Once the verbal well is tapped, Ana and Trey start chattering back and forth, somewhere between bickering and catching up. It’s oddly sweet, the way they give each other shit, but you can tell that if either of them were threatened, they’d team up against the world.

I’m watching their verbal sparring when my phone rings. Ana looks surprised when I grab it from the nearby counter. It virtually never rings. That’s how I know without even looking that it’s Carlotta. She’s the only one who ever calls me nowadays.

I give a nod to Ana while she, Trey, and Brad catch up over an edited version of our last several days, heaving myself up. “Gotta take this call.” I limp outside to the back porch, dropping into the chair as I slide my thumb across the phone screen.

“Well finally,” Carlotta growls when I answer. “I was about ready come up there to check in since you weren’t answering. Wasn’t sure if you’d scared the poor girl off and were pouting or if she’d killed you for being a grumpy asshole. At least give me a few grunts and let me know what’s going on.”

I can’t help but smile . . . Carlotta’s reaction. If she’d walked in on Ana and me over the past few days, it would have left her shocked. “Well, hello to you too. I’m fine. I’m alive, and so is my guest.” I intentionally don’t give her the details she’s sniffing around for, knowing it’ll drive her nuts.

I can almost hear Car roll her eyes, and I definitely hear her sigh. “Great, so you’re alive and she’s still there. What’s the status?”

“What do you mean what’s the status?”

“With the girl, Aubrey!” Carlotta growls in exasperation. “Please tell me you’ve figured out your complicated shit with her. I don’t care if it’s with words or actions. Please say you’ve actually connected with a human being other than me.”

“Aww, I thought you liked being my person. My feelings are hurt,” I tease her, thinking that I’ve definitely connected with Ana through actions . . . several times over.

“Holy shit. Was that a joke? Mountain man recluse Aubrey just made a joke . . . about feelings. What is she, a fucking miracle worker?” Carlotta sounds incredulous as she teases me back.

I laugh a little. The banter with Car feels easy, unlike the usual way she begs me to lighten up and I shut her down with grunts. She’s right, Ana is changing me, quickly and for the better. But I can already feel that the rebound back from this time with her is gonna be a bitch when she goes home and I’m alone again. It never bothered me before, but now, it does sound lonely. “You’ve got an unhealthy interest in my private life. Worry about your own.” The dark thoughts have crept back into my voice a little and Car notices.

“Argh, you’re so infuriating!” Carlotta yells. “Get my hopes up that you might be an actual human being, just to shut that back down. But I’m guessing you’re making progress because you at least sound a little happier.”

“Just fine weather and good livin’. Does wonders for the spirit,” I say dismissively, hoping she’ll drop it. She has no idea just how right she is . . . but shit, I thought I was still in full-on asshole mode. Am I really sounding less grumpy?

“Whatever, asshole. It’s fine if you don’t want to share. But just listen.” I’m quiet for a moment, so she takes that as agreement and continues, “You said the two of you have history. The fact that you told me shows you care, that she was important to you back whenever that that was. So don’t let this opportunity pass you up. You owe it to yourself to reach out to her, see if she can bring you back to life a bit.”

Owe it to myself? I don’t know about that, and Ana might breathe new life into me, but at what cost to herself? I can’t selfishly use her to soothe my damage, and she’s such a kind person, she’d do whatever she could to help me, even if it’s a useless endeavor. And if she won’t forgive me, it’ll be another mark in the ‘Aubrey’s Fuck-Ups’ column, and that tally is pretty damn high already. It doesn’t need another boost.

But she’s right about not letting this opportunity go. The last few days have definitely proven that there’s still something between Ana and me. If only she can forgive me after hearing the whole story.

“We’ll see,” I tell her noncommittally before wrapping up the conversation. “Great talking to you, Car. I’ll talk to you again soon.”

Carlotta, of course, isn’t pleased. “That’s it? Maybe I was wrong, you stubborn sack of—”

Her words are cut off as I hang up and make my way back inside. At least everyone’s still alive and sitting down, so the fallout can’t have been too bad. But I’m not sure if I trust Brad’s look. He totally looks like the kid who got into the cookie jar.

Ana gets up, helping me over to the sofa. It’s a fairly obvious ploy to delay whatever conversation I interrupted when I came back in because we both know that I can amble around the house pretty well now. We both ignore the pointed looks from Trey and Brad, and I’ll admit, I lean against her more than I need to, giving her shoulder a squeeze of support. I’m solidly in Ana’s corner, no matter what . . . us against them, if need be.

“Sorry about that. Had to take a call. My cousin, just business stuff. Everyone cool here?”

