Intruders (Natalie PoV)

It was beautiful outside. Yes, it was freezing and there was a thin layer of snow on the ground, but the trail was still visible enough to make our way safely around the area. Out here it felt like I could finally relax. Nothing was going to trigger any feelings inside me. Only Tommy, me, and some much needed conversation.

A part of me was still worried about yesterday’s mistake, but I’d convinced myself that it was all going to be okay. Tommy redeemed himself in the later rounds of the night. The morning too. He was certainly taking advantage of this more passionate side I found myself with and considering the alternative, I was glad he was.

Coming back to the cabin, he was the first one to see something was wrong.

“The fuck?”

I followed his gaze and frowned. His car was where we had left it, but it was no longer alone. Walking towards the cabin, I felt my stomach fall as I recognized some of the vehicles. Impossible. There was no way.

At the door, Tommy opened it to have a wave of music and heat wash over us. He looked as stunned as I felt as we entered the cabin filled with people who hadn’t been here an hour ago.

“Thomas! The man himself!”

“Lucas?” he said, mouth agape. “What the hell—”

“Dude, why didn’t you tell me you had this great place lined up? Had to throw this all together last minute. Some notice would have really kicked this up a notch.”

My eyes scanned the place. There had to be at least a dozen people here. It hadn’t been much more than an hour and it already looked like a party house that had been going hard for half a day. My attention went back to Tommy and Lucas. It was clear Tommy was upset.

“Dude, chill,” Lucas said, holding out his hands. “You left all that info sitting there in the kitchen. I thought you left it there on purpose.”

“I told you I was going with Natalie.”

“Right. Right,” he said, nodding as he spoke. “Which is why I brought the party! Isn’t that right?” he called out. Loud cheers followed.

As the two argued, bad memories surfaced. Not just in my past, but from the last time I’d gone to a party with Tommy. They had brought a lot of **** and people were going at it hard. Two girls were grinding against each other as boys cheered them on.

Needless to say, the Alexis part of me was pushing against the delicate self-control I had in place. All the progress I’d managed to make last night and today was wiped away by all the hot guys milling about. All of them were the sort Alexis brought home, and I had no idea if it was her or me that was... reacting. A part of me, the real me, unhelpfully reminding me that there was some uncomfortable overlap in taste with my sister, appearance-wise, at least.

This was bad. Really bad. I was not in the right mindset to handle this situation.

Tommy gave up talking to Lucas and pulled me off to the side.

“I’m so sorry,” he said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I had no idea this was going to happen.”

Arms crossed, I gave him a firm look. “I’ve been saying that Lucas was an asshole ever since you moved in.”

He sighed. “You’re right.”

“Damn right I am.”

“We can grab our stuff and head to a hotel—”

“We paid for this place, and we’re going to let them trash it?”

“Well, what do you want? Kicking them out isn’t going to happen. Even if they did listen to me and left, I doubt any of them are in a state to drive.”

My head hurt. Rubbing my temples, my eyes gravitated toward a guy who was chasing after a girl. I pulled my eyes away before the thoughts could gain a foothold in my mind. How the fuck did this happen? All I wanted was one thing. One fucking thing to go right.

“Tommy?” A tingle ran up my back when I heard the woman say his name. Not his name, but the name I called him. Looking over, I found a blond woman standing there with a beer in hand. She had a polite smile, almost nervous, as she brushed a hand through her shoulder-length hair.

“L-Lisa? What are you—”

I blinked. Why was he so flustered?

“Lucas invited me. Said he had a killer off-site party planned, and… here I am!” she said with a nervous giggle.

“Ah!” he said, getting his wits back. “Lisa, this is my girlfriend, Natalie. Natalie, this is Lisa. She works at the lab with me.”

I **** a smile. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” she said. Was there a stiffness in her voice? I saw her eyes flick over me as if she were judging me. Maybe it was my foul mood poisoning my thoughts, but I swore there was a low-level hostility aimed my way. Was she after Tommy? If so, tough shit. He was mine.

“Beer?” she asked, holding out her second beer to him. He glanced towards me before accepting.

“Why not?”

“Tommy?” He looked over at me with an apologetic look.

“Why not have a few beers and mingle for a bit? An hour or so and we can head out.”

Was he being serious right now? Unbelievable. He was. I sat there for fifteen minutes listening to him and Lisa talk about work. Head throbbing, I excused myself and headed toward a quieter area of the cabin. I was fuming. It wasn’t only Lucas, but Tommy as well. He went from suggesting we leave to staying in no time at all. All it took was seeing Lisa and—

“Sorry about crashing your romantic getaway.” I turned to find the last man on the planet I wanted to see. Lucas was standing at the door, a shot in each hand. “In my defense, I didn’t know it was your anniversary.”

“Would it have mattered if you did?”

“Fuck yeah it would,” he said, walking over to me. “I would have brought higher-quality booze.”

I shook my head. “Go away.”

“Don’t be like that,” he said, getting uncomfortably close. My initial reaction was to step away, but I didn’t want to give him the idea I was going to be a pushover. “Here.”

“What’s that?” I asked as I looked at the offered shot.

“A peace offering.”

“That’s the last thing I want from you.”

“You know what your problem is? You have a stick up your ass. It’s sucking the fun right out of your soul. No idea why Thomas puts up with you.”

“He doesn’t ‘put up with me.’ I can’t help you are too immature to understand what love is.”

He snorted. “Yeah. Okay.” He offered me one of his shots again. “One and I’ll leave you alone.” I eyed him suspiciously, and he made a show of looking offended. “My god. You can pick whichever one you want. Hell, I’ll drink both and pour you a fresh one if you want.”

Reaching out, I took one and knocked it back. Holy shit. It had been a bit since I had something that strong. Been sticking with beer for way too long.

“Good shit, right?” He drank the other one. There was a bit of pride in me as he made an effort to not cough. He cleared his throat a few times as he tried to hold it together.

Amateur. He acted like tough shit knocking back cheap piss water.

“I drank your damn drink; now leave me alone,” I said as I handed the glass back.

“Sure thing.”

“Who’s up for some beer pong?” someone called out from the other room. A cheer went out.

He gave me an expectant look. “You know, you are pretty damn good at that. How about a game?”

I had zero interest in playing anything with anyone. All I wanted to do was pack and leave before things got worse.

I was about to decline when he spoke again. “You and Thomas against me and someone else.”

No. Nope. Wasn’t going to happen. I was tired of these types of parties in general, but there was even more reason to avoid this now. All the… temptation… walking around. It was playing with fire, and I knew better. Even thinking about old times was stirring up things I had no interest in.

“One game.” He grinned as if he’d already won.

He didn’t know me though. When I set my mind to it, I could easily brush aside temptations like this. Today was no different. I was pissed that my weekend was ruined. Ruined by assholes like him.

No. What I was going to do was walk out there, grab Tommy, pack up our things, and get the hell out of here. With my head held high, I walked past him to do exactly that.