CHAPTER 12
RHETT

“Hey! Look what the cat dragged in!”

“Nice to see you, too, Tommy,” Ana said.

“Especially after I laid you so well last night?” Tommy asked.

“That wasn’t me. You went back with a blond girl,” Ana said.

“Oh, our little babies have grown up and fallen in love,” Chanel said.

I laughed at the interaction as the girls grabbed some pool cues.

“Told you they would be here,” Ana said.

“Do they really have endless rum punch and barbecue ribs?” Chanel asked.

“Yep. And it’s been fabulous,” I said.

“Did you guys even get out onto the island?” Chanel asked.

“We did for a little bit. We had a morning excursion after breakfast,” I said.

“Which we didn’t see you two at,” Tommy said. “I was hurt. I was going to treat you to a little rendezvous morning romance. You know, get you a plate of breakfast and such.”

“Except you’re a couple of mornings too late,” Ana said, grinning.

“Were you guys okay this morning?” I asked.

I saw Ana’s eyes dart quickly over to Chanel as she rubbed chalk on the end of her stick.

“Do you even know what that stuff does?” Tommy asked.

“It makes sure the tip of the stick doesn’t slip against the ball,” Ana said.

“Kinky,” Chanel said with a smile. “And we were fine. Just slept in and ordered room service.”

I could tell she was lying to me, and I wasn’t okay with that because she’d made me a promise that she would talk to me if something came up.

“How was the excursion you guys took?” Ana asked.

“It was fun. We took this little bus to a beach and snorkeled. Fucking fish everywhere. Then we caught it back after about an hour because we were hungry,” Tommy said.

“Because he was hungry,” I said.

“I know, but Rhett has problems being alone. It’s hard, weaning him from my teat,” Tommy said.

“Ah, a boob guy,” Ana said. “I can respect that. Your friend here’s more of an ass guy, though.”

“And that’ll be enough of that,” Chanel said.

“What did you guys get into?” I asked as we paired off into teams.

“Guys against girls? I can dig it,” Tommy said.

“Oh, we went to all these beautiful little shops. I picked up this necklace made with shells this woman and her daughter had collected on the beach. And a disposable camera Ana and I used to take pictures at this lagoon we found. I figured I could develop them, take pictures of those pictures, and put them all over my blog post dedicated to the island. Oh! And did you know the locals here cook their food in the massive leaves of the trees that grow in the forest? I had this sweetened rice mixture while we were walking around the shops. It tasted. So. Good.”

I watched Chanel light up as she talked about walking through the little island town. Her eyes sparkled, and her smile kept growing. Her cheeks flushed with excitement, and the more she talked, the more her hands waved in the air. It warmed my soul to watch her light up like that and be so animated and so passionate about something. That was another thing I enjoyed about Chanel. Everything she did, she did with the whole of herself. She never held anything back, and if she enjoyed it, you would always know it.

It was why sinking into the depths of her body was so mesmerizing. Because when she writhed against me, she held nothing back.

Which was why I worried about why she was lying to me about her morning.

“Sounds like a hell of a trip,” Tommy said. “Ana, did you get any souvenirs?”

“This cute little dress, a pair of lace-up sandals, and I had my caricature drawn on the street,” Ana said.

“Not nearly as animated as Chanel, but I’ll take it,” Tommy said.

“Sorry. If you want Chanel-level shit, then go to Chanel,” Ana said.

“That’s okay. I like the Ana-level shit just fine,” Tommy said.

The two of them migrated to the other end of the pool table as Chanel made her way to me. She bent over and ran her pool cue right into the wrong ball and then fell apart with laughter. I watched as she gathered herself and tried again, but her giggles kept throwing off her posture.

“Would you like me to help?” I asked.

She cleared her throat and reared up and then shook her head lightly.

“I’m okay. I’ve always sucked at pool anyway. I came for the rum punch,” she said.

“Would you like me to get you one?” I asked.

“Eh, I can get it myself later.”

She was acting odd, and it was making me nervous. She was having trouble looking me in my eyes, and her posture was turned away from me. I scanned the room, trying to see if anyone was making her uncomfortable, but Tommy and Ana were off in their own little world as they made out against the pool table we were standing at.

“Yum,” I said.

“I don’t know why I expected anything else,” Chanel said.

