“I’m not sure how to explain what happened with Zoey,” Ryan continued. “I guess I got carried away in the moment. The night before, after you went to your room, she’d been all over me, and yeah, it was fun. She texted me the next morning, asking to meet alone in the gardens before breakfast, so I—”
“The next morning? You didn’t sleep with her?”
“No,” Ryan choked. “You know I wouldn’t do that.”
Krista sank into her seat. A sexy vacation fling definitely wasn’t in Ryan’s DNA, but neither had it been in hers—until one damn, annoying Australian out in the wilderness had roused her innermost desires.
The train slowed mercifully into the next station.
“This is your stop, Ryan.” She turned to the window. “See you at work.”
***
Thirty minutes later, Krista pressed her ear to the door of her apartment, listening for signs of Lisa with a man. Too many times she’d walked in on half-dressed men or tripped over shoes and discarded clothes in the hall. But tonight of all nights, Krista needed her apartment quiet, and if that meant kicking a naked guy out of Lisa’s bed, she’d damn well do it. She knocked loudly and turned her key.
“Lisa! I’m coming in, so get dressed and tell whoever you’ve got in there to pull his pants back on and ship the hell out.”
She dumped her bags in the lounge then stopped dead when she saw Lisa sitting up straight on the sofa, dressed in a pink robe and a face pack.Sunday night.Of course. Lisa’s pampering night. Krista had lost track of days.
“What the hell’s gotten into you?” Lisa asked, the clay or mud, whatever the hell that was on her face, crinkled at the corners. “It’s good to see you so well rested and relaxed after your vacation.”
“Huh.” Krista dropped her keys and phone on the coffee table then slumped on the sofa next to her sister. She grabbed the remote and stabbed it toward the TV, flicking through channels full of crap until she could no longer ignore Lisa’s eyes boring into the side of her head. “What?”
Lisa’s eyebrows shot up, cracking the mask over her forehead. “Still no sex, eh?”
“Oh, please. Is that all you think about? Sex is so overrated. And men? Jesus Murphy, Lisa. Why do you go to such efforts for them?” Krista waved her hands over Lisa’s pampering kit—nail varnish and moisturizing bars for this and that, all laid out neatly on a tray. “Men aren’t worth it.”
“Firstly, I do this”—Lisa waved her arms over all the beauty paraphernalia—“for myself. I like it. I enjoy it. And secondly, do you want to tell me what, or who, has crawled up your ass?”
Krista switched off the TV and slung the remote so hard it bounced off the sofa and onto the floor. Trying to contain the explosion inside her, she folded her arms tightly across her chest. How could she even begin to assess the feelings and emotions racing through her? They were all jangled up and mis-wired, short circuiting so bad that she was blowing fuse after fuse after fuse. Her whole body crackled and hissed with anger and resentment and betrayal and...sadness.
A tear rolled down her cheek.
“Oh, Kris. What did he do to you?” Lisa squeaked and grabbed her hand, her eyes wide and fearful through the holes in her mask. “Did that Shane McDermit force—?”
“What? No!” Krista blinked away the tears. “No! Of course not. Shane wouldn’t... No, he’d never do anything like that.”He gave me choices and options and the best vacation—and orgasms—ever.
The memory of Shane’s gentle, sensual ways made the tears come back. He’d been so nice and caring, so hot and sexy, so...damn perfect. And they’d gotten on well as friends too, hadn’t they? So, why the rush to get rid of her?
She sniffed back another bout of tears. “Shane is a loser.”
“Aw, c’mon Kris. Dating losers ismyjob, not yours.” Lisa nudged her knee, but the humor in her voice didn’t work. Another tear rolled down Krista’s cheek. “Please tell me what happened?”
“Everything and nothing.” The dam broke. Krista sobbed, and the next thing she knew, Lisa’s arm was around her, pulling her in for a hug. The contact made her cry even more. Throughout their lives, it had always been Krista hugging Lisa—during bad teenage breakups, missed grades, friendship struggles, and grief for Grandma—but not once had it ever been this way around.
The world had tipped upside down, and Krista hated the mess she’d become as much as she loved the comfort her sister was offering.
“So, I’m guessing something did happen between you and Shane, eh?”
Krista swallowed back her tears and nodded, and then her phone buzzed into life on the coffee table in front of them. Ryan’s name flashed up on the screen.
“Aren’t you gonna answer?” Lisa asked. The many times Krista’s heart had sung whenever he called flooded her already confused mind. This time last week, she’d‘ve raced to answer his call, but now...
Her phone buzzed and buzzed then stopped.
The room fell so silent that Krista could hear Lisa breathing. Soft little gasps of air catching in her throat, as if she was trying to choose the right words.
In the end, Lisa said, “Do you wanna talk about it?”
