I know what he’s gonna say before he even opens his mouth.
“You cool sharin’ a room with her?”
“Don’t have a choice, now, do I?” I answer flippantly. Hell yeah, I’m okay with it. Even if I am confused as fuck as to why Willow invited Isabelle, knowing the bed situation. Unless she’s trying to make trouble, which I wouldn’t put past her.
“That double bed is gonna make things cozy, though,” he says casually, and a snort escapes me before I can stop it.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” I’m taking a risk with my answer. But he’s my best fucking friend. I can trust him.
“Nah, I say that as a warning. I can’t shake the feeling that no matter what you say, or whatever the fuck you two are doing, somebody’s gonna get hurt. I don’t want that for either of you.”
I don’t look at him, my gaze fixed on Isabelle, who’s peeling off her cover-up, revealing a teal-coloured bathing suit that crisscrosses over her body, lifting her tits up in a way that makes my mouth water. Lifting my hand to his shoulder, I squeeze it firmly. “It’s all good, brother. Promise.”
Once again, as I walk away, I hear my best friend mutter under his breath, “I still call bullshit.”
And all I can do is hope like hell he’s wrong.
Chapter twenty-six
Isabelle
“I’m glad you came with us,” Willow comments, lazily dragging her hand through the water. Us three women are out on floaties in the lake, soaking up the sun while the guys are out on the boat.
“Me too, thanks for the invite. This is perfect,” I reply.
“Even if you are stuck sharing a room with my brother and having to sleep in a bunk bed?” Evie teases and we all giggle.
“I’ll survive,” I say dramatically, holding back my smile. I am a bit confused as to why Willow invited me, knowing the bed situation, but I guess she assumed we could handle it, being friends and all.
No matter what, it’s not going to be a hardship sharing a room with Kai.
Not at all.
And that double bed? Just means we’ll be cuddling extra close. It’ll be our first time spending a night together since I left forItaly. And the only thing that could possibly make it better would be if we were in Kai’s bed and didn’t have his teammates just down the hall.
This afternoon has been heaven. I hadn’t realized how much the city was starting to press in on me until Ronan turned off the highway, onto the country road that wound its way to their cabin.
Back in Italy, the flat I share with Maria is on the outskirts of a moderate-sized town. We’ve got all the amenities, and it’s a bustling place, for the most part. But the nearest large city is over an hour away. Vancouver has an energy all its own. I like it, but I also like getting away from it, as evidenced by how relaxed I feel right now.
Or how relaxed I did feel, because all of that goes away in a heartbeat when the floatie I’m on is tipped over, and I fall under the cold water.
I can just barely hear the shrieks of the other girls, so I’m guessing it was a concerted attack from the men. As I surface, pushing hair back from my face, I see Kai’s grin as he props himself up on my floatie.
“That was not nice,” I say, before giving him an evil look and propelling myself through the water.
“Oh, shit!” His eyes widen as he tries to kick away, but I’m a much stronger swimmer than he is, and I reach him in no time, climbing onto his back. He’s tall enough to stand, but the water is too deep for him to make an escape, so I attack, tickling his sides until he’s shouting and laughing, and the floatie is drifting up to shore.
Somehow, Kai manages to spin me around, and then I’m plastered against his front. We’re both grinning and breathing heavily, and there’s a very obvious, very large, very hard ridge pressing between my legs.
I squirm, releasing my arms. “Put me down,” I say in a quieter voice. He does so immediately, his face falling slightly, but then a smile masks it as the others reach us.
“That was evil,” Evie shouts at her brother, splashing water at him as she and Rhett come over.
“What did I do? Darling’s the one who dunked you,” Kai protests as his sister splashes him again. He ducks and splashes her right back. The rest of us move out of the way.
“Yeah, but he’s too nice to have thought of it himself. That ploy had Kai Yamaki written all over it.”
The others all burst out laughing. “She’s got you there,” Ronan shouts.
