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She crossed her arms. “So it’s okay for me to totally demean myself and be put in outrageous situations, but not you?”
He put his hands up. “Charli, I just—”
She stared at him in silence until he nodded. “You’re absolutely right. I’m being a jerk.” He took the blindfold and snorted. “I’m just a little out of my element.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Join the club. I just want to know when it will be Simon and Raf’s turn to suffer.”
Eric’s long lashes lowered over those sea green eyes. “They’ll have a turn. Don’t you worry about that.”
They allowed Shelly to tie the blindfolds around their heads. Charli found her other senses on high alert. She could hear the conversations in Spanish in a nearby shop. Smell the aroma of something delicious cooking on an open grill, and her stomach growled.
Betsy and Bill, the English couple, had just arrived. Betsy was giggling like a teenager at something Florenz was telling her. Shelly touched her hand. “I’m going to hand you over to Simon now, okay, Charli?”
“Wait. I wanted to ask… You did this before? With Florenz?”
She could almost hear the smile in Shelly’s voice. “Yes. I did. I went a little wild when I came here for summer break. I was willing to try anything. I lucked out, though, because it brought me to him.”
Charli smiled. “I’m a late bloomer. This is my first time going wild.”
Shelly laughed. “If I may say so, you seem to be making up for lost time.”
She felt the moment Simon came up to stand beside her. Shelly placed her hand in his, and Charli shivered. She loved all of them, but she knew she was closest to Simon. He’s the one who had stayed up all night with her, even after the others had passed out on their sleeping bags, when her grandmother had died. The one who’d come up with the idea for Lee’s aunt to take Charli in so she wouldn’t be sent off to live with some stranger, or be stuck in the foster-care system for the rest of her adolescence. They’d even decided to go into business together, making Lee an equal partner in their sporting-goods chain. They sold outdoor adventures, and they were damn good at it. Without Simon, she didn’t know where she’d be.
/> He was also the one she’d fantasized about most often. Maybe it was because, as close as they were, he was still a mystery. He had an air of secrecy about him, like there was a part of him he kept separate from everyone. And, she had to admit, he had a rock-hard body. The man was a stone-cold fox.
“You’re so quiet, Chuck. What are you thinking?”
“I’ll never tell.”
He leaned closer as the doors swung open to yet another crowded club. “Wanna bet?”
“Don’t start, Simon. I think I’m through with gambling for a while. Just tell me where to go so I don’t trip.”
“Trust me, babe. I won’t let you fall.”
She was starting to think it was a little too late for that promise.
They were walking down a narrow hallway. She could hear Eric grumbling at Rafael ahead of her and smiled. Simon’s breath caressed her ear. “Raf was right, wasn’t he, Chuck? It was the idea of them together that finally sent you over the edge.”
She bit her lip. “Is that weird?”
He slowed down. “No. There’s nothing weird about people wanting one another. Sex is the most natural thing on the planet. Some people just need to have the ability to control the situation taken out of their hands, so they can finally be honest about what it is they want. So they can see what’s right in front of them.”
Was he talking about Eric, or her? “Have you ever lost control?”
“I came close tonight. Watching you come. Watching Eric fuck you with his fingers. I wanted to knock young Florenz to the ground for interrupting us. But if he hadn’t, I might not have been able to stop myself from taking you myself.”
Charli licked her lips. Her body had started to heat again. God, she loved it when he talked like that. Simon turned her, guiding her through a doorway. He murmured a low “thank you,” to someone, and then the door closed and locked behind them.
“Simon?”
“I’m here, Chuck. So are Eric and Raf.”
She tilted her head, listening. She could hear Rafael’s breath speed up, Hear the clang of metal, and the click of something latching into place.
“Son of a bitch.” Eric sounded grumpy, but resigned. And something else. Turned on?
Simon took her hand again, guiding her farther into the room. “Remember what the clue said? This part of the game is all about trust. If we want to win this bet, you have to trust me. Step up.”
