Katherine understood, though. Angelina was jealous and scared that Stephen had other options. If her parents could leave her, what chance did she have with a guy whom she just met?

“I’m a grown man and I have done a lot of things in life. I can’t undo those. And I don’t want to. Those make me the person who I am, the person you like. I spent the time until I found you. Now that I have you, we’ll just overwrite all those experiences and make new memories, okay?” Stephen smiled at her. His eyes were soft and his voice coaxing, making the others feel bitter.

Wasn’t this public display of affection?

Angelina closed her eye. “I can’t evade when you say things like that,” she said in a small voice. Katherine and Lily startled. First jealousy, then promises of commitment, and now vulnerability and acceptance? This was a whole new Angelina they were seeing and they weren’t upset with the change.

Amazing.

Cage pulled Katherine into his arms just as Angelina opened her eyes.

“Get used to it. I don’t know what these boys eat, but their words are too smooth to ignore,” Katherine said. Angelina shook her head and laughed softly.

“It’s a good thing to have a silver tongue, but I’ll be depressed if it’s not good for anything else,” Angelina commented peevishly. Lily shook her head. The old Angelina was back. She couldn’t stay emotional and real for a long period of time without making an inappropriate comment. Much like the chuckles from the others in the car, Stephen was laughing.

“Trust me, Angel, my tongue makes promises I can keep.” He licked his lips like a creep, making Angelina scrunch her face in fake disgust.

‘Well, as long as Angelina likes it,’ the friends thought simultaneously.

“Stephen is all talk. If he was good on his promise, he would have started driving and we would be closer to the cabin and you would find out if it is true,” Cage said. He was impatient in a cute way and had taken to taunting his manager.

‘Get going!’ Cage wanted to scream and bang on the car.

“Good idea,” Stephen said quickly and started the car.

“Thank god,” Cage whispered, making Katherine giggle. “The vacation finally begins.” He sounded excited and Katherine loved every part of it.

“Oh god, why are we on a trip with four horny teenagers?” Lily commented, disgust clear in her voice.

“Oh, come on. You are making me sound old. I can be like them,” Jared commented out of the blue, startling everyone. This was the first time he had said something remotely inappropriate.

“Oh, you do have it in you!” Angelina exclaimed, turning around and staring at Jared. “I think I can like you!”

Lily rolled her eyes, threading her fingers with Jared’s and kept quiet. This was going to be their time to sort things out. They didn’t need lust to hinder solving their relationship problems.

– – –

Stephen drove up the narrow road up until the very top. The view from the road showed a range of mountains, some higher and some shorter than the one they were at. The weather grew colder the higher they went. Yet, the view was incredible… the greenery, the spotting of color from the distance houses on the other mountains.

The location Stephen had chosen was towards the peak of the mountain and the property was stunning. The land was maintained with the grass trimmed and trees growing uninhibited. The three cabins sat at a safe distance from one another, each had two levels but the space was not too large.

The caretaker took them around, explaining everything, and telling them what numbers to call in case of emergencies. Once the caretaker was gone, they quickly unloaded the car.

“Here are the keys,” Stephen said, handing the couples their keys. “That one is ours,” Stephen pointed to theirs. “You guys pick out of the other two,”

“Guys, please don’t be bunnies. Let’s have at least four hours a day together,” Lily commanded. The others nodded.

“Sounds good to me,” Jared commented.

The cabins were wood, glass, and stone, looking ethereal. They picked the food that they wanted and then retreated into the chosen cabins.

“This is beautiful,” Katherine told Cage. He smiled and kissed her nose.

“Let’s enjoy our vacation. Ready?” he asked. She nodded. The room was warm and gave off a cozy feeling. There was a piano in the open living room and a fireplace that wouldn’t be of much use apart from setting the mood, maybe.

Cage took on the responsibility of putting away the bags, while Katherine put all the groceries in the fridge. Katherine remembered that she needed to call her parents. She also needed to remind Cage to call his.

Katherine looked around the kitchen and felt a sense of awe. It was beautifully furnished and had everything that she could ever dream of. Hopefully, she was going to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, preferably naked.

She pulled out her phone from her pocket and dialed her mother’s number.

“Hi!” she chirped. “How has the vacation been so far?”

Katherine heard her mother sigh from the other side. “Your father took two days off from the office. Today is his third day home and I think he is insane.” Katherine chuckled. “Don’t laugh. Somehow he has turned into a Masterchef and thinks he is Gordon Ramsay. He checked all the groceries, went through all the supplies, and even commented on how the washing machine works!” Her mother sounded frustrated and Katherine knew why.

When she was living with her parents, she would have moments when she would feel the same way. Her father nagged a lot. He had worked every day of his adult life and now that he was getting older and closer to retirement, he would take some time off and drive her mother crazy.

On those days, she thanked God that she didn’t live with her parents anymore. She wouldn’t have lasted.