Cruel Kiss

She didn’t want Robert to know. And, fuck, I didn’t want him to be upset by this either, but I wasn’t ready to walk away.

I grasped her arms and slung them around my neck. It was just like last night. When she’d forced herself backward on my cock as I pushed into her. Every single beat hit at a perfect pace.

“Just a dance?” she asked when that song finished and the next one started. She didn’t pull away again though.

“Just a dance.”

She nodded and rested her head against my chest. The pixie fit in my arms as if she had been made to be there.

I wanted more, but I wasn’t going to force her to give me more than she was ready for. Maybe once we were back from this vacation, we could figure it out.

It didn’t have to be today.

I just didn’t want it to be never.

11

WHITLEY

A week passed in a flurry of flirty looks. I’d bailed early that night at the club, and we hadn’t gone back. But trying to act normal around Gavin was harder than I’d thought it would be.

It was officially New Year’s Eve and Katherine’s birthday and our last night of vacation. I didn’t want to stress over any of it. I was determined to just have as much fun as possible. Tomorrow, we’d be back in the city. Reality would return. But tonight, I was free.

I traipsed down the walkway and onto the beach with English at my side. The guys trailed behind us. Lark had planned a special beach party for Katherine. English and I had come down earlier to make sure everything was to Katherine’s impossibly high standards. But seeing it now, as the sun set on the water, I was impressed.

“Wow,” I whispered.

“Pretty great, right?” English asked.

I nodded. It really was. We’d managed to create a beachside pillow fort with dozens of plush blankets laid out, topped with a veritable mountain of pillows. The beach was already the place to be for the resort’s inaugural New Year’s Eve event. Bodies moved in time to music a DJ was blasting. A beach volleyball game had started up while there was still light. Luckily, our group had our own bartender.

“This is amazing,” Sam said. “Lark had her work cut out for her.”

“Hey, we helped!” English argued.

“You did great, babe,” Court said, squeezing her ass.

She rolled her eyes at him, and we all settled down in the mass of pillows.

Katherine had a themed black, gold, and silver event. I was in a slinky silver wrap dress, which actually made sitting kind of difficult. English had chosen a black romper that showed off miles of long, tan legs. Arguably, a better choice for a beach party. Lark’s red hair would be highlighted in her gold number.

And then Katherine appeared with Lark in tow, and of course—of course—she’d broken her own rules. She was in a bright red dress. It was gorgeous on her and made her stand out, which was likely the point.

We were only missing Camden. Surely, he wouldn’t skip his own wife’s birthday.

“Happy birthday!” we all cheered as she joined the group.

“Thank you. This is perfect. Almost as good as if I’d done it myself.”

Lark laughed at her. “You perfectionist.”

“Control freak,” English added.

“But you’re our perfectionist control freak,” I said with a smile.

Katherine arched an eyebrow at all of us and took an offered drink. “That sounds accurate.”

“All right. Enough chitchatting. Let’s dance!” I downed my drink and pointed straight at Gavin.

We were the only ones not coupled up. I didn’t plan to sit around all night. This was nothing out of the ordinary. I could lie to myself just fine.

Gavin arched his eyebrows and gestured to himself. “Me?”

“Yeah, you,” I said with a grin. “Come dance with me.”

He laughed, but I saw a glint of something else in his eyes. Desire. I shivered at that look.

He stepped across the blankets. “All right, bossy.”

I looked right back at him, defiance in my expression. “Bossy girls are just leaders who didn’t stay down when boys told them to be quiet.”

He smirked then, roguish and handsome in the firelight. “By all means, lead then.”

I winked at my friends and then dragged him into the crowd. Probably, this was stupid. But, god, I wanted to have fun. Gavin was fun. It didn’t have to mean anything … right?

“What’s this, Whit?” he asked as I pushed into the throng.

“This is dancing. You’re good at it.”

“So are you.”

“Exactly. Let’s just have fun, Gavin,” I begged of him. “I feel like since we slept together, things have been so … tense. I am not a tense person. I can’t live in a world of angst.” He chuckled at my words. “I’m serious. I want to spend the night with my friends and dance the night away. Can we do that?”