. “I just gave it to Nate to transport since he had a free hand. He tends to travel a little lighter than Katie.”

Liv laughed. “All of us combined probably travel lighter than Katie.”

“Shut up,” Katie said, “or I won’t let you borrow my clothes anymore.”

Liv smiled, but got distracted by the sounds of Matt chopping vegetables. She watched the muscles in his biceps bunch and felt a flash of heat course through her body. Unbelievable. She was so sore this morning, she probably couldn’t do anything with him right now if she wanted to. And apparently she wanted to. “Do you want some help in there, chef?”

Matt shook his head. “No, sit and enjoy yourself. This won’t take long.”

While he cooked, Nate, Jana, and Garrett filed into the kitchen, grabbed coffee, and sat down at the table. The early morning cacophony of birds was the first topic of discussion.

Matt carried over a huge pan and divvied up a scramble of eggs, veggies, and cheese onto each of their plates. For some reason, it was one of the sexiest things Liv had ever seen. Because yeah, dishing out piles of food made every girl weak at the knees, didn’t it? But that just-rolled-out-of-bed look really seemed to work for him—rumpled t-shirt, baseball cap, and all. When he was done he sat down next to Sebastian, across the table from Liv.

She took a bite and closed her eyes, savoring the taste.

Delicious.

When she opened them, Matt was staring at her with lust in his eyes and a fork hovering motionless by his mouth. She bit back a smile, because whatever the hell this was between them, he felt it too. And it felt good to be desired.

“This is wonderful,” Jana said. “Thank you, Matt. So are we hiking to the waterfall after we eat?”

“Definitely,” Zach said, “But lets do the lower falls. Since it’s not that far, I’m hoping Katie will join us.” He put a hand on Katie’s knee and gave her a hopeful look. “So?”

Katie let out a big sigh. “I suppose.”

Much as she wanted Katie along, Liv felt a little sad that they weren’t going to the upper falls. She wouldn’t have minded a decent hike today. She needed the exercise to distract her. Take her mind off the man sitting across from her. He hadn’t stopped watching her the entire meal, to the point that she was starting to feel self-conscious about eating.

“Well, y’all know where to find me.” Sebastian scooped the last bite of his eggs into his mouth, polished off his coffee, and stood up. He walked around the table to Garrett and ran a hand over his shoulder. “I’ll be tan and gorgeous by the time you return, lover boy. And then all bets are off.”

“Never a dull moment.” Garrett looped a hand around Sebastian’s hip and squeezed, a G-rated yet highly personal touch. They seemed so compatible, despite how different their personalities were.

After breakfast was finished and cleaned up, Liv went back to her room to get ready for their mini hike.

As the group of them headed toward the falls, Liv realized “hike” was a generous description. The road up was mostly paved, and wound through a quaint town of small homes on steep streets, a few cafes, and an entire stretch of street vendors. So it was more of a walk than anything else.

But Matt held her hand the entire time, whispering the occasional compliment in her ear. Everything from, “You look gorgeous today,” and “Did you know your hair glows in the sunlight?” to “How soon can we head back? I need you naked again.” By the time they got to their destination, Liv’s heart was racing and she was so distracted she almost didn’t care about the falls at all.

Did real couples act like this? If they did, she’d been with the wrong men all her life.

Despite the enticing man standing next to her, the beauty of the falls didn’t completely escape her. While they weren't as tall as other falls she’d seen, they were surprisingly full. Water barreled over a rock cliff and poured into a pristine pool that spread out before her and glistened in the sun. It would have been so peaceful, if only they were alone out here. But too many others obviously had the same idea for today.

The seven of them stepped across rocks and wandered around the pool, dodging other tourists. Once again, she wished they could venture on to the upper falls. After a few minutes, Liv took Matt’s hand and dragged him off toward the far end of the little lake.

“Swim with me?” Liv pulled her tank top off in the most alluring way possible, which probably wasn’t alluring at all. She kind of sucked at flirting. But she did have a pale yellow bikini on underneath her clothes, and Matt couldn’t seem to pull his eyes off it. So yeah, mission accomplished.