Fever Dream (Emerald Lake, #1)(75)

Julia.

She reaches forward, lifting the brim of my hat, and Parker full-on laughs.

I turn and offer Julia a sheepish grin, because I’m so fucking busted right now.

Her eyes roam my face, and I try to cover. “Oh, hey, Julia. Fancy meeting you here.”

She leans in close and whispers in my ear, “Fancy? Remember when you said I was obsessed with you?” She smiles as she draws away, shaking her head at me in disbelief before turning to leave. “Dominic and I are leaving. I’m not going on a date with an audience. Hope you have a nice night.”

I can’t even bring myself to look away from her as she departs. And Parker doesn’t hesitate to call me on it.

“Cool, Em. Really cool.”

I groan, and my cheeks burn as I watch Julia and Dominic leave the restaurant. He looks confused, but eager. And I hate the way his eyes trail over her body when she passes through the door ahead of him.

I thought checking on her would make me feel better, but now she’s leaving. With him. And all I feel is worse.

Anxiety churns in my gut.

Where will they go next? How long will they stay out?

There’s no way she’d go home with him. But if she did, it wouldn’t be any of my business. I told her to go on this date. We both agreed that we couldn’t go on stealing kisses in places where we were sure to get caught.

Guess I didn’t fully comprehend the fact that if she wasn’t kissing me, she might be kissing someone else.

And it’s that thought that keeps me up tossing and turning all night.





CHAPTER 28


Emmett





Riley

Emmett. You are under arrest for crashing Julia’s date. Get a hold of yourself, man. Are ten women not enough for you?





Evan

Riley, give him a break. He’s eliminated a bunch of them. He might only have four left by now. He needs at least one for every day of the week.





Evan

Em, though… seriously? Are you sick? Running a fever?





Oma

Maybe it was a coincidence? LOL.





Riley

No, Julia told me when I checked in with her on how it went.





Parker

How did she say it went?





Riley

She wasn’t very forthcoming. Said that a lady never tells.





Evan

Ouch. Does that mean you’re not a lady, Riley? Because you’re pretty forthcoming about your dating life. I know things I wish I didn’t.





Opa

I wish I knew how to leave this chat.





Emmett

That’s all she said?





Riley

Oh good, you’re here now. Explain yourself.





Emmett

It was a coincidence. Parker and I just went out for a drink.





Parker

Totally. Very random. Not planned at all. It’s a small world and all that.





Oma

Emmett and Parker are the most prone to lying of the four of you, though. So…





Riley

See? Oma thinks you guys are full of shit. Now spill.





Emmett

Sorry. A gentleman never tells.





Evan

That doesn’t even make sense in this context.





Emmett

Okay, true. Let me try again.





Emmett

Riley, fuck off.





Oma

LOL.





* * *



Riley is giving the women riding lessons for a segment on the show, and she’s going to lord it over me for the rest of my life.

The amused glances she shoots my way are proof that I’m going to pay for this. I’m also going to get a lot of unsolicited opinions from her the minute we’re away from the cameras. Hell, maybe she can spill it all in the group chat again like she did this morning.

“Ugh,” Evelyn grumbles from atop her horse. The poor guy has put on the brakes and is refusing to move. And I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to be charged with carrying Evelyn around either.

“Evelyn, just wait in the corner until I can help you out,” Riley calls to her, barely sparing her a glance. Because Evelyn was talking a real big game during setup about how she used to ride.

I don’t know how long ago that was, but it appears as though it might have been in another lifetime.

“Catherine, that’s great. You’ve got such a nice feel. You know that?”

Catherine beams back at my sister, clearly thrilled with the compliment coming from an established horsewoman. “Thank you, I grew up riding. It’s been a while, though,” she replies innocently. She wasn’t present for Evelyn talking a big game, so she’s clueless how it looks for her to say that.

Richard will love it, spin it like blatant shit-talk.

“Jada, you’re a natural! And Akira? Girl, are you sure this is your first time on a horse?”