Ana nods and sits next to me almost automatically. “Yeah, everything’s fine.” The words seem directed to Trey more than to me. He dips his chin in acquiescence, and Ana takes the win of whatever their argument had been. I’ll admit to being curious, but since it’s obviously centered around me, I’m not sure I need to hear the details just yet, so I keep my mouth shut and follow Ana’s lead. “Would you believe these two have come up with an idea?” she says laughingly.

“We want to go kayaking and think it would be cool if you guys came with us,” Brad says. “I packed my favorite Speedo!”

Ana shakes her head, crossing her arms. “Absolutely not. His ankle is still on the mend and—”

Maybe they didn’t just come up here to check on her. That, or they just came prepared with an excuse. Either way, we’re going. The other option is to sit here while Trey stares me down. “I think it’d be a ton of fun,” I counter. “I know some good spots where the feed rivers are a decent whitewater, not too rough this time of year. Although, I’d definitely skip the Speedo in favor of some warmer gear,” I say, my mouth tilted up as I joke with Brad. Huh, maybe Carlotta’s right. I am less . . . grumpy.

Ana scowls murder at me. “What? Let’s not even talk about the cold, but what about the, I don’t know, raging river currents and rocks?”

“We don’t have to raft with them. We can just watch from the shore and have a picnic,” I reply, the compromise taking shape in my mind. “We’ll make a day of it. Me, you, and Rex.”

Ana goes quiet. “A picnic?”

Brad claps his hands together, sensing he’s going to get his way and obviously pleased. “Perfect! Trey and I can raft while Ana gets herself a nice relaxing picnic buffet! Bring the hot dogs . . . oh, guess that’s you,” he sasses, pointing at me.

A bark of laughter erupts, surprising us all, me most of all. But it seems to be the seal of approval on the whole plan.

It takes us about twenty minutes to drive to the drop-off point up the mountain. As we unload the rented kayaks, I quiz Trey. “You’ve done whitewater before?”

“Yeah, a dozen or so times,” Trey confirms. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine.”

“Alright then, you two be careful. There will probably be other rafters along the river too, so you won’t be alone out there. And remember, when you come out onto the main lake, turn right to get to the shore near the parking area.”

Ana helps the boys launch, both of us waving. Trey looks back, giving me a warning glare, but when Brad peeks over his shoulder, he flashes a huge wink at us before turning around quickly before Trey can catch him. Ana laughs, and we jump into the guys’ SUV to drive down to the lake.

It’s close, only ten minutes down the winding road, much faster than the hour-plus it’ll take the guys to navigate along the offshoots of the river to get to the main body of the lake. Ana looks over at me as I drive. “You know, Trey approved of you . . . before.”

“Hope he will again,” I reply simply as we reach the shore.

“He’s just protective of me because he saw the aftermath when you left. He doesn’t want me to get hurt again,” she says softly. She’s framing it as what Trey is worried about, but I can recognize that she’s the one pleading for me to be careful with her heart.

“I don’t want either of us to get hurt, so I understand his protectiveness.”

It’s quiet as we approach the parking area. There’s no one around as we unload, walking down along the shore to set up a picnic area. I spread out the cloth before seeing Ana trying to lug the big cooler down, and I rush up as best I can, putting my hand on her shoulder. “Uh-uh. Let’s just grab our lunch and drinks and leave that heavy beast in the truck. Neither of us should be hauling that thing.”

“Oh, so you can give in to reason,” Ana jabs, but she grabs the food and helps me set everything up while Rex dances around, excited to be running in a new area. “Should we watch him?”

“He knows the lake, and he won’t venture far off,” I reassure her. “Come on, let’s have some food.”

It’s so different, watching the quiet lake lap at the shore as I sit down with Ana. Part of it, I think, is that while there’s attraction between us, the scenario’s sort of tamped down our perpetual desire to rip each other’s clothes off, considering Brad and Trey will be back shortly. I should probably use the time to tell her more of the backstory, but I’m leery of sharing too much with potential witnesses to the fallout. I think I’ll take her lead for now, considering it’s her brother who’s invaded. Looking across the water, I feel her out. “Never would’ve predicted this. Chicken?”

“Sure,” Ana says, taking a piece of cold fried chicken from me. “Predicted what?”

“That I’d be having lunch with an incredibly beautiful woman who’s nursing me back to health . . . and who was my high school sweetheart.”

Ana blushes furiously, giving me a small smile. “It’s funny how things work out, isn’t it?”

“Never thought it’d happen,” I admit, the rest of my story trembling behind my lips. “I actually avoided you for the longest time, scared that you were still mad at me. Probably more scared that you’d moved on and had this whole happy life without me, even if a part of me wanted that for you. The one we’d dreamed of . . . with some other asshole who brought you flowers, made you smile, and got to hold you in his arms all night. I’ve been lonely . . . I just didn’t know it. After a while, it all felt routine, and years passed without my even being aware of it.”

