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I never want to leave the room. And the next morning, what Ashton has to tell me has me wanting to leave even less.
Our suite has an enormous hot tub, and before we have to go to breakfast with his buddies and their wives, I insist on using this before we do. My feet hug Ashton’s hips and his perch on either side of the gold-rimmed bubble bath.
He takes one of my feet in his hands and massages it. “Let’s talk about today.”
I let my head fall back and my eyes close, taking in the bliss of his fingers kneading into my feet. “Mmm…” I put my other foot between his legs, gently caressing his dick. “Second couples massage in two days? You must think I’m special…”
I stroke gently up and down, and he thickens under my touch. My eyes are still closed, and the scent of whatever herb is in the hotel bubble bath is divine.
His voice is low and considered. “I need to talk to you about something. Something we need to do today.”
I thought all we have to do today is eat breakfast with his old teammates and wives, and I’d take a walk on the beach while he goes to pregame practice. I level my face with him, eyes remaining closed, because I don’t want to overfill my senses with anything but his talented fingers and the smell of this room. “God, you have strong fingers, Pup…”
“I’m glad you like it…” Somehow, his words hang in the air just like I left his proposition about today hanging.
When I open my eyes, he’s staring at me seriously, and I don’t get the impression he’s concentrating on my arch.
I lift an eyebrow lazily. “Are you about to ruin my inner serenity?”
His lips draw into a thin line.
Uh-oh. How could anyone possibly have a problem in atub like this? But he does. The mood between us has always been visible, and he needs to talk.
I wiggle my toes near his dick. “There’s something telling me I might be using this foot for something other than your pleasure in a minute. Why do I feel like you’re about to tell me bad news?”
He laughs lightly but still lifts my foot away from his nuts and places it to the side of his hip, then resumes my massage.
I can’t be manipulated with reflexology. “Spit it out, Dane.”
His brown eyes are deep and dead serious and take no prisoners with their announcement. “We should see Chloe today.”
Yanking my foot out of his hands, I draw my knees into my chest and rest my chin on them. Chloe? Why the hell would I want to see her? I was worried about running into her, and now Ashton proposes we set up an actual reunion? “You and I have very different ideas of what a vacation means. I’ll pass on that tour, thanks.”
He doesn’t respond immediately.
“Is that why you brought me to LA? I thought we were meeting your old Raptors buddies and their wives for breakfast today, not ambushing Jolie for a second time.”
“It’s not an ambush.”
“What do you call a surprise attack?”
“First, we are meeting my friends today, it wasn’t a ploy to get you here. But I told Chloe to come to the hotel this morning. Before they get here.”
The water splashes around me like an open ocean swell. I can’t get out of this tub fast enough. What the hell? I wrap a towel around myself. “That’s not cool.”
“No. It’s not cool.” He gets out and dresses himself in aterry cloth robe off a nearby hook, his wrists hanging out of the sleeves. “It’s not cool. Not fun. Not the stuff vacations are made of.”
He states the obvious while I brace myself on the bathroom counter and stare at my fuzzy reflection in the steamed-up mirror.
His arms snake around my waist, and he kisses my neck. “It won’t be fun, but this story needs an end. You don’t have to come with me to see her. I can end this once and for all on my own and text you when she’s gone, but I think we should do this together.”
I don’t know. On the one hand, Ashton is very annoying for putting this event in our otherwise perfect schedule. On the other hand, he’s probably right. Closure is always a good thing.
But I shake my head. “I took two days off plucking ticks and expressing anal glands for this? Your idea of vacation makes work seem very attractive, Ashton.” I would rather do any putrid vet job than see that woman again.
He leans over me with his giant arm to wipe the steam off the mirror. In the reflection is his soulful gaze and his boyish lips ready to tell me to be reasonable like he always does. Like I need.
“Joey, you see that man behind you?”