“Wanna get out of here?” I asked.

“Nah. I’m okay here. The view’s nice, and I’m kind of tired of being yanked around.”

“Chanel, are you sure you’re all right?”

“I’m fine,” she said.

“You know I can tell you’re lying.”

“That more of your SEAL training?” she asked.

“Are you having second thoughts? About what we’re doing? Because all you have to do is say so.”

I watched her sigh as she leaned her pool cue against the table. She walked over to the couch that lined the wall and flopped down. I resisted the urge to follow her, wrap my arm around her, and pull her close. It felt like she needed the space, but everything inside of me was screaming to not leave her side.

The only thing was, I didn’t know why. All I knew was I had been trained to follow my gut when I didn’t have all the pieces in play.

So, against my better judgment of Chanel, I went and sat by her on the couch.

“No,” she said. “I’m not having second thoughts.”

“Then what’s bothering you?” I asked.

“I’m just tired,” she said. “It’s why I didn’t come to the breakfast this morning. I was just tired.”

She wasn’t being truthful, but I didn’t want to press the subject. If she wanted to open up to me, she would. I couldn’t make her, and there was nothing I could do to coax it out of her. This wasn’t like how we were back in high school. It had been ten years and a hell of a lot of heartbreak since we had last seen one another. I couldn’t expect her to suddenly open up to me about whatever it was that was bothering her.

The only thing I could do was take her at her word when she said it wasn’t about us.

Once Tommy and Ana were done sucking face, the four of us played a decent game of pool. It didn’t shock me when the girls decided to turn in early. It lined up with Chanel’s story of being tired. But the moment they left the pool hall, Tommy turned to me with that disapproving look in his eyes.

“The two of you are fucking,” he said.

“No, we’re not,” I said.

“Then you want to fuck her,” he said.

“Of course, I want to fuck her. Have you seen her?” I asked.

“Dude, that’s shitty territory. You’re supposed to be getting yours with whoever you want instead of dwelling on the past. That wasn’t the point of this trip. Clean slate and clear head, remember?”

“Tommy. You’re literally gravitating to Ana as much as you can. They come together. They always have. I can’t help it if you want to go sit with them and Chanel’s there. They’re best friends.”

“I saw that look. You were worried about her. You’re falling for her again, aren’t you?” he asked.

“I’m not fucking her, and I’m not falling for her. Not my fault you wanna bang her best friend’s brains out, and Chanel happens to always be with her. This is on you. Quit trying to pawn this off on me,” I said.

Tommy and I made our way back to our room as he continued to throw questions at me. He was trying to trip me up in my lie but I wasn’t going to let him. I wasn’t going to tell him we were fucking. I was going to respect the fact that Chanel didn’t want me telling anyone, but it was getting harder to deny him when he asked me if I had feelings for her. Because I did. In a way, I always had. I had missed her on all those missions. It was our memories from high school that kept me going during some of the darkest days of my SEAL career. Moments when I thought I wasn’t going to make it home. Moments when I thought I was going to die alone in whatever barren wasteland they had sent us to.

It was her face that always got me through. It was her smile that always gave me hope.

I couldn’t let shit like that slide. She meant a hell of a lot to me then, and she meant it now. Lying about it hurt, but if it got me more of her, then I was willing to make the sacrifice. I finally got Tommy to shut up about it and go to bed, but as I closed my eyes, my mind began to wander.

Why had she been so weird at the pool hall? Was something wrong? Had someone said something to her?

Had someone found out?

Maybe that was what happened. Maybe someone had found out about us, and she was trying to create distance. But she’d made me a promise that if it had something to do with us, then she would talk to me, and I had to trust her on that.

Even though I didn’t know what was wrong, I had to trust her. I didn’t have any other choice if I wanted to sleep that night.

So, I closed my eyes and imagined her body against mine. I imagined her skin underneath my fingers and her juices on my thighs. I imagined plowing into her, hanging her over the edge of the balcony for the ocean to catch as she came around my cock. I dreamed of her in my arms as we panted together, our sweat dripping down our bodies as I pinned her against the balcony window. I could hear her lips muttering my praises, telling me how much she loved my cock and moaning out how she was about to come.

I allowed myself to be swept under by her waves as the ghost of her scent blanketed my body all night.