Page 46 of Grand Escape

Teddi bit her lower lip as she took in the scene, and I wondered if she was thinking of where to find a weapon. Poisoning didn’t seem so bad now.

“Where’s Ry?” Teddi asked me, cutting right to the chase.

Luckily, my brother was busy running his lips along Sophia’s cheek, probably whispering sexual innuendos.

Chelsea was checking her phone. “No rain all weekend,” she said, and everyone ignored her. She shrugged and went back to tapping at her screen with her long painted fingernails.

I searched my memory, trying to think of Rylan’s hands. Clean, soft ... her nails unpainted.

Impatiently, Teddi cleared her throat. “Hellooo?”

“I don’t know. I was going to look for her soon,” I said, adding lamely, “It’s her day off.”

“I read the schedule, and I bet you were going to be looking,” Teddi said.

Eyeing up the other two women standing near me, she hurried off before I could beg her to believe me that I didn’t know anything about this. Right about now, even Tony seemed the better person to have walked in on this scene.

“Who was that?” Cal asked, watching Teddi leave without letting go of Sophia.

“She works at the pool bar.”

“Excellent. I can’t wait to get a drink,” he said to me before turning toward the ladies. “Breakfast? Then pool?”

Sophia purred her agreement, and Chelsea followed suit.

Cal reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone to read a text. “Oh, only one of our rooms is available. Chelsea’s isn’t quite ready. Bad part of an early morning flight from JFK. Maybe she can change in yours?”

I wanted to suggest the spa, but decided to ignore my brother until I could get him alone and punch him in the face for creating this fiasco. Brothers were allowed to punch each other, especially when one went and fucked the other over big-time.

“Shall we?” Cal said. “Lead the way, bro.”

I motioned for the ladies to walk ahead and straight, thankful that I’d never seen Ry grabbing food in the restaurant except for when I took her.

Allowing the ladies to walk ahead, I whisper-shouted to Cal, who fell in next to me. “You need to put that woman on the next flight out of here.”

“Why?” Cal nudged me with his elbow. “Getting away can’t include a little personal time for you between the sheets? You need to forgive yourself, move on, make a life. Bec is gone, and no matter how much you berate yourself, she’s not coming back.”

Running my hand through my hair, I wished like hell I’d gone to play golf, or better yet, not slept through Ry leaving early. “Shut up. Seriously. She needs to go.”

“No, Sophia is convinced you and Chelsea are perfect for each other, and I’m not upsetting Sophia.”

We made it to the end of an open-air hallway, and I called out, “Hang a left.”

The women did, and I grabbed Cal’s arm, halting him in the hallway.

“Dude. I am having some fucking personal time, or whatever you want to call it. You just cock-blocked me, you ass.” I wasn’t sure how many more swear words I could add to the sentiment, and then I went on. “I’m doing what you told me to do, getting over myself.”

Cal frowned at me. “You didn’t say anything about it when we spoke. You were working, acting like your usual miserable sad self.”

My brother and I had the same hair color, light like our dad’s, but that’s where our similarities ended. Cal was shorter than me, his skin fairer and his eyes brown. It was times like this that I relished being the one who had to look down at the other ... and he hated it.

“So, you decided to take matters in your own hands?” I spat the words at him through clenched teeth as the women rounded back toward us.

“Come on, babe.” Sophia drew out each word in a whine as she slinked into Cal’s side.

“Yeah, I need some decent coffee.” Chelsea whined too, flopping her head on my shoulder.

We just passed coffee in the lobby flitted through my mind, and then I heard footsteps coming up behind us.

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