Page 15 of Five Days

Landon never argued, simply agreed and slipped from my bed, attempting to hide his morning wood, same as I did.

Fuck.

I rubbed a weary hand over my face, too aware of the warm body stretched out inches from my own. My instinct to nurture Landon proved a formidable foe along with my desire to touch him with sexual intent. I doubted myself, every decision I made acting as his GPS through life since we’d met. The man was codependent on me, and I was selfish and so far gone on him enough not to care the two of us together might be seen as unsafe from the outside.

I wanted Landon, but I longed for his happiness more than anything, which made me reason away my choices in how I looked out for him.

Martyr syndrome, perhaps, but if Landon got his happily ever after, then I had to believe I would be satisfied no matter how torn I would feel over losing him.

Landon slept long before I did, proving yet again how he trusted me for the days ahead.

But I had no such reassurance, and my mind refused to rest.

I replayed my night with Zack from the initial magnetic draw and lust to the disappointment in watching him walk away, and not just from Landon but from me as well.

While I’d gotten two suites in the event this very thing ended up happening, forced proximity between the three of us in a shared space would have allowed Landon to have his say. He couldn’t move on, and neither would I until this shit was taken care of once and for all.

One way or the other, this situation between them needed to be put to rest, and waiting to see what transpired on its own had yet to show fruit. I had to be proactive when it came to dealing with Landon, since he usually wouldn’t budge without a cattle prod.

Perhaps Zack was the same.

I snuck from the bed, quietly pulled on my shorts and shirt from earlier, and gently shut our suite door shut behind me. Silence reigned in the hotel’s hallway, my slow shuffling feet as loud as the pulse rushing in my ears.

Zack’s room was a short walk around the corner from us. Close enough for easy access in the event things had gone well between the two men. I’d even been prepared to switch lodging with Zack if he and Landon wanted to be together.

Blowing out a slow exhale in attempts to slow my thumping heart, I knocked on Zack’s door. I stared at the peephole, expecting he wouldn’t just pull it open without checking first.

I didn’t hear any movement beyond, but the door swung inward a few inches before I had to knock a second time.

Zack stood in low-slung cotton shorts and nothing else, I quickly noted while glancing down over his hairless chest and the obvious outline of his gorgeous dick.

Fuck.

I swallowed hard and jerked my focus upward.

One brow raised, he waited, fingers still clasping the door handle as though unsure if he should open it the rest way or slam it in my face for the uncomfortable position I’d put him in. I deserved to be ignored, the contract broken for what I’d done—but I hoped with all my heart he would hear me out.

“Can I come in?” I asked, my voice raspy from sleepiness and raging lust.

“As long as you’re alone.”

“It’s just me,” I assured him.

He stepped back without a word and gestured me forward.

My lungs sucked in the scent of bergamot and lime as I moved past him. Temptation emerged to brush against his skin I imagined was warm from having crawled from bed, but I held steady in keeping space between us.

The door snicked shut.

Turning, I opened my mouth, ready to plead Landon’s case, but the heat in his hazel eyes, the sight of tattooed skin covering his god-like body showcased on EEMM’s website proved too much of a distraction.

I’m in trouble.

Chapter 6

Zack

Why the fuck did Callum have to be so damned hot? And why the hell did I want to throw him to the floor and fuck him senseless even though he’d put me in this awful predicament? That whole sit on the private deck and figure out my options hadn’t given me any clear definition on what I ought to do.

---