Ana nods. “There hasn’t been anyone, Aubrey. Not really, just casual boyfriends, nothing serious. I couldn’t trust anyone anymore, and guys could sense that, I guess, could tell I wasn’t whole, that I’d given my heart to a boy as a kid and never gotten it back, never had closure.” Her voice is sad, a dark shadow on the bright day, cutting me to the core. “I saw that brochure, the pictures so beautiful and reminding me of before, and I just came here because . . .”

“The memories,” I finish quietly. “Same reason I bought my place. Because believe it or not, it reminded me of the best times in my life . . . of my time with you. That was the last time I felt right, happy. Ever since then, things just went so wrong.”

I’m on the verge of continuing my story, taking the painful trip through my past, our past. But Ana stops me with a kiss, her lips pressing to mine, soft and sweet. A surprise. It takes me a heartbeat to catch up and kiss her back, cupping her head and enjoying the taste of sunshine on her lips.

After one more smack, she pulls back and smiles at me. “What was that for?” I ask. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Not right now,” Ana says with a shake of her head. “I want this to be an afternoon of good memories for us, and for those two to have fun on the river, and I don’t want to ruin it. I promise I’ll let you tell me. Hell, I’m going to make you tell me. But I have a feeling it’s going to be heavy and take more than the time we have right now. It’s waited for years, and we’ve avoided it for the last week. What’s a few more hours? So, how about trying this apple with a taste of honey?”

I want to press her. I need to get this off my chest. It’s been buried for so long, festering deep inside, and somehow, I think she’s the only one who might understand. But this has got to be on her terms. I’m the one who fucked up, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make that right, even if it’s pushing the painful words back deep into my gut. I take a breath, attempting to let the past go and reset my mind to this moment.

Ana dips an apple wedge into some local honey and tries it. “I was thinking you were going to try and seduce me with fruit,” I say, falling in line with her orders for fun and uncomplicated.

“I thought about it,” she admits, licking her lips. The sight of her pink tongue sticking out draws my focus. I grab another apple slice and dip it, letting her eat it from my hand, groaning as she starts sucking my finger, making me hard in my pants. “But I see you already had that idea.”

“Guilty as charged,” I admit. “We were interrupted this morning, remember? And I don’t like being interrupted.”

“Oh, really? What did you have planned for us before we were so rudely interrupted by my well-meaning and pussy-blocking brother?” Her voice is full of bedevilment.

“This,” I growl, moving in close and taking her mouth. She tastes sweet, like the apple and honey, so I lick at the seam of her lips, wanting every delicious bit of the flavor from her.

She kisses me back, leaning toward me and almost climbing into my lap. I’m tempted, so fucking tempted, to let her. Sitting on the lakeshore with Ana grinding against me sounds like a teenage dream come to life. Actually, I think we did that once. But we’ve grown up since then, and I want more.

Pulling back, I shift so that I’m sitting behind her, cradling her hips between my spread thighs. “What are you doing?” she moans, her head falling back to my shoulder.

I let my hand drift up, wrapping gently around her neck, guiding her to tilt her head so I have access. I lean down, sucking and nibbling along the line of her neck as I slide my other hand lower to pull her knees open. I knead her inner thighs, squeezing firmly through the soft denim. Ana lets out a gasp at the sharp massage as I get closer to her center. “Aubrey—”

“Can you be quiet, Ana? There’s nobody around, but we’re sort of in public here, and those sounds you make . . . those are mine, no one else’s.”

A groan escapes her open mouth, sounding somewhere between aroused and annoyed, and definitely loud. But luckily, we seem to be alone, for now, but that could change at any minute, even if Brad and Trey aren’t due back for a while. “I can be quiet.” Her voice is breathy, desperate, and needy.

I chuckle darkly. “Woman, if there’s one thing you never are . . . it’s quiet. But I can help with that too.” I unbutton her jeans, slipping a hand in to caress her pussy. She’s slick with desire, and I spread her juices up to her clit, circling it in quick, tight circles to get her to the edge fast and hard.

Her breathing hitches, and she bites her lip, trying valiantly to stay quiet but failing miserably. I move my hand from her neck to cover her mouth, watching her face for any signs of discomfort, but she seems more than fine. In fact, I think she likes it. I press harder, both against her mouth and her clit, growling in her ear. “That’s it, Ana. Scream your pleasure into my hand. I’ll keep you quiet as I make you come for me.”

It only takes a few more swipes of my fingers across her clit before she shatters, her hips lifting as her back presses to me. I clamp her cries with my hand, the vibrations hot on my palm as I gather every one like a trophy for giving her pleasure.

She comes back to earth, and I release her mouth, slipping my fingers out of her jeans and into my mouth. She tastes delicious, and I love the way her eyes dilate and her mouth opens as she watches me lick her orgasm from my fingers. She watches raptly, then meets my lips in a heated kiss, tasting herself on my tongue.