Tanner: The Stewarts of Skagway #1 by KATY REGNERY

Author:KATY REGNERY [REGNERY, KATY]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Katharine Gilliam Regnery
Published: 2024-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Tanner

I drop her off at my cabin, parking the car in my usual spot and telling her I’ll be back in an hour with snacks to watch the movie.

Then I grab a rifle from my brothers’ cabin and go for a walk in the woods while I still have an hour of light because I need to process the most unexpected conversation I’ve ever had with a woman.

I got exactly what I wanted.

I got an exclusive, but super casual, fuck-buddy for the summer.

Perfect, right?

Except, no. Not perfect.

Not perfect at all.

I think I wanted to be in control of the situation in a way I wasn’t with Ramona, so I thought “ground rules,” that included my right to refuse any feelings she might develop, would make me feel safe. What I didn’t expect was that she’d be the first to take feelings out of the equation entirely. And once they were gone? I felt…sad. I felt like I’d made a bad deal. I felt like I’d lost something. I felt like I wasn’t getting what I wanted at all.

Turns out I’m not quite as cool as I thought.

Turns out I like the prospect—or at least the option—of developing feelings for someone I’m fucking. And I mean, no, I’m not going to turn down a summer of sex because she doesn’t “do” love, but I’m not sure how I feel about none of it being “real” either.

Honestly, it kind of sucks.

But it’s also a challenge I never saw coming. Something inside of me wants to convince her that not only is she lovable, but with the right guy, she’s capable of loving, too.

“I’m a mess,” I mutter, a great horned owl hoo hoo hooing in agreement overhead.

“Truer words were never spoken,” pipes up a voice from behind me.

I turn on my heel to find my older sister, Harper, standing behind me.

“Are you following me?”

“Saw you head into the woods.”

“And…”

“And yeah. Decided to follow you.”

“What do you want?”

“Why are you a mess?” she asks, repositioning her own rifle higher on her shoulder as we keep walking toward the river.

“McKenna and I decided to—”

“Get together? Cool. I knew you liked her.” She raises her eyebrows. “So, what’s the problem?”

“That I like her.”

“Um. I don’t understand,” says Harper. “You and your fake fiancée, who you happen to actually like, have decided to get together for real, right?”

“Yes and no.”

“Tanner, you’re being extremely annoying. Spell it out for me, please.”

I sit on the same boulder that McKenna was leaning against a few days ago. Harper stands in front of me, arms crossed over her chest. Of all my siblings, Harper and I, who are only thirteen months apart in age, look the most alike. When when she glowers, I get an idea of how I look doing the same, which is to say: terrifying.

“Yes, she’s my fake fiancée. Yes, we decided to hook up when we want to. Yes, I like her. But we decided to keep feelings out of it, and when the summer’s over, so are we.

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