“Yourgirlfriend?” Erica gasps in surprise. “Holy shit, now I’ve got to hear this story!” Before he can get into it though, another group of guys approaches Justin and Kai. I step away, giving them some space to catch up, and move to a little corner of the balcony. The wind off the ocean is cold, and I’m wearing a pair of jeans I’d paired with a nice cami in a raspberry pink color, but I’d forgotten to bring a sweater. Before I have a chance to regret it, Kai joins me, sidling close to my body and angling his to block the wind.
“We won't stay too long. Just give me an hour to say hello to a few people and then we’ll get going,” he promises, looking down at me. He’s suddenly shoved out the way as Erica pushes in, grabbing my available hand.
“Come on, it's freezing out here. I’ll grab you one of my sweaters, and we’ll go downstairs to huddle around the fire pit.” She drags me away while Kai watches on hopelessly, unable to stop the hurricane that is his cousin. Not sure what else I can do, I wave and smile so he knows I’m okay, and the look of relief on his face is the last thing I see before she pulls me into the crowd.
After a brief stop at the kitchen to dump our empties and grab more beer, she leads me through a closed door and down a corridor. “We keep the bedrooms and things off limits during parties. Everyone knows the deal; there are two bathrooms down on the bottom level, so there’s no reason for anyone to be in here.”
She pushes open the door to what must be the master suite. A large bed surrounded by a white mosquito net takes up the most space in the room, with beach-inspired decor surrounding it. She ducks into a walk-in closet, swiftly coming back with a thick hoodie “We don't need these very often in Hawaii, but when Justin has to go to the mainland for things, I usually bring one,” she explains, handing it to me. “Okay, now we’re ready to sit by the pit while the boys talk waves and whatever.”
* * *
It’s more than an hour later when Kai catches up to me, but I don't mind. Erica has kept me company the whole time, and she is seriously a nice person. She also introduced me to Justin's sister Madeline, a photographer who was visiting while in between shoots, and hearing about all the places she’s been has me jonesing for some international travel. When we exhaust that topic, it’s Erica's turn to grill me about how I came to know Kai. They’re both fascinated and horrified by the whole story, but by the end, they were intrigued and curious as fuck about my potential six-way relationship. It’s weird how comfortable I felt confiding in these two girls about such a personal matter, but I’m not going to examine the feeling too closely. I’ve never had that close circle of friends, but I think that Alex, Hope, and Shane are starting to teach me that I should be open to making new connections when the opportunity arises.
Kai gives Maddy a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek in hello before crouching down in front of where I’m sitting on the comfy sofa. It’s positioned the perfect distance from the fire pit—close enough not to be cold but far enough not to overheat. In any case, Erica, Maddy, and I had moved from beers to shots halfway through my story, so I'm feeling no pain. I'm not hammered, but I am mellow and chilled.
“I’m so sorry.” He looks so sheepish and adorable that I can’t find it in me to even pretend that I’m annoyed with him. Normally, I’d totally take the chance to tease him a bit, but he’s just so damn cute.
“It’s fine, babe.” I wave him off, and his eyes widen slightly in surprise, maybe at my sudden use of a pet name, but then a pleased smirk covers his face. “The girls have been hearing all about the shit storm that has been my life for the past few weeks.” His smirk drops, and instantly, I feel bad. “No, don't do that.” I scramble to sit up properly and wrap my arms around him, pulling his face to my chest. “I told them you’re my absolute favorite part of the whole thing.” His body starts to shake, and I pull back just enough to try and see his face. “Are you okay?”
“Sweetheart, I have never been better,” he says, his voice muffled by my cleavage. “I could die a happy man right now.” I pull further back as he starts chuckling. I guess I did try and smother him with my boobs.
“Oops, sorry.” My cheeks start to heat with embarrassment, but he quickly shakes his head.
“Nope, don't you dare apologize! I'm glad the girls have been looking after you. Since we stayed later than expected, I had Jaxon call a car service to pick us up, and I just got a text telling me it’s here. I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to catch up with you this time,” he says to Erica, a frown on his face. “But we’ll be back for the grand opening of Jaxon’s new hotel, and I’ll get him to send you an invite and a couple of complementary nights. We can catch up then.”
