That heat reignited in her gaze once she took Ryker in, like she was reminiscing. He sure as fuck was. He’d slept around plenty, but none had excited him the way Willow had. The way she continued to drive him crazy.
Ezra hauled himself up to take his shower. Ryker settled in next to her, completely ignoring the glare coming his way as his friend retreated for what would probably be a very quick rinse.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
“I told you I’m fine.” Her tone was short, like she had no intention of answering further.
He took a deep breath. “I don’t know, you seem pretty fuckin’ pissed or sad or something.” His tone softened. “Say something, pretty girl.”
Willow’s shoulders rose and fell. Finally, she turned and offered him a sweet kiss. Her mouth gently urged his open as she wove her small fingers through his damp hair.
Fuck… Why was she doing this?
Distraction. That’s what it was—more distraction. He pulled away, silently kicking himself for breaking it off.
She must have sensed that he wasn’t trusting her motives. “I just want to kiss you right now… is that okay? For real. There’s no trick.”
How the fuck could he say no to that? Her soft lips grazed his, searching for confirmation on what she wanted. Heat radiated through his body, going straight to his groin.
I don’t think I’ve been this fucking hard all the time since I was sixteen.
Willow continued to tease with her tongue, darting into his mouth as his hands roamed over the perfect planes of her body.
Then. Of course. The shower switched off.
Probably what Ezra had to deal with right before he came out.
Could I do it? Could I be okay with Ez having her, too?
The question nagged hard and deep into his psyche. If he only had to deal with Ezra, then maybe that was okay—they were friends anyway.
Well, hopefully they could stay friends.
***
The ride down the mountain passed in a strange blur of uncertainty. He could feel the tension in the air as they reached the pullout, where they could finally get a signal.
They hopped out, their feet crunching on the gravel road. A faint breeze cut through, warmer than the storm winds that had pummeled the area.
Willow leaned against the van. He tried to stay near, hopefully close enough that he could catch a peek at whoever she might be talking to. She said there was no boyfriend, but he wanted to be sure.
Her motions were too quick as her fingers flew over the keypad of her phone.
His expression soured as he ground his teeth together.
Who the fuck deserves this much of her attention?
Then, the phone was to her ear, and she was chatting with the old lady who was spoiling her cat.
He tried to distract himself by listening to Ezra’s conversation with Xan. From what he could gather, it wasn’t a good talk. Xan was sick of them being stuck, but Ezra was keeping an even tone as he tried to explain that they had no control over the situation. At least the social media site said the bridge shouldbe fixed by the next day, then they could all get back to their strange existence.
He didn’t want to go back. At least, not if it meant no Willow.
“Yeah…” Ezra said gruffly, phone stuck to his ear. “Understood. There’s just no actual way out—” He pinched the bridge of his nose as he took in the verbal assault. “Understood.”
Ezra tapped the screen and shoved his phone into his pocket. “She call the cat lady?”
Ryker looked away abruptly. “I think she’s talking to someone else. Or was before. There’s something…” He trailed off, glancing over his shoulder to figure out what Willow was doing.
