I wonder if Nate got any texts from Liam this morning saying he wouldn’t be at the pool. I wonder if I have. I’ve been too much of a coward to look at my phone.
Like you were a coward when leaving his bed this morning. And rushing down here before he knocked on your door.
“So! Big parties tonight, huh?” I exclaim loudly, trying to drown out the voice in my head. “Excited?”
My heart leaps into my throat and then sinks down to join the lump of coal in my stomach when movement catches my eye over my brother’s shoulder. Beyond Savanna and Nate, coming across the pool deck, are Liam and Brody, both of them in board shorts and t-shirts. A shirt that Liam is already taking off.
My mouth goes dry at the sight. Midmorning in the Vegas August heat is already hot, but the temperature just went up a few degrees. Muscles ripple along his pecs and abdomen as he walks, his arms flexing as he folds his shirt nicely. Arms that held me close last night. An abdomen that I licked from one side to another. Pecs that I dug my nails into.
Popping up from the lounger, I interrupt Nate who is apparently talking to me, though I haven’t heard a word. “I need a drink. Anyone else? Sav? You want a drink? Come get a drink with me.”
“Jor?” Nate questions, his brows furrowing over eyes that match mine. “You okay?”
Damn it, why can’t my brother be less observant? I mean, he’s not the most observant guy—he was far more perceptive prior to Savanna coming along—but it’s his job to oversee everything going on in a situation. From the bar to being a lieutenant at thefirehouse. He. Sees. Everything.
Sleeping with Liam was the worst decision I could have ever made.
“Yep! Just hot. I need something to help cool me down.”
Savanna laughs, gesturing towards me. “You could start by taking your dress off. Assuming you’re wearing a bikini under it, anyway.”
I glance down at myself. The turquoise bathing suit coverup I threw on over my bikini wasn’t just for the walk through the hotel to the pool. It was also to cover the bruises plaguing my thighs, hips, and god knows what other parts of me.
“It’s helping keep me cool,” I explain, waving at my face. I try desperately not to look at Liam who is closing the distance between us quickly, but to no avail. Our eyes meet and I feel my stomach clench in good and bad ways. “It’s my throat. I’m thirsty. I need a drink.”
Spinning on my heel as Liam and Brody pull up to our location, I beeline it away from the four of them, my eyes scanning the area for the bar. I know this place has a few of them and it doesn’t take me long to spot one, though I’d probably be wise to seek the furthest one. Or maybe back to the one in the lobby. If Liam is here, that means I’m not at risk of him knocking on my door. Unless he were to follow me back, in which case everyone would notice and that would be worse than me just trying to avoid him at the pool. Because I can avoid him. Between the bar and the multiple pools, I can totally avoid him.
“Jor?” A voice says at the same time someone touches my elbow.
I shriek, whirling around, completely expecting to see Liam standing there. Instead it’s Savanna, eyeing me like I have multiple heads growing from my neck.
“What is going—” She gasps, a hand slapping over her mouth. “Oh my god, you finally did it.”
Panic grabs hold of me. “What? Did what? I didn’t do anything.”
“You liar!” she accuses, turning to look over her shoulder at the group of men at the loungers.
Brody and Nate aren’t paying any attention, but Liam’s eyes are locked on us. Locked on me. Even from this far away I can see the questions in them.
Savanna turns back to me. Grabbing my arm, she spins me in the direction of the bar, keeping herself close as we hurriedly walk further away from the group. “You finally slept with him, didn’t you?”
My eyes are wide and wild. “What do you meanfinally?”
“Oh please, Jor,” she says with a roll of her eyes. “You guys have been—in the words Liam once used on me—eye-fucking each other for months now.”
My jaw finds the pool deck. The lump of coal in my stomach is never going to dissipate. Obviously we thought we’d been discreet, but if Savanna has known for months about our flirting, then we didn’t hide it nearly as well as I thought. Which means Nate…
“Stop it. You don’t need to freak out,” she says with a laugh, patting my arm. “Nate has no idea. I don’t think he wants to have any idea. I think he’d rather stay in ignorant bliss. Trust me, I tried asking him about it months ago.”
Shaking my head, I go for denial. Savanna may be my friend, but she’s Nate’s fiancée. She’s the last person, besides Nate, I should be talking to about this. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Savanna’s adorable laugh rings through the air around us. “I pray you never have to lie to Nate about this because you’re awfulat it.” Rubbing my arm, she side eyes me as we step up to the bar. “Was it as good as the rumors claim it to be?”
“Savanna!” I hiss, pinching her side. She shrieks with laughter, dancing away from me.
“It’s probably best you don’t tell me. This way I’ve got plausible deniability if Nate ever asks.” Taking a step back, she gives me a once over. “But you look exhausted and well spent.”
Ignoring her, I put my attention on the bartender, giving him a friendly smile. “I’ll have a shot of tequila and a mimosa.”
