The Vincent Brothers (The Vincent Boys #2)(35)

“I’m sure it smells as sweet as the rest of you,” I assured her, ducking my head and kissing her neck before sniffing her skin loud enough to make her giggle. I wasn’t one for giggling but that giggle was sexy and rare. I liked it. A lot.

“Get up; we got a waterfall to find. It’s gonna be hot as hell in a few hours and we need to be close to the cold water to cool off when it hits.” Jake’s voice boomed over the campsite.

Lana pushed away from me and sat up. I rolled over on my back and watched her as she gathered her supplies to get ready.

She flashed a smile back at me as she reached for the zipper of the tent. I noticed her discarded bra from last night and I sat up and grabbed her arm.

“You can’t go out there like that,” I said in a more demanding voice than I’d intended. The idea of Jake or anyone else seeing her braless in that skimpy little top sent a possessive jolt through me. No way in hell.

“Like what?” She frowned, staring down at my hand on her arm.

I picked up her bra and dangled it in front of her. “You need to put this on.”

She held up the clothes in her arms, “I’m putting on my swimsuit under my clothes. I don’t need my bra today.”

“Uh, yeah you do. You’re not walking out of this tent with your tits only covered up by that thin piece of cotton.”

A smile tugged on her lips and she snatched the bra out of my hands.

Chapter Fifteen

The waterfall was only a five-mile hike, which was a good thing because if I’d had to hear Heidi complain one more minute, I was going to lose it.

I searched for Lana and found her sitting out on a rock across the water beside Ashton. I stood there and watched them. Ashton’s laughter always made me smile. Hearing it ring out over the water as she talked happily with Lana made things feel right. Ashton had held my heart for so long that even after her betrayal I’d have taken her back without question if she’d asked. As much as I loved my brother, I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t still. My eyes shifted to Lana who was talking now. Her happy expression made me feel like a king. She’d been in an excellent mood all morning. Knowing it was because of me was nice. The memory of Lana’s touch last night far exceeded anything I’d ever experienced with Ashton. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

Ashton had owned me. I’d have moved heaven and earth to make her happy. It was different with Lana. I enjoyed her company and being with her was exhilarating. But I knew what love felt like and what I was feeling for Lana wasn’t even close. It was more intense but only physically. The idea of leaving her in August didn’t ache the way it did when I thought of Ash being so far away.

“She’s one hot piece of ass. If you get bored and want to trade tent buddies just let me know.” I jerked my head to glare at Jake as he stood smirking with his attention focused on Lana.

“What did you just say?” I demanded, towering over Jake by only a few inches. I fisted both my hands prepared to knock him on his ass if he dared repeat his crude comment.

“Whoa Saw, calm down bud. You do realize I wasn’t talking about Ash, don’t you?” Jake held up both his hands and backed away from me. “I know who you were talking about and I suggest you take your perverted eyes off her. She isn’t up for grabs.”

“Well, well, well, what the hell did you do Jake? Not sure I’ve ever seen Sawyer so ready to pummel someone other than me before,” Beau drawled in a lazy amused tone.

“Shut up Beau,” I snapped not looking back at him.

“I don’t know. He’s gone apeshit. I just made a comment about Lana. Last time he talked about her she was just a f**king ‘distraction’. I didn’t know he would go all territorial,” Jake replied, glancing over my shoulder toward my brother. I could see the request for backup in his eyes and it only pissed me off more.

“He’s right bro. Back off. You’ve been referring to Lana as a distraction for over a week. If you’ve gone and changed your mind then you might want to let everyone know.”

I hated it when Beau had a valid point. He was the Neanderthal. Not me. He wasn’t supposed to make sense. Jerking my shirt over my head, I threw it on the rocky ground and dove into the water. I needed to be near Lana. That was the only thing that was going to calm down the violent storm inside me.

Lana

I wanted a shower before I crashed. I was exhausted. Today had been a blast but between the heat, swimming and hiking I could hardly keep my eyes open. I plugged up my phone on the small ledge over the sink in the bathhouse and went to get cleaned up. Ash had said her head hurt and she wanted to lay down a few minutes before coming to take a shower. Heidi and Kayla both said they were too tired to walk up here and shower, which I thought was gross. They decided the water at the falls was enough of a bath for them.

I’d sweated on our hike back and I knew they had too but it wasn’t my business. If they wanted to go to bed nasty, then so be it. Walking up here alone with the bears, snakes and psycho chainsaw men had taken a great deal of bravery on my part.

I was also anxious to get back to Sawyer. The hope that we might have a night similar to last night had been at the forefront of my thoughts all day. Ashton had mentioned my silly smile and I’d been vague with my reply as to why I was so giddy. Anyway, I was pretty sure she knew exactly why.

After finishing my shower, I dried off and slipped on my tank top without a bra this time and the pink striped boxer shorts I’d brought to sleep in. It was dark and I had to carry my supplies and dirty clothes back with me. I could hold those in front of my shirt. Sawyer would never notice I’d gone braless outside of the tent. His possessive reaction to my walking out of the tent without one this morning had surprised me. No one had ever been possessive of me. Maybe the healthy response would’ve been to stand my ground and force him to accept I was my own person. But I didn’t. I wanted to be wanted.