THATCHER
We are the first to arrive at the cabin, even though we stopped for snacks and supplies at the grocery store. I use the code Ty sent us to unlock, and step into the rustic space. There are high, vaulted ceilings with exposed wood beams, and the massive stone fireplace takes up one entire wall. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the cabin is furnished with deep leather couches, and the huge wooden table is set with candles.
Emma flicks a switch, and the whole place is aglow with twinkle lights inside and out. "Oh!" she gasps. "It's magical!" She wanders out through the sliding glass door onto the patio and I hear her exclaim, "There's a hot tub!" I laugh, knowing my brothers are going to drink too much and try to drown each other in there if we don't watch out.
I check my phone to read over the email from Ty, where he claimed the biggest bedroom for Juniper and him "because we're the fucking couple of honor," he wrote. Chuckling a bit, I peek into the next closest bedroom and toss my bag in the door. I feel Emma walk up behind me, and then she makes a small sound of surprise.
"There's one bed," she says.
I look over at her. I mean, I had assumed this, but I hadn't stopped to think that this would mean we'd be sharing. I suck air through my teeth for a minute and rub my beard, trying to think fast. I'm about to offer to sleep on the floor, but I see her collecting her wits. "Ok," she says. "We'll just build a pillow wall."
"A pillow wall?" I raise an eyebrow at her and grab her bag, placing it on the dresser.
"Yeah. A barricade. Because you can't keep your hands to yourself," she says, and without another word she starts unpacking her stuff.
Fuck, I think, seeing a glimpse of something black and sheer as she tucks her clothes into the top drawer. I'm going to be in a bed with Emma. I'm relieved when I hear my brothers pull up. They rode together because they came straight from the Stag Law offices where Tim and Alice and Juniper all work.
Soon, Alice is pulling out containers of dips and homemade pita chips, Juniper is mixing drinks, and Tim has even brought Emma a swing-top bottle of sparkling lemonade. When Alice plunks a sprig of fresh mint in her glass, they share a smile, and damn if I don't feel horny just looking at this woman fitting right in with my family.
Juniper brought a card game called Sushi Go, and soon, Emma and Tim are in a fierce battle for the win. Emma catches on really fast, and eventually, the rest of us stop really trying. We just want to watch Emma and Tim fight over sashimi and pudding cards. He starts yelling at her about tactics, and she doesn't miss a beat, dishing it right back to him, playing a defensive game. Emma isn't intimidated by Tim at all, and I love that. I catch Alice and Ty staring at her as Emma plays a card that causes Tim to throw his hand on the table and storm out the back door. Alice and Juniper burst out laughing while Emma tallies up the score. "Yes!" she says. "I beat him by 2 points."
I have to catch myself, because I want to kiss her for this, for beating my brother and pissing him off, but I know that would cross a line in our arrangement. Instead, I just smile at her silently, until I hear Ty and Juniper suggest that we help Tim cool off by throwing him into the lake.
Alice pretends to be worried at this idea, but everyone goes off to change into their swimsuits, leaving Emma and me sitting alone at the table. "You want to go change first?" I ask her. "I can clean up the cards."
She shakes her head and bites her lip. Fuck, I need to stop staring at Emma's lips. I want to lick them, and I really can't think that way. "I should tell you something," she says in a quiet voice.
"What's up, Chezz?" I put my arm around the back of her chair and turn sideways in mine, so I can lean close and hear what she's saying.
"So, I can swim, and I haven't had a seizure aura at all, but…it's risky for me to swim. Unless someone is watching out for me." She pauses. Her eyes are watery, like it's killing her to have to talk about this. "Can you make sure I don't drown?"
"Of course," I tell her. I wink, to try to ease up the mood a little. "I won't let you out of arm's reach." Emma smiles and goes off to change into her suit, leaving me to put away the cards and think about long division or come up with some other strategy to keep my cool while I'm in the water close to this red head in nothing but a swimsuit.
"Oh my god, Emma! Your suit is so stinking cute!" I hear Alice fawning over Emma in the hall and decide it's safe for me to go back and change. My breath catches in my throat when I see her in a blue and white polka-dot bikini top with matching little shorts. She is so fucking sexy, all curves and soft skin.
When I walk out the back door onto the deck, I'm grateful for the low light of the twinkle lights along the dock. My brothers are already in the water, Tim past his hissy fit at losing a card game. Alice and Juniper are floating in an inflatable swan. Then I see Emma. She's lounging on a raft, just her legs dangling into the water. The moonlight catches her pale skin and she seems to glow, her red hair shining like flames even in the dark. When she looks up and smiles at me, I'm gone. She has me totally under her spell and I don't fucking know what to do about it.
Then I see Ty swimming toward her while she looks at me, unaware. "No!" I scream, too late as I see him reach to tip her off the raft. Emma screams and flounders a bit. I know the lake isn't deep where she is, but I dive in and grab her.
I hold her against my body as she resurfaces, sputtering and panicking a bit. "My bad," Ty yells, treading water and looking sheepish. "I was just fooling around."
The lake water is slippery and warm, and Emma flails her legs looking for purchase. I keep one arm wrapped around her stomach while I move us toward her raft. I feel her body calm when she realizes I've got her, that she's safe. Ty keeps yelling his apologies while Juniper tries to dunk him and Alice rams him with the swan raft, scolding him for catching Emma off guard.
But all of that fades away for me as I realize that there's no hiding what I'm feeling right now. My body responds to Emma. I'm rock solid against her ass, even after she grabs the raft. She wriggles a bit in the water to stay afloat, but she stills, realizing that I'm hard as fuck. "Oh," she says, turning around to look me in the eye. "Oh."
"You ok?" my voice is low, my face close to hers. She nods. I feel her yearning for something, too, and I almost decide to lean in and kiss the hell out of her when my fucking brother cock-blocks me.
"Emma, are you mad?" His voice breaks the spell and Emma looks away, toward Ty. "I'm really sorry. I just wanted to treat you like one of the family."
"It's ok, Ty," Emma says, returning her gaze to mine. "But actually I'm pretty tired. I think I'm going to call it a night."
Her tone isn't one that invites me to join her in there, so I nod and stare at her as she climbs the metal ladder back up onto the dock. I don't even pretend I'm not looking at her ass as she reaches for a towel and then walks back up the ramp into the cabin. I float on my back in the lake, thinking about Emma rubbing up against me, Emma naked in the kitchen in the sunlight. I had sort of been turning off the part of me that goes right in for the fuck, knowing this thing with Emma has to hold together for at least a month. I really have no idea how to go about pursuing a woman slowly, maintaining a connection with her and fucking her. But shit. I want to fuck Emma Cheswick, and that's bad news. I need to stay here, submerged in the icy lake water until my dick calms down.
Eventually I climb out. Emma is long gone into our room, and Alice and Juniper are bent over some magazines on the deck, talking about seating charts for the wedding.
I sit up with my brothers a bit longer, drinking a few beers and bullshitting with them. When I go into our bedroom later, I can barely see Emma asleep behind the barricade of pillows and blankets she's constructed in the middle of the bed.