***
We were given the day off to wander the beach with a quick group text from Frank that we would all be attending a stretching class the next morning.
I'd been laying in my room all day, fighting with myself about going after Ethan. I didn't have to make a quick decision, and I wasn't going to.
My stomach growled, and I got up off the bed and grabbed my purse. Time to get something to eat. If fate wanted me to talk with Ethan, then he would be where I was.
If not, then I'd make time to talk to him tomorrow. Either way, I was going to take our reconciliation slow.
After making my way downstairs, I walked out to a small hot dog stand on the side of the hotel and got in line. The sound of Ethan's voice, a few people in front of me, caused my heart to skip a beat.
"Three please."
"Three? For a thin guy like you?" The vendor teased him.
"One is for me, and two are for the girl I'm dating. She likes weenies. A lot."
I pressed my hand to my mouth as I laughed. Idiot. He always had a way of making everyone smile. Everyone in line let out a chuckle.
He turned and walked back down the line, stopping beside me. "Hey."
"Hi." I glanced down at his dinner. "You really going to eat all three of those?"
"Maybe." He tilted his head to the side, his dark brown eyes captivating me.
"And what does it depend on?" I stepped out of line as it moved forward. I wanted to tell him that he could have my heart if he promised not to hurt me again, but it was trivial. He already had it.
"It depends on a certain girl I know."
"Just any girl?" I lifted an eyebrow and glanced around as if searching for this mystery girl.
"You." His voice washed over me, the deep timbre of it forcing me to turn back to him.
"Thank you for the flowers." I reached out and took one of the hot dogs before walking toward the beach. I paused and looked back to find him standing still. "You coming?"
"Not yet, but thanks for asking." He winked and moved up beside me. "You're welcome. For the flowers. I saw them, and they made me think of you."
"White is for friendship." I took a bite of my hot dog and moaned softly. "Delicious."
"Tease." He smiled as I glanced over at him, stealing my heart all over again. "And I know that white is for friendship. It's the best part of what you and I had going before Deza and Clayton fucked it up."
"You think it was all them?" I kept my tone neutral, not wanting to steer the conversation down a path that would have us fighting or spending the evening alone.
"Not at all." We stopped at the edge of the water, and he sat down as the sun faded behind the edge of the ocean. "Come on. I don't bite."
"No? I kinda like biting."
He gave me a look. "I'm to blame for not telling you the truth." He took another bite of his hot dog and glanced out at the water.
"About you and Deza kissing?"
"No." He snorted. "That was all her. She was trying to make Darren mad. I chewed her ass ten times over that shit. Gross."
I smiled and sunk down next to him before kicking off my sandals. "The truth about what?"
"About how I felt about you, Riley." He licked at his fingers as mustard dripped between them. The sight of his tongue had my body aching for something more than I knew I'd let happen just yet. He wasn't a good lover. He was the best. Attentive, and the size of his cock was beyond anything I'd ever seen in my life. A simple thrust had my body shaking. Where it would take all sorts of stimulation with Jace, with Ethan, it took very little.
"Well, how about we start with a friendship? The white roses meant a lot to me. I was just hurt and angry. I overreacted."
"No, you didn't." He glanced over at me and smiled. "Friendship works, but just know that I'll be trying for more. I'm in love with you. I hate that everything had to fall apart for me to figure it out."
His words bore through me, lighting me up in a million different ways, but I had to be careful. He could destroy my heart with nothing more than a bit of immaturity or a bad decision.
"Tell me what happened with you and Clayton." I glanced back to the water and took a few nibbles of my hot dog. "Why did he use me to attack you?"
"I told you what happened years ago. There's really nothing left to tell. He was jealous, and maybe he fell for you." He shrugged. "It's not hard to imagine. You're beautiful, talented and sexy as hell. Everyone is going to fall for you. We'll be taking turns beating them back."
"We?" I smiled and turned a little to see more of him. My knee brushed by his thigh before pressing into it a little.
He glanced down toward our connection but didn't move. "Me, Frank and Deza." He turned his attention back up to me. "I mean if you're staying with Eon."
"And if I'm not?" I couldn't seem to get enough air in my lungs. Up that close, he was a god. His dark hair blew in the breeze, and his eyes held so many great adventures. Oh, the life we could live if I could trust him not to crush me.
"Then it would be a great loss to all of us." He turned back toward the water. "Clayton played a dangerous game with us both, and in some ways, he won. You and I are barely speaking and the last two weeks of my life have been absolute hell."
"Did something happen with the baby-daddy girl?" I tried to think of a better way to phrase it, to retract my statement and ask a different way, but it didn't seem to faze him in the slightest.
"Hmmm?" He glanced over at me, finishing his first hot dog. "Oh, no. We're still not done with that mess. I was fucked up over you."
"Oh." I glanced down at my hands. "I'm sorry."
"You're sorry?" He chuckled, the sound friendly, light. "No, I'm sorry." He ate his second hot dog in three big bites before standing. "I like the idea of us being friends."
"You do?" I took his hand as he offered it to me and pulled myself up. The wind blew, and I shivered. The ocean reflected the full moon, which hung above our heads, leaving the scene before us entirely too romantic.
"Yeah." He turned to face me and brushed his fingers down my bare arm, knocking sand off of me. "Trisha and her husband are getting a divorce, and I honestly think it's because this life is hard, but also because they weren't friends to start with."
"Did they meet on a set?"
"No." He reached for me again but dropped his hand before he touched me.
I yearned to feel his hands on my skin, lost in my hair, his body pressed tightly to mine, but it was too much, too soon. "And she's devastated?"
"Oh yeah. It sucks going through life alone." Sadness filled his eyes. "You understand some of that, I would assume, but you'll get it even more once your fame skyrockets. And it will."
"I can't imagine how that must feel." I reached out and took his hand into mine, needing to feel connected to him in some way.
"It sucks beyond anything I could describe with any level of accuracy." He squeezed my fingers and released me. "Thanks for coming out here with me. I have a lot of shit to think through, but knowing that you and I aren't at each other's throats is going to make it a lot easier."
"Things to think through?" I whispered roughly as I took a step closer to him. My heart swelled in my chest and my nipples budded from his nearness, though I'd blame the cold if he brought it up. I certainly wouldn't put it past him, though his mood was serious at the moment.
"Yeah." He licked the side of his mouth and reached up, brushing his hand down the side of my hair. "People try so fucking hard to tear down every good thing in your life when you're in the bright lights, Riley. I can't do it much longer."
"Acting?" I felt like an idiot, but my brain wasn't working so well with him standing so close. He was the epitome of my wildest dreams.
"Acting." He confirmed. "I wanna retire and get married. Have some kids and build a big fucking mansion in the hills where no one can find me."
"Sounds dreamy." I smiled, picturing myself right beside him.
He cupped my cheek and leaned in, brushing his nose against mine. "Maybe if this friendship thing works out, you'll consider playing my sugar momma?"
I laughed and leaned toward him. "I don't know what I'll consider, but kiss me before you leave me."
"Always." He pressed his lips to mine, the kiss soft, light, friendly. I blinked twice, and he'd turned, jogging back toward the hotel. "See you tomorrow, Beautiful."
"Until then," I whispered and turned back toward the water. It wasn't what I wanted, but it was a start.
Again.