Son of a bitch. I’m harder than hard. What the hell is happening?
Your best friend is blowing your mind.
Suddenly, she wrenches free with a gasp, pressing a hand to her swollen mouth and staring at me in horror. “I’m sorry! I’m so… Oh, my god.”
Before I can stop her, Echo turns and runs out of our room, slamming the door behind her.
Chapter Three
I stand in the middle of our hotel room, blinking. What just happened?
Echo kissed me. Like a lover.
It blew away every notion I had about her. About us.
Heaving a breath, I stumble back to the bed and sink down. Now what do I do…especially about the fact I’m aching to kiss her again?
The better question is, what happens if you do…and you turn out exactly like your father? You’ll break her heart, and you won’t have a best friend anymore.
That can’t happen.
But she’s out there alone, probably confused. She kissed me to demonstrate how ridiculous the notion of us in bed together is…but instead she proved we have blow-the-top-off-my-head, make-my-cock-bust-out-my-zipper chemistry.
I said it before, but it bears repeating. Holy shit.
My first instinct is to charge after her. Then my brain kicks in. If I drag her back to our room now, I doubt there will be much talking. Before I see her, I have to cool down. I have to think without my body throbbing.
Sitting isn’t working. I stand. I pace. But no, my lips still burn. My heart pounds. My blood sears me as it races to my cock.
It would be easy to take her sweetness, but she wants things I can’t give her. Love. Devotion. Forever.
But Xavian wasn’t going to give her those things, either. He hasn’t suddenly decided he’s head-over-heels with her in the last week. So why did she choose him?
I need to know. And before I find Echo and figure out how we proceed given the fact I can still taste her lips against mine, I have to find out what X is really thinking.
Where the fuck do you think she went? She’s not hanging out at the bar by herself with a tear-stained face…
Oh, shit. What if she’s already in Xavian’s bed? What if she’s fucking him?
With a curse, I grab my key from the nightstand, then dash out my door. X’s room is just down the hall. I don’t see a light on under the door. He’s got to be roaming the hotel grounds since nothing else is within walking distance.
Then I hear a woman moan. Not like she’s upset or hurt. But like she’s halfway to orgasm.
Seriously, X already has her naked and aroused? Is he inside her, too?
Rage takes over.
I bang my fist against his door. “Open up, you son of a bitch. Right now!”
Nothing—at first. Finally, I hear whispers, then scrambling. A light comes on. Then X inches the door open, wearing a pair of hastily donned basketball shorts and a layer of sweat. “What the fuck, dude?”
“You tell me.” This is one time I’m happier to be bigger and taller than my pal. I reach over his head and shove the door wide, slamming it against the wall while I charge inside. “I told you not to touch Echo, and what did you do?”
But it’s not my bestie sitting on the rumpled bed, holding the sheet up to her flushed, naked body. Just like I predicted earlier when X first got lei’d, he’s now getting laid again.
“Shit. I’m sorry.” I look away from her, feeling ridiculous. Echo isn’t the kind of girl to go straight from kissing me to getting naked with someone else. I need to calm the fuck down.
I’m never a hot-head. I don’t like impulsivity. I definitely hate stupidity. Tonight, I’ve been all of those.
“Happy?” X snaps.
“No, I’m embarrassed. I’m not thinking straight. Echo and I had a fight about last night. She slammed out. I assumed she’d come to you, and when I heard a woman moan…”
“She’s missing?”
“No. She’s got to be around.” Doesn’t she? She couldn’t take a plane home at midnight.
“But you don’t know where she is?”
Admitting the truth sucks, but lying doesn’t help. “No.”
“Fuck.”
“It’s fine.” I try to convince myself of that. “I’m sure if I look around I’ll find her. Don’t worry. Um…as you were.”
I race out of the room like my ass is on fire and start looking around. There’s nowhere in the hallway for her to have gone. There are no lounges or common seating areas on this floor. So I head to the bank of elevators and rush down to the lobby. She’s not sitting in any of the plush chairs designed for guests to wait. Like I thought, she’s not in the bar. She’s not near the taxi stand, which is empty both of cabs and attendants.
Where the fuck did she go? I turn. The sweeping expanse of the moon over the vast blue Pacific gives me an idea.
But when I run down the multiple layers of stairs to the beach, it’s empty. All the chaises have been stacked beside a little stand. The sign indicates that check-out for towels and umbrellas will begin tomorrow at eight a.m.
Pushing down my panic, I dash back up the stairs. Where would Echo go when she’s upset?
I scan the resort critically. To the left of one of the many swimming pools, I spot a garden area with a sign for a nature walk. And I’m off.
A little bridge leads to a koi pond. Beyond that, a stone path sends me into a lush forest of palms and flowers, subtly lit by the landscape lights and the huge moon. I continue winding down the empty walkway. A sitting area. Another pond. A few discreet information signs about the foliage. Finally, the path ends near a cluster of cabanas around a smaller, adults-only pool that suddenly springs up like an oasis.
There, on the far side, I spot a figure in the fetal position silhouetted against the moon. Her hair and her curves tell me that’s Echo.
I bite back the urge to call her name. I don’t want to wake anyone, but I especially won’t risk her running away.
What the hell are you going to say?
No clue.
Cautiously, I approach the blue-draped cabana and kneel beside her. Tears stain her face. Her mascara runs. Her eyes look lost and confused.
That expression rips at me.
She sits up, blinking and flinching like she thinks I’m going to berate her.
“Hey.” I brush a curl from her cheek and tuck it behind her ear. “Let’s talk.”
Echo looks down before her gaze bounces back up with a too-bright smile. “I’ll make this quick and painless. I messed up and I’m really sorry. I was drinking all day and I did more of it at dinner. It was stupid and irresponsible. I said and did things I shouldn’t have. I’ll be sober the rest of the week and go back to being your only slightly crazy friend.”
She wasn’t trashed, and that isn’t why she kissed me. But confronting her won’t help. “I’m not mad. I’m not blaming you, either. You don’t need to apologize or spend the rest of the week punishing yourself. But I think we should discuss the reason you plan to lose your virginity and why you picked Xavian.” Because I’m definitely not ready to dissect our kiss. “We both know he and his wandering dick will make you miserable.”
“I’d rather not talk about it. Can you give me some time alone?”