Erica’s had more to drink than me, so she starts to tilt just a little too much as she eagerly bounces up and down on the sofa. “The sex hotel!” she squeals, and Kai rolls his eyes with an exasperated sigh.
“Poor Jaxon, that’s going to drive him nuts.”
I giggle. “But that’s what it is, and I don't think it will. He’s super proud of that hotel and so he should be.”
Kai hauls me to my feet, his strong grip helping to counteract the little woosh of dizziness that accompanies my quick switch to being upright. “Come on, chuckles, we need to move it. Otherwise, the driver is likely to leave without us.”
Taking off my borrowed hoodie, I return it to Erica before we say our goodbyes to the two girls, heading out the front without making any stops along the way. Sitting on the road is a black limo, and Kai drags me straight to it, the driver already waiting by the open door. I slide across the seat, my teeth already chattering by the time the driver closes the door again. It’s not long before we’re moving back toward the other end of the island, and at this time of the night there isn't much traffic on the road.
“God, I hadn't realized it gets so cold here,” I tell Kai, rubbing my arms.
He searches through the hidden cabinets until he finds a blanket before scooting over toward me, placing it over my legs, and hauling me into his arms. I snuggle in close, the warmth of his body going a long way to help. “It’s the cold wind off the ocean at night and the fact that we’re heading into autumn. Although it doesn’t change as dramatically as the mainland, it does still cool down. It’s definitely a shock after such warm days.”
I practically try to burrow into his chest to steal the warmth, and by the time I'm comfortable, I’m basically sitting on his lap, causing a pained groan to leave his mouth. “Harlow, how drunk are you?” he asks through gritted teeth.
Shaking my head against his chest, I pull back and look at him, loving the heat in his eyes. My toes curl, and I squirm a little more. “Not so drunk that I don't know what I'm doing.”
The words have barely left my mouth before his descends on my lips. He lays me down across the seat, his body on top of mine, and we spend the rest of the trip home making out like teenagers. Which is okay because I never did this when I was a teenager. Hands and lips roam, but clothes stay on because I don't want to start anything else here in the limo. As turned on as I am, and I can feel he is too, it’s almost like a mutual agreement that we wait until we get back to the hotel.
When the limo comes to a stop, both of us scramble to get out of it, and we end up rolling off the seat, our limbs tangled in the blanket. Righting ourselves, we exit the limo, our laughter filling the silence of the night around us. Kai whips out his access card and gets the main doors open for us quicker than I can track the movements right now. Grabbing my hand, he drags me across the foyer to the elevators, still chuckling, but when the elevators open and we step inside, he puts distance between us. My bottom lip pushes out in a pout when I realize he’s on the completely opposite side of the elevator, and I know I look so ridiculous that there’s no way he’s missing my reaction. “Babe, if I touch you now, or you touch me, there’s a good chance that we won’t get to your room. I’m sure it wouldn’t be the last time that Jaxon’s elevator was christened, but maybe we should hold off on that for now.”
My eyes go to the elevator buttons, wondering if there’s a pause one somewhere amongst them, but Kai immediately knows what I’m doing. Wouldn’t that be a rush, going up and down in the elevator with Kai fucking me against one of the walls, and maybe, just maybe, Jaxon would find us. A groan leaves my mouth at the thought, and it’s like a switch is flipped in Kai.
“Babe, you’re killing me.”
Unfortunately, the elevator ride is short, so none of that gets to happen, but I don’t stop staring him down, letting him see my desire written plainly on my face.
“Fuck it,” he growls, lunging for me, but the elevator doors woosh open. He sweeps me up into his arms and strides down the corridor. “Yours or mine?”
“Don’t care.” I'm basically panting now. I just want him to get to a room, any room. Fuck, Jaxon is one of the only people even in this hotel right now. Maybe the hallway is good enough?
He’s practically jogging down the corridor with me in his arms, and my impatient lips travel to his neck and start to nibble. A hard bite has him stumbling and just about dropping me. “Fuck, babe, you got to stop, or I’ll throw you down here.”
