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Journi gives her a full smile. “Then why are you so insecure with Cruz seeing them? That’s what this is over, right? Go ahead and let’s lay it all out. No point in dancing around it with petty remarks. You hate me because your boyfriend is pitching a tent while I sit here with all my gross stretch marks on display.”
Larissa’s lips pinch together as her nostrils flare. Everyone at the table is speechless, aside from Joshua fighting back laughter. He leans into me and whispers, “I’ve never in my life been this turned on. And never been attracted to a woman at all. But oh my God. She completely does it for me.”
Journi has bigger balls than me. I’ve been trying to avoid, but still humor, my mother. She bravely stood up to everyone. But she shouldn’t have to.
“Mother,” I state firmly. “The only people at this table who should be embarrassed are you and Larissa.” Standing up, I stare Larissa in the eye. “I’ve never led you on. The only person who has indicated anything would happen between us is my mother. We’ve known each other our entire lives, but you’re still a stranger to me. Tonight you’ve shown me who you really are with how you’ve treated Journi. And there’s one thing I know and that’s there’s no way I’d ever marry that type of person.”
With that, I walk into the cabin to get ready for my shift at the hospital.
Chapter 9
Journi
Once Cruz leaves, the entire table erupts into a shit show. Everyone begins yelling—everyone except for Joshua. I get the distinct feeling he is enjoying this. His face is calm as he sits and listens, but I see the tiniest hint of a smile. This is too much drama for me, so I whisper to Jan to excuse myself. I knew staying here would only bring trouble. It’s almost been twenty-four hours, and I’m beyond exhausted and fed up. Instead of trying to drive home tonight, I’m going to go ahead and sleep this nightmare off. First thing tomorrow, I’m getting the hell out of here.
I wake up to the smell of fresh-cooked breakfast. My hand blindly reaches for my phone and I bring it to my eyes to check the time. It’s almost ten. I never sleep that late, even on the days after partying all night. Quickly I dress, go through my bathroom routine, and then make sure my things are all packed.
When I go to the kitchen, I find Cruz at the stove—shirtless and wearing an apron. His dark hair is tousled, and his bronze skin has my stomach doing flips. This is karma. I’ve slept with so many men and women, whom I shouldn’t have, and now I’m being tempted by someone who could not only destroy me for every other person out there, but also my heart by causing me to lose Jan.
“You’re the worst,” I groan to myself. Cruz must’ve heard me because he spins around and son of a bitch, he is holding a tray of cinnamon rolls. Nothing is better than cinnamon rolls. Nothing. Except maybe cheesecake.
“Don’t tell me you’re on a diet.”
“You saw my body…do I look like I diet?”
“That means nothing. And from what I saw, your body looked more delicious than these rolls.”
I roll my eyes so hard I’m pretty sure I pulled a muscle. “See, that’s the kind of cheesy bullshit that makes me not trust you.”
“You’re right.”
My heart skips a beat. “What the fuck did you just say?”
He slowly saunters toward me with the pan of cinnamony gold. “I was thinking we could share these. But only if you’ll let me do it my way.”
“How many ways are there to share food?”
His devious chuckle is making me nervous. I think I’m still dreaming because I remember last night ended with him leaving and everyone screaming. But now the cabin is quiet, and he’s half naked wearing an apron and shorts holding cinnamon rolls with…is that blueberries? Or maybe this is all the afterlife because his mother and Larissa murdered me in my sleep and this is Heaven. It could be Hell, and this is my eternal damnation of him taunting me with his body and those sweets.
Cruz just stands in front of me holding the pan. He is freshly showered, so I’m getting a mix of his masculine scent combined with his sugary sweetness from the pan. Still not sure this is Heaven or Hell. It’s not a dream, though, because even my imagination couldn’t come up with something this intoxicating.
“You’re leaving, aren’t you?”
Way to shift gears. “Yes.”
“I figured after last night. You were already wanting to, and that was probably the last straw. Understandably.” He sticks his finger in the pan and scoops up some icing. “I had a slow shift which left me time to think.” Uh-oh. He brings his frosting-coated finger to my lips. I go cross-eyed staring at it. “You’re leaving. Everyone else has gone down to the water.” He runs his syrupy finger along my bottom lip. “Why not have one selfish moment?”
I can’t resist any longer. My tongue pokes out enough to lick my coated lip. Then I suck his finger in. I taste the sugar and a hint of salt from his skin. He moans deep in his throat, and I release him. Swallowing and taking a moment to make sure my voice is under control before I tell him, “Because that’s just it. It would be a selfish moment. I won’t ever be selfish when it comes to my best friend Jan.”
Screw him and his damn cinnamon rolls. I turn away to go back to my room to grab my luggage. The sound of the pan being discarded on the stove is followed by heavy footfalls. Then his damn seductive voice calls out, “First, I’d drizzle icing around your breast. Then I’d sprinkle cinnamon on top of that. I’d eat a blueberry off your nipple, making sure my teeth gently nicks your skin in the process. Then I’d lick all the juices and stickiness off before getting you off…again.”
I can’t decide if I find it arousing or strange that he wants to turn my boob into a dessert he’d want to eat. It’s not that different from the time I had a guy lick whip cream off of me. Or the time I had a guy want me to eat a Fruit Roll-Up off his dick. God, that was a mess. The memory has me wanting to gag. Plus, he acknowledged making me orgasm in the hospital and damn, that was so hot even with it being awkward.
“Don’t you get it? If we weren’t both Jan’s best friends and the thing with her sister wasn’t part of the equation, I’d gladly fuck your brains out. I have no issues with sleeping around.” That sounded a lot worse than I intended. But facts are facts. “She’s the only solid person I have in my life.”
“And what if she doesn’t have to be the only one. Why not have two solid people in your life.”
“No. I won’t lose the one person I have over a scrumptious, messy lay. And we both know it would get messy in more ways than one.”
