Biker's Virgin

“I just came to welcome Molly back,” she said. “I’ll give you two some time to catch up.”

“That would be great,” Emma nodded.

The moment Alani left, Emma turned to me. She had always been a confident young woman who seemed far more mature than her age. Even now, she exuded confidence and maturity, except there was sex appeal there now, too. She was my height, and her long dark hair was draped around her slim shoulders. I realized that she looked a lot like Tristan now.

“You’re back,” Emma said.

I frowned in confusion. “Yes…”

“I’m sorry we missed each other the last time,” she said.

“Uh, did we?” I asked. “I think I must have left by the time you came down here.”

“No,” she said confidently. “There was definitely an overlap.”

“Oh… I didn’t even know you were in the resort,” I said, wondering if Tristan had mentioned it to me and I had just forgotten in light of everything that had happened.

“I think I arrived the day before you left,” Emma said.

“Oh wow… I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” I said. “If I had known I would have definitely come and said hi.”

“Oh, in fact we did meet…not face to face, but close enough.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “What are you talking about?”

“I was the girl in Tristan’s shower, Molly,” Emma said, sitting down on my bed and looking up at me.

“Excuse me?”

“I arrived earlier than expected, and my room wasn’t ready yet. So I had to wait a few hours and there was no other room available for me, but I was desperate for a shower. My generous big brother offered up his suite for my use.”

I just stared at Emma for a second. “I… Sorry… I’m just…

“Processing?” she offered. “Understandable.”

“I went to Tristan after that,” I said. “I accused him and he… He admitted to it. He admitted to cheating on me—he never mentioned you.”

“I love my brother,” she said. “But as I’ve told him repeatedly before, he is a coward. He was scared, so he jumped on the out you were giving him.”

“Scared?” I repeated incredulously. “Scared of what?”

“The voices in his head,” Emma replied. “The voices that were telling him he would screw up with you sooner or later.”

“So he chose to accelerate the process?”

“I don’t claim to understand the exact reasons why he did what he did—though I’ve tried, believe me. But I think the crux of the matter is fear.”

I felt my jaw tighten in anger. “Excuse me, Emma,” I said. “I have to go.”

“Where are you going?”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Tristan

“Say that again?” I said, looking at Ben with wide eyes.

“Molly’s here.”