I’ve never felt so completely perfect.
Groaning as I use my keycard to open the door to the pool area, I don’t know whether I love, or hate, that I feel perfect. Both. It’s definitely both.
The easy part is loving it. Liam worked me better than any other man. His experience shows in the bedroom, and I’m not upset about it. He’s sexy, and arrogant, and full of masculinity. Ordering me around and showing me everything he’s capable of. Well, maybe not everything. I had this feeling as the night went on that he was holding pieces of himself back, and even though I pushed, he refused to show them to me.
I know for a fact I could get him to crack, though. Given time.
Which is exactly what we don’t have. If the matter of him fucking a girl more than once wasn’t an issue, the more obvious, pressing problem would be in the form of another brown hairedman turning to greet me as his bride-to-be waves from a lounger.
Nate.
They’re exactly where they said they’d be in Savanna’s text to me. Just seeing them, watching Nate’s face light up with a smile, makes me feel sick to my stomach. The betrayal I committed last night sits like a large, disgusting lump of hot burning coal in the pit of my belly.
This. This is exactly why I hate feeling perfect this morning. Because I’m not. I’m anything but perfect. I have no idea how I’m going to reconcile being around my brother for the next few days—or the rest of my life—knowing what I did last night.
It’s a thought that had my eyes popping open at six this morning. Liam’s arm was around me, both of us having fallen asleep after our last round, spent and exhausted. It was as if someone flipped on the light switch in my brain, and the consequences of my actions lit up and showed me exactly what I had done.
It took two minutes to quietly slip from Liam’s bed, put on my dress, grab my shoes and purse, and hightail it out of there without a word. Thank heavens Liam was dead to the world. Honestly, I hope he still is. If I don’t see him today I’ll be grateful.
Doubtful, but I can hope.
“Hey,” Nate greets as I reach the lounger he’s sitting on. The same one Savanna is laying on.
“Morning!” I say quickly, full of cheer that I don’t feel.
I need to relax. If I don’t, he’s going to know something is up. Moving to the far side, where Nate isn’t, I take the lounger on the other side of Savanna. Like my hair, her blonde strands are pulled up into a ponytail, out of her face and off her neck so she can let the last bits of summer sun turn her already golden skin more tanned. The girl loves the beach more than anyone I’ve ever known, which says a lot since I grew up in Santa Rosé, a beach town on the coastof California. Being south of San José, it can get pretty hot, and the beach is one of the prime places to cool off during the summer.
Much like this outdoor Vegas pool area. Palm trees line multiple pools, some with cascading waterfalls, one with a swim up bar, and a lazy river that floats relaxing swimmers around it in tropical donuts made for the water.
“Where did you go last night?”
Of course it’s the first question out of Savanna’s mouth. I’m glad my back is to the two of them as I sit down and rummage through the bag I brought. My sunglasses are right on top, but I make work like I can’t find them to buy myself a few moments to settle down. Finally I pull them out, put them on, and then look over my shoulder at the two of them peering at me.
“Oh, you know,” I say, more casually than I feel. I hope. Waving a hand to dismiss the question, I continue, “Had too much to drink so I got some food and went to bed.”
“Liam made sure you got back to your room okay?” Nate asks.
I have to stop myself from whipping around to look at my brother. I know for certain there’s no accusation in his tone, but that doesn’t mean the guilt doesn’t slice through my stomach, into my heart, and up my throat, threatening to confess the entire thing.
How did he know? How could he have guessed? Because we left at the same time and Liam never showed back up? Did he see us? Oh god, did he…
Something nags at the back of my mind, and I reach for it, pulling it to the front. Liam and I on our way out of the club. Running into the back of him because a hulk of a man halted our exit. Brody. Brody looking at Liam, then at me. Words being exchanged between the two men.
Fuck.
“Yep!” I squeak, rummaging through my bag again. TechnicallyI’m not lying. My room is right across the hall from Liam’s. I just didn’t go into my room until early this morning.
I need to change the subject. I’m not equipped to handle questions. How did I think coming down to the pool already was a good idea? Oh right. I didn’t want to risk Liam knocking on my door, wondering where the hell I disappeared to.
Coward.
Dropping my bag beside the lounger, I move further onto the chair, resting against the back of it, trying to look casual even if I don’t feel it. “How was your guys’ night? Did you stay at the club long or were you too eager to act like newlyweds prior to the wedding?”
I glance at the two of them. Savanna has a cute white bikini on that shows off the tan she’s worked at all summer, and my brother is not hiding his appreciation for it. His hand runs down her leg while he smiles at her like a dope. He’s so freaking in love it makes me wonder how he ever survived without her. Nate deserves a good woman that makes him happy, and I know Savanna does that for him. It helps that she’s a sweetheart that I adore. We were fast friends when she moved into Nate’s house—where I also happen to live—and our bond has grown immeasurably over the last year.
“We didn’t stay too late,” Savanna says, shooting me a knowing grin. The one that says Nate couldn’t keep his hands off of her. “Long enough to have a good time. I think my brothers may have shut the place down, though.” We both laugh before she adds, “If the texts I got are any indication, I don’t know that we’ll see them at the pool today.”
The pool day that Savanna planned for us was optional. There was no telling what the night before would hold, which is why, when she was planning the itinerary for our four days before the wedding, she decided today should be casual and easy. Especiallysince tonight we’re hitting up the town again, this time as part of the bachelor and bachelorette parties. By then Quinn, Hailey, Luke, and Maddie, Savanna’s friend from Colorado, would be joining us.
