Page 67 of The King Contract
“I’m relaxing this weekend.” Noah stretches his arms above his head, and I do my best to avoid staring at the ripples of muscle cascading down his torso. “Fuck the hike.”
“You’re both dead to me.” Mack ducks out of the tent without a backwards glance.
Noah’s hand brushes against my arm and I dare to meet his gaze.
“I’m thinking we could go to the rock pools after breakfast?” Noah’s face looks almost apprehensive, like he’s unsure of my reaction.
My smile nearly swallows my head. “I would love that.”
He grins. “Awesome.”
Noah holds the tent flap open for me and I step out into the sunshine, feeling lighter than I have in months. With soaking underwear becauseholy shit.I don’t know if it’s the alcohol stillin my system or the fact I was still bleary-eyed, but I have zero regrets about what ever just happened.
I greet everybody with much more enthusiasm than I’d normally have first thing in the morning, commenting on how much I love the freshness of the air away from the city. Steph narrows her eyes at me as she drapes an arm over the shoulder of a shirtless Callum, who’s cooking at the barbecue.
“You seem very chipper for someone who drank as much beer as me last night,” Steph grumbles.
“Don’t worry, I fake it well,” I assure her, the truth in that statement threatening to sour my good mood. I inhale the mouthwatering scent of crispy bacon and sigh with happiness.
Steph starts separating paper plates. “If this is how happy you are when faking it, stay the hell away from me when you’re in a legitimate good mood.”
I smile again and when Noah appears at my side, he winks at me. I want to melt into a puddle. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m determined to not overthink it until I’ve eaten.
“Good morning!” Erin calls to us from a camping chair. “You guys coming hiking?”
Dan slouches in the chair next to her, his head resting on his hand. “Indoor voice, Erin,” he rasps.
Erin grins at me. “I’m trying to convince Dan to come. He’ll feel better once he gets some blood pumping and sweat dripping. Perfect cure for a hangover.”
Dan shakes his head once. “I’m going back to bed.”
“We’re camping. You can’t spend the entire time in bed.” Erin pats his head. “Listen to Erin. She knows what’s best.”
Noah chuckles. “Millie and I are going to the rock pools. Maybe a swim would help?”
“Bed,” Dan grunts.
“Hike or rock pools, Dan?” Erin asks. “It’s one or the other.”
“I’ll come to the rock pools after I nap.”
This group has been so welcoming. The guilt I have about lying to them increases every minute. Every time there’s a pleasant moment like right now, up it goes, and it twists my gut. What happens once this is over, and Noah starts travelling for work again? I’ll undoubtedly drift away from them, regardless of whether Noah divulges the truth.
I try to suppress those thoughts and hang onto my ‘not overthinking this’ attitude when Noah returns with a paper plate of bacon and eggs, and a smile that sends my pulse skyrocketing.
Yep. I’m in big trouble.
NOAH
Millie and I head to the rock pools after breakfast. Dan headed straight back into his tent, as did Steph, with Mack, Callum and Erin heading out for a hike. That means Millie and I have some alone time in one of my favourite places to visit.
When the rock pools come into view, Millie gasps, her head tilted back to look up at the cliff faces covered in vines. An enormous pool of water sits at its base with a creek running through it, the trickling sound like music to my ears. Smaller pools pepper the creek’s edge, which curves around a bend out of sight.
A couple of people are swimming at one end and a few teenagers are trying their luck at jumping from one of the lower lips of the cliffs, a renowned jumping spot despite the many warnings. My folks were dead set against any activity like this growing up. They put up with the dangerous waves, but if I ever jumped from a height into the water, even if I could see the bottom, my mother would scream bloody murder.
I lead Millie towards the quiet end of the creek, away from the noise of the waterfall and other swimmers.
She peers into the crystal-clear water. “There are no stonefish in here, right?”
