Chapter 40

CHAPTER40

“Mercy!” Mathew screamed as Jonathan dragged him towards the woods and-

Mikey decided that it would probably be a good idea to find another spot to set up her tent. Decision made, she shifted her backpack over her shoulder as she tightened her grip around the tent that she’d helped herself to and slowly turned around as she debated her options. There was the spot by Uncle Trevor’s tent, the one near Uncle Jared’s tent as well as the one near Uncle Darrin’s tent, but since all of their tents had been set up within attacking distance of the grills, she decided that it would probably be a good idea to find another spot.

There was the spot near the girls, Mikey thought as her gaze shifted to the pink tent set up by the path and quickly dismissed the idea when she heard giggling. That left the boys, Mikey thought as her gaze shifted back to the large tent that had been flattened when Joshua and Mathew decided to piss Jonathan off and-

“Mercy! Oh, God, somebody help me!”

“A random spot away from everyone it is,” Mikey murmured as she turned around and went in search of the perfect spot.

Five minutes later, she was releasing a satisfied sigh when she found the perfect spot away from everyone, close to the fire, but not too close, a shady little spot by the trees, quiet but close enough so that she could scream hysterically if the need arose. Thirty minutes after that, Mikey was putting the finishing touches on her tent. She had the tent exactly the way she liked it with her sleeping bag set up along the left side, snacks and an entertainment area on the right, and it was all hers.

Once she was done, Mikey released a satisfied sigh, grabbed her bag and headed off to the bathroom so that she could get ready for bed. After a quick shower, she changed into a pair of sweatpants, pulled on the Bradford Construction sweatshirt that she’d helped herself to from Sebastian’s room the other night and headed back to her tent only to sigh when she spotted Jonathan helping himself to her snacks.

“Nope, not happening,” Mikey said, shaking her head as she gestured for him to get out.

“But I missed you,” Jonathan said, doing his best to look pathetic as he stuffed a cookie in his mouth.

“Don’t care,” Mikey said, tossing her bag in the corner before she grabbed hold of his leg and dragged him out of the tent.

“Oh, come on! Don’t be like that!” Jonathan said, shoving a handful of chips into his mouth.

“Goodnight,” Mikey said, plucking the bag of chips out of his hands and tossed it back into the tent.

Ignoring his gasp of outrage, Mikey climbed back into her tent and closed it before dropping down on her sleeping bag with a satisfied sigh. Resigning herself to hitting Pats in the morning to replenish her snack supply, Mikey grabbed her iPad, swiped to the selection of movies that she’d downloaded and found herself frowning when her tent was suddenly ripped open and-

Couldn’t help but wonder why Sebastian was throwing his sleeping bag on the ground next to her. That was followed by wondering why he was in her tent.

Blinking, she asked, “Can I help you?”

“I’m going to kill them,” Sebastian mumbled into his sleeping bag while she lay there, contemplating kicking him out, but…

“We’re going to get in trouble,” Mikey pointed out as she returned her attention to her iPad.

“Don’t care,” Sebastian muttered. “I’m not sleeping in the tent with them.”

“Neither am I,” came the announcement as Braxton crawled into her tent and dropped down on the other side of Sebastian with a groan.

“Move over,” Cole said as he threw his sleeping bag against the wall and dropped down on it.

“I don’t think there’s enough room,” Mikey said, only to shift closer to Sebastian when Jonathan, who looked really pissed for some reason, threw his sleeping bag down next to her and dropped down on it with a mumbled, “I’m going to kill those little bastards.”

“That really doesn’t explain what you’re doing in here,” Mikey pointed out as she was forced to move over when Jonathan wiggled in silent demand for more room.

“Doesn’t it, though?” he asked as she once again found herself being shoved closer to Sebastian. She tried to push back and regain some space, but Jonathan simply ignored her and somehow managed to push her over until she found herself thinking about the other night when intense blue eyes locked with hers.

She’d thought about that night a lot over the past few days.

She thought about the way that Sebastian looked at her.

The way that it felt when he ran his fingertips along her jaw.

The way that it felt when his gaze dropped to her lips as he wrapped his hand around hers.

And the way that it felt when he pulled her closer only to have the teenage boy currently shoving his knee in the middle of her back join them and-

Decided that she’s had enough for one night.

Grumbling, Mikey reached back and shoved Jonathan out of the way. She decided to follow that up by ramming her knee into his side for the hell of it before crawling towards the opening, making sure to hit Jonathan with her knee again as she went, only pausing long enough to grab her bag, grumble to herself and-

“Pats!”

-sighed.

* * *

“He knew better,”Sebastian bit out as they watched Braxton take his time devouring another slice of pizza while they were forced to stand there and watch.

“He really did,” Cole said as they watched Pat refill their drinks.

“So did she,” Jonathan said, narrowing his eyes when Mikey took another bite of a particularly yummy-looking burger, knowing that they couldn’t step foot inside of Pats because of the ban.

“Do you think she’s getting us food, too?” Mathew asked, sounding really hopeful and-

“They make a really cute couple,” Joshua said with a solemn nod.

Sebastian opened his mouth only to end up glaring at Jonathan when his brother murmured, “They really do,” with a dreamy sigh that had Sebastian turning around and heading for the picnic table.

“How are you holding up?” Cole asked as he joined him.

“Fine,” Sebastian lied, slowly exhaling as he found himself wondering what the hell he was doing.

“Yeah, you look it,” Cole murmured absently, looking lost in thought.

“So, do you,” Sebastian said dryly, still wondering what happened. One day, Cole couldn’t seem to take his eyes off Chloe, and the next…

“We’re not talking about me,” Cole bit out evenly.

“No, we’re talking about Chloe,” Sebastian pointed out, watching a muscle tick in Cole’s clenched jaw at the mention of his one-time best friend.

“There’s nothing to talk about. We’re not friends anymore,” Cole said, shrugging it off.

“If you say so,” Sebastian drawled as he glanced back at Mikey.

“What’s really going on, Sebastian?”

He opened his mouth to tell his cousin the same line that he used every time someone asked him that question only to find himself admitting, “I came up with a plan to buy myself some time, but all I’ve managed to do is screw everything up.”

“What was the plan?” Cole asked as Sebastian glanced over his shoulder in time to watch Joshua try to take Jonathan down with a chokehold.

“I’m saving every cent I can so that I can surprise her with something,” Sebastian said as he shifted his attention back to Mikey and watched as she smiled at something that Braxton said and-

God, she was so goddamn beautiful.

“And what’s that?” Cole asked.

“The perfect date,” Sebastian said, glancing at Cole to find him nodding absently.

“And the reason you haven’t asked her out on this perfect date yet?”

“Because I’m terrified that she’s going to say no,” Sebastian said, slowly exhaling because he had no idea how he would handle it if she said no.

“Then, you’re going to need a better plan.”