With an apologetic groan, he leans away and pulls it out of his pocket. He reads the screen, then looks across the golf course to the far side of the clubhouse. "They're here. Told us to meet them at the pool."
Four silhouettes approach the waist-high fence surrounding the pool and climb over. I only have a second to process what they're planning before I see someone, who I assume to be Nina, pull her dress over her head.
I turn back to Joey. "Not yet. Okay?"
He grins and nods before texting a reply and setting the phone beside him on the grass.
Without hesitating, he pulls me onto his lap and I straddle him, our lips crashing together. We are not gentle--groping, groaning and grinding. Our breathing is as frantic as our heartbeats. My fingers tangle in his hair. His hands slide under the sweatshirt and grip my bare back. I don't pull away to breathe. I could seriously die kissing him.
Joey pulls the sweatshirt roughly over my head and flips me so I'm lying on top of it, his body pressed to me. His mouth tastes down the lines of my neck and into the revealing slope of the halter. I wrap my legs around him and tilt my head back, consumed by his touch. I tug at the edges of his shirt, desperate to run my hands along his skin. He separates long enough to yank it over his head and toss it on the grass.
His body crushes me in the best possible way and I gasp.
"You feel so good," he murmurs against my neck, sucking the skin below my ear.
I grip him tighter, moving beneath him.
He groans with a heavy breath. "Oh god, Lana, I love you."
I freeze.
Joey begins to lift my shirt, and I grab his hands, stopping him.
"Get off me."
He looks down at me, confusion surfacing beneath the lust. "What?"
I shove hard at his chest. "Get off me!"
Joey rolls to the side, not resisting. Realization and shock flash across his face. His mouth drops open, but nothing comes out. I stand, adjusting my shirt and snatching my shoes.
"Lana!" Joey calls to me, his tone laden with panic. "Don't go."
But I'm already storming away, rage pulsing through my veins. I can feel the muscles along my neck protruding.
"Lana!"
I focus on the pool, blocking him out. He'd better stay the fuck away from me. If he follows me or tries to touch me, I swear I will castrate him.
"Hey!"
My footsteps stumble. The voice is deeper, not Joey's. I turn and am blinded by a bright spotlight.
"Stay right there."
I don't have to see to know he's a police officer. So ... I run.
"Stop!"
The pool seems so fricken far away right now. And when I'm halfway there, I watch Parker, Lincoln, Tori and Nina scramble up and out of the pool. They grab their clothes as they run for the fence. The spotlight veers away from me for just a moment to illuminate them. It gives me the second I need to push into the hedges along the side of the clubhouse.
I hear the police car pull out of the delivery area. I consider running for it, but by this time, the four of them are already disappearing into the trees. I can't see what's on the other side, but I have to assume it's where Parker left his car.
As much as I don't want to, I look back to where I left Joey, but I don't see him. A second later, I hear the Jeep start up and pull away. Where's he going?
I'm about to step out of the hedges, not sure where to go, when the police car comes into view again at the pool side of the clubhouse, its spotlight shining on the blue water. I shove back into the hedges, scraping my arms against the prickly branches, just as the light swings up, sweeping along the golf course toward where Joey and I were on the green.
I hug my knees to my chest, trying to make myself as small as possible when the light passes in front of the hedges. I close my eyes, afraid to even breathe. When I open them again, the light is gone and I exhale. I wait for what feels like an eternity before poking my head out. The police car is pulling away, its spotlight still searching the area as it turns onto a road on the other side of the trees. It doesn't stop. Parker must have driven off, which means ... they left me.