A Lie for a Lie (All In, #1)(13)

“Well, I like it. A lot.” After a few seconds of intense silence, he motions to the couch. “Sit with me for a bit? We can be awkward and nervous together.”

“You’re not awkward.”

He shrugs. “Sometimes I am. We all can be, context and situation depending.”

“Sure. Okay.” I follow him to the living room.

His cabin is open concept; giant bark-stripped and sanded tree trunks function as posts with no walls to separate the rooms. The ceilings are high, and the entire front of the cabin is lined with windows, providing an unobstructed view of the water.

A fire crackles across the room, throwing off heat, which probably accounts for RJ’s shirtlessness. It’s definitely hot in here.

A huge framed photo of RJ and two other men—one likely his father—holding a giant fish hangs on the wall, and beside it is another photo containing two women: his mother and sister, judging from the matching dimple in the younger woman’s cheek. There are also a lot of sports accents scattered around, mainly hockey related. The throw cushions read PUCK YEAH! There’s a lamp in the corner, and the base is made out of a hockey stick. Even the coasters are old hockey pucks.

“Wow, so you must be huge sports fans.” I pick up one of the puck coasters.

RJ rubs the back of his neck. “Pretty obvious, huh?”

“It sort of looks like my dad’s room in the basement, except it was all baseball instead of hockey.”

“Were you ever into sports?”

I shake my head. “Oh, no. I’m not sporty at all. My dad and my brothers always watched baseball, though. They tried to teach me how to play a couple of times, but I don’t understand the rules in sports. I always had my nose in a book.”

I hold on to my glass with both hands so I’m not tempted to wring them or bite my nails or any of the other fidgety things I tend to do when I’m nervous. “This is a really nice cabin.”

“My dad found it a number of years back and thought it would make a nice place to vacation. I’ve always been really close with my younger sister, Stevie, but she and my mom aren’t big on fishing, so they would stay in New York and we’d go on a boys’ trip, which was good bonding for me and my brother and my dad. We’ve been coming here every summer since I was a teenager.”

“But your brother couldn’t make it this year?” I ask.

“His wife, Joy, is pregnant, and there are some complications, so he has to stay put.” His smile is a little tense, as if there’s more to that.

“Oh no, is everything okay?”

“Joy has gestational diabetes, which I guess isn’t all that uncommon, but they’re keeping a close eye on her. He says everything is okay, and I tend to take him at his word.”

“What about your dad—is he still coming?” My family has never really been one for traveling. My mom is scared of airplanes and doesn’t like the danger of long drives, or cars in general, so we didn’t go too far from the town I was raised in.

RJ looks into his glass. “My dad passed a couple years ago.”

I set my drink on the coffee table and put a hand on his knee. “I’m so sorry. That must’ve been hard.” I’ve never lost anyone close to me, not even a grandparent, so I can only imagine how painful that would be.

“Thanks—and yeah, it wasn’t easy. Holidays and birthdays can be tough. I’ve always been pretty close with my family, so we still feel the loss.”

“He must’ve been so young.” I start to shift away, worried I’m making things awkward with the prolonged physical contact, but RJ puts his hand over mine.

“He was only in his mid-fifties. He was type 1 diabetic—took really good care of himself—but some bodies are just defective, you know? Anyway, there were a lot of complications. He lost his vision, and then his body just stopped working properly. It was hardest on my mom, watching him deteriorate like that. The last summer he was around we had to cancel the trip because he just couldn’t do it, but the next year Kyle and I came back here. Unfortunately, this year I’m on my own.” His smile is sad. He moves his hand from mine and tips his glass back, taking a healthy swig. “What about you—are you close to your family?”

I pick my drink up to keep my hands occupied. “Oh yes, we’re all very close.”

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?” He seems happy to change the subject, which is understandable, all things considered.

“I have seven siblings.”

He nearly chokes on his beer. “Seven?”

I nod. “Yup. I’m the youngest, and I have four older brothers. Dinner was pretty much a full-contact sport at my house.”

RJ laughs. “I can imagine. What’s the age span between you and the oldest?”

“Thirteen years. There are two sets of twins in there too.”

“Wow, how was that, growing up?” He rests his cheek on his fist as if he finds me riveting.

It’s almost unnerving to have someone as attractive as he is with his attention fully fixed on me. Also, the shirtlessness, while appreciated, makes it kind of hard to think. Not that I’ll complain—I like a good challenge. “It was like having a lot of extra parents who played pranks on each other. Mostly it was nice to always have people around, but sometimes I just wanted some space, you know? They all were always in my business.”