Beneath the Stars (Falling Stars 4)

Catching up to me once again.

When I’d chanted over and over that I was in control. That I got to shape my life. I guessed I’d been realizing the shape I was forming it into was dangerous.

That I might not make it through to the other side.

Still knowing it would be worth it.

I swallowed around the rock lodged at the base of my throat. “Thank you.”

I turned and started into the bathroom.

The man shuffled in behind me. I shifted a bit to the right toward the vanity on the far side where I kept my toiletries, while he went left toward the enormous shower at the far end of the bathroom.

Before I had the chance to grab my things, he turned on the showerhead.

The patter of the water falling to the marble filled the room, and I looked up and caught his reflection in the vanity mirror just as he was shrugging out of his underwear.

His ass bare.

Round and perfect and oh my god.

I froze for a beat. Jaw coming unhinged.

From over his shoulder, Rhys tossed me a grin and then he stepped inside.

It took me a second to gather my senses off the floor. To remember what I was doing.

Hands shaking, I grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste from the vanity and went flying into my room.

I shut the door behind me and leaned back against the wall.

Heart a battering ram at my ribs.

My mind was still trying to catch up to what had transpired during the breaking day. It took a second to realize the biggest smile split my face.

Holy crap.

Rhys had touched me.

For a moment, I relished in it.

In the memory that I would take with me forever.

In the burn of his fingers still singeing my flesh.

Finally, I pushed off the wall and moved for my door so I could slip into the powder room at the end of the hall and brush my teeth.

I yelped when I flew out into the hall and ran smack into a hard body.

Royce.

Royce who was still spun up over my fall a couple days ago.

Royce who’d been flitting all around me. Worried. Watching me in a way he shouldn’t.

Royce who was looking at me like he had been one hot second away from kicking in my door.

Stumbling back, I pinned a smile on my face. “Oh…hey, hi, Royce. Good morning.”

Smooth.

Real smooth.

A frown furrowed his brow, and he looked to the open door behind me. “Where were you? I’ve been knocking for like ten minutes. Was gettin’ worried about you.”

Of course, he was.

My mind raced through what to say. What to offer. It wasn’t like I was a child and couldn’t make my own decisions.

But I could still hear his plea of a demand from the day we’d first gotten here. When he’d asked me point-blank to stay away from Rhys.

When he’d warned I didn’t need the kind of trouble that boy would bring.

Disquiet and a newfound desperation wound through my spirit.

Undoubtedly, my brother was right.

Rhys was trouble.

He was probably going to hurt me.

I heard the faint sound of the shower echoing through the walls.

My heart twisted.

And I knew that man was worth the pain. Even if I only got to experience him for a short time.

I pinned a smile on my face because the last thing we needed was Royce getting suspicious.

Not when I had no idea where we stood.

If there was any way to move on from here.

“I must have been in the bathroom and didn’t hear you knocking.”

Royce’s entire demeanor twisted in a frown, and he tipped his head toward my toothbrush and toothpaste clutched to my chest. “Then what are you doing?”

“Oh…well…Rhys is in the shower, so I was just going to brush my teeth down the hall.”

Speculation jumped through his expression.

You know, considering I’d just told him I’d been in the bathroom.

Clearly, I was the worst liar in the world.

Awkwardly, I gestured behind me. “I…uh…had a girl thing and figured I’d better get out since I was taking the bathroom up for so long.”

Wow.

Playing the period card.

Royce huffed out in uneasy annoyance, roughing a tatted hand over his pitch-black hair. “You shouldn’t have to do that. You never should have agreed to share a bathroom, especially with Rhys. You deserve your privacy.”

Another tremor ripped through me when I thought back to the way that bathroom had come to feel like a passageway into another world. Another realm. “I assure you that I have plenty of privacy, Royce. It’s fine.”

I sent all the disbelieving skepticism in my brother’s direction. “I mean, come on, Royce. I asked to come with you guys, and now I’m staying at a mansion on the beach for free. I think I can share a bathroom. You act like I’m some kind of spoiled-brat princess.”

Royce grunted. “So what if I want the best for my baby sister.”