“Look, Barkley. I-”
“Seriously, are you twelve?” she hisses.
“You look great, by the way,” I say with a shrug, walking backwards with my hands in my pockets so I can face her. “Really makes your eyes pop.”
“I hate you,” she spits, but I know she doesn’t mean it.
Gwen links arms with Lainey while hiding her laughter behind her hand. “You two are exhausting,” she says. “And also, possibly in love. Or hate. It’s hard to tell,” she whispers so no one else but us can hear.
“I vote hate,” Lainey mutters quietly, wringing out her hair.
“Sure,” Ryker scoffs. Lainey shoots him a death glare.
“Do you want to be next in the fountain,groomzilla?”
Ryker raises his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. Truce.”
Honestly, this is too much fun. Why apologize when I can get her all worked up?
Leaning over to Gwen, under my breath, I say, “For the record, she started it.”
Gwen rolls her eyes. “You literally pushed her into a public fountain.”
“Details.”
“Alright, can we head back now? I’m starving,” Mason calls out.
“Shut up!” we all say in unison.
“Damn, guys. Chill,” he says.
As we all make our way back to the train station, everyone is looking around at the sights and famous landmarks, but I can’t keep my eyes off of Lainey.
Lainey hasn’t spoken to me since we arrived back at the hotel. I guess I can’t really blame her, but I did think she’d be over it by now. There’s no way she’s actually still pissed about it. She’s just trying to prove a point.
I’m not going to let her be pissed at me anymore, though. She’s had enough time to stew in her anger, but it’s been long enough.
As I stand outside her hotel room door, I take one final deep breath before knocking on the door. She may be extremely sexy when she’s angry, but she still kind of scares me.
“Gwen, if you brought another espresso martini, I swear I—”
“It’s not Gwen,” I call back, chuckling quietly. “Let me in.”
I hear her pause just behind the door before she opens it halfway, only to find me leaning in the doorway. Her eyes narrow.
She’s changed into a soft rust-colored slip dress, her bare shoulders kissed with sun, but her jaw is tight.
“Come to shove me into another body of water?” she asks coolly.
“Not unless there’s a pool in this room.”
“Then why are you here?”
I step forward, causing Lainey to take a step back. “To call a truce.”
She arches a brow, arms crossed. “Really? That doesn’t sound like you.”
“Well, that’s why I’m here.”
