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Drew only had to take one step toward him before he turned on the spot and ran. Once he was gone, my knees weakened, and I dropped to the ground, my head down.
“Jesus, Lucy. Are you okay?”
I nodded, gulping at the air. In my panic, I’d forgotten to breathe, and my lungs struggled to keep up as my heart rate finally started to slow.
“What were you doing out here?”
“I thought I was getting some fresh air, but then Julien came along and…” I trailed off, too ashamed to admit I’d kissed him.
I don’t know what had been running through my mind. Trying to prove my maturity by letting myself get mauled by a stranger, and for what? Just to take my mind off what Jason was doing.
“Did he hurt you?” Drew asked, concerned.
I shook my head. “Scared me mostly.” I didn’t want to admit to Drew that I’d probably have a bruised boob, and honestly, if he hadn’t come along when he had, it would have been so much worse. The idea of what Julien might have done made my body shake, and my chest heaved with the sobs I was trying to suppress.
“Do we need to call the police?”
“No,” I choked out. “He’s gone now, and I’m ready to go back to the hotel.”
Drew nodded. “We were thinking about heading back now anyway. That’s why I was looking for you. I was looking for Jason too. Have you seen him?”
A shudder ran through me as I remembered the other image of the evening I wanted to forget.
Composing myself, I said, “He’s gone back to the hotel with some random.”
Drew fixed his eyes on me, and I lowered my gaze, not wanting him to see any hint of hurt or jealousy. Not that I had any right to be either of those things. Jason was never mine and never would be. At some point, he would find someone he wanted to be with, and I’d have to get over this insane crush. But at that moment, it sucked to be me.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” he said, the sympathy apparent in his tone.
I looked up at him. “I’ve seen it before. Well, actually, I saw a little more than I wanted to, but… you know what I mean. It’s fine.”
Drew gave a small jerk of his head. “Come here.”
He opened his arms out, and I let him pull me into a hug. A hug from Drew was one of the best things in the whole world. His large frame was comforting and warm, and I snuggled into him, grateful for his lack of lecture about my idiocy and his understanding about my feelings.
* * *
That night, I had a hard time getting to sleep. In spite of how illogical it was to have feelings for Jason, I couldn’t stop picturing him with that woman. He and I had become closer over the past year, but we would never bethatclose, and as much as I thought I’d come to terms with that, I knew it would be a while before I stopped feeling like I’d been punched any time I saw him with someone else.
I awoke in the morning to the sound of someone tapping on my door. It was early, only a little after seven, so I definitely wasn’t late for breakfast. I stumbled out of bed and cracked open the door, peering through the gap and jolting slightly when I saw Jason standing there.
“Sorry. Did I wake you?”
He hadn’t shaved yet. His stubble was out of control, and his hair was messy. He wore scruffy blue jeans and a plain black T-shirt which was wrinkled, as though he’d just thrown on some clothes—any clothes—before coming to my room.
I nodded, blinking a few times. “What’s going on?”
“I wanted to check on you,” he said, making me pause.
“Why?”
“Can I come in?”
I glanced down at my old oversized T-shirt, making sure I was fully covered.Crap.Why couldn’t he have called when I was dressed?
Still somewhat confused as to why he wanted to check on me, I let Jason in.Shit.
Did he know I freaked out about him and that woman?
