The air between us shifted, and he leaned toward my mouth and kissed me hard before I could think of pulling away.
It was the kind of kiss that could knock me to the ground.
The kind of kiss that was wild and untamed.
The kind of kiss that matched his words and face and soul.
The kind of kiss I understood.
I pulled back, panting. I brushed my fingers against my blissfully bruised lips.
“Are you okay?” he asked, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
I nodded, unable to speak. Shit. I had fucked Ashton and then I’d kissed Jude, and wasn’t there some sort of guy-code against that? Not that either of them knew that I had done anything with the other one.
Not looking up at Jude, I started walking on the trail again, not trusting myself to stand there next to him. That one kiss had undone me, in a different way than Ashton’s had.
It wouldn’t be fair to the guys for me to muddle the lines this way. Jude kept up with my pace, and didn’t say any more.
He knew what kind of kiss we’d just had. But I knew what kind of kiss I’d had with Ashton. Well, not exactly a kiss.
Fuck.
At the door of my cabin I turned to him. “Thank you.” I didn’t clarify if the thank you was for the walk or for the words or for all of it. I didn’t need to.
“You’re welcome, Willow.” And then he simply walked away.
I collapsed into bed, knowing I wouldn’t be getting the sort of sleep I needed for the next day’s hike, but also knowing my mind was going a million miles a minute.
What had I just done?Chapter EighteenThe next morning, Courtney, Callie, and I went to the resort cafe for breakfast. We must have all been craving sweets, because the entire table ordered the challah bread French toast. We were quiet as we drizzled fresh maple syrup over the thick bread, and decadently added cream to our dark roast coffee.
We hadn’t spoken much; it seemed as if we were all in our own little worlds.
I knew I was.
Finally Courtney told us about the sauna, which seemed a little boring in all honesty, but I agreed to go with her later, after my hike.
Then Callie told us she had a massage appointment for the morning, so it looked like we were all splitting up.
Before we paid and left, the four lobby guys walked into the cafe and passed our table. As expected, Courtney lowered her eyes and added sugar to her coffee as if it was the most interesting thing in the world, not even giving the Kyle lookalike a second glance.
It was her loss, really. If she always kept her face down, she’d never experience the kind of passion we all knew she wanted.
I wanted the guys to stop and say something, but they didn’t. They sat at a table in the far corner, which allowed us the privacy to discuss them.
“I’d honestly do any of them,” I said, much more callously than I meant. Revealing my moonlit walk to my friends felt too intimate; it had been such a sincere moment. I wasn’t ready to share it. Hell, I’d already shared it with one too many guys.
The problem being I didn’t know which one had been the one too many.
They were both so sexy and appealing, but in different ways. Ashton was bright and alive, and brought out a playful side of me. Also, he had a massive cock I’d like inside of me again.
While Jude was serious and reflective, with an intensity that matched my own.
“Well, I like the one with the short blond hair. He’s everything Blaine isn’t,” Callie admitted. “Not that I’m interested in guys this weekend!”
We all knew who Courtney liked, which left Jude and Ashton for me. I nervously played with my hair—and at one point, as I signed my check, I caught Ashton’s eyes and offered him a smile.
I couldn’t help myself; he was so hot. He gave me one right back, and I felt the heat rise in my cheeks.I walked to the porch of the general store and looked at my watch, 9:58. Only a few minutes before the group was meeting for the hike, and definitely not enough time to run back into the cafe, sans girlfriends, to invite the guys to the soaking tubs later.
It was probably best that I didn’t have time, I thought. I needed to be available to my friends—that was why we were here, after all. Besides, the fact that I’d had sex with one of the guys and kissed the other, could be awkward to say the least.
I was tightening the straps on my backpack when Jude and Ashton stopped right in front of me.
“Oh, hey,” I said, immediately blushing, wondering if they had talked to each other about our intimate moments. “What are you guys up to today?”