By the timemy legs regained enough strength to walk with my cane, it was well past sunset, and I was too worn-out to go out for dinner. Ryan didn’t seem to give a shit. In fact, he looked kind of thrilled that we didn’t have to trudge down to the restaurant.
I ordered off the special suites menu for a nice little spread of picky foods, which came on a large tray, and we took it outside to our shared patio and ate on loungers with a small table between us.
Every time our fingers met, I felt a jolt up my arm.
I wanted more, but strangely, I was also content with this. These small touches and shared smiles were heaven. The pointless conversation and the soft laughter that meant everything and nothing at all felt like oxygen.
With him, it was easy to forget the rest of the world was outside waiting for us.
It was easy to forget that I still had a life to recover, and a brother to appease after ghosting him, and my independence to demand once I got home.
It was easy to forget that this wasn’t our forever.
“We should get in the hot tub,” Ryan said after we’d finished the last bit of cheese on the tray.
My brows lifted. “You think that’s a good idea? I thought you didn’t want germs up your pee hole.”
He burst into laughter. “Well, chlorine will help with that. So long as you don’t want to fuck me in there. And as long as you think they’ve cleaned out the come that came before us.”
I covered my mouth, hiding my giggle. “Oh my god, I’m pretty sure they did.”
“You’d be surprised. I’ve seen some gross-ass documentaries about what hotels skimp on disinfectants.”
“Let’s pretend the amount of money we paid for these rooms means a come-free hot tub, yeah?”
He grinned at me. “Deal.”
Fuck, I wanted to kiss him. In fact, I realized, there was nothing stopping me. I stood up, legs still a little wobbly, and walked around the table, dropping to his lounger. He stared at me with a soft “Oh,” but welcomed me as I slid up his body and squeezed us both onto the chair that was definitely not meant for two grown men.
“Hi,” I whispered.
He leaned close enough to rub his nose along mine. “Hello.”
“I wanted to kiss you.”
“And I want to be kissed,” he murmured.
I cupped his cheek and pressed our lips together, soft at first, a little chaste, but as I began to taste him, the kiss deepened. His tongue was sweet like the jam and brie he’d eaten, and warm as it danced with mine.
God, I could do this forever.
I wanted to do this forever. I just wasn’t sure I was brave enough to tell him that.
We broke apart long, lush moments later, and he groaned, dropping his head against my shoulder. “Would it be going against vacation protocol to do just this for the week?”
I laughed. “No. We get to make the rules.”
“Ooh, I like that. I don’t get a lot of that in my life.” When he pulled back, I raised a brow, and he rolled his eyes. “I work at a prep school. Amazing pay, but a whole board of directors that are basically just the rich parents of entitled students who plan to buy their way into Ivy League education.”
“Hmm. Gross.”
He laughed. “Yeah, tell me about it.” He dipped his fingers under my linen shirt and traced a touch around my ribs, smiling when I jumped. “Did you, ah…did you finish school?”
I sighed as I leaned back, lost in the feeling of his hand on me. “Barely. I think I graduated with a 2.9? I think half those last Cs were pity grades, but it was fine. We’d already gotten signed by the end of my senior year.”
“And your…your ex?” Ryan asked carefully.
“He didn’t finish. He dropped out and was acting as the band manager for the last year before we got representation. I’ll give him credit,” I said, not even feeling bitter about it anymore, “he was good at it. Being a narcissistic control freak did the band some favors in those early days.”
