Page 6 of Double Booked

“No, it's fine. We’re just not really close. They had a very specific idea of how my life should go and what success looks like and it’s not the life I wanted for myself and they couldn’t see that. We still talk but I try not to see them very often. A love them from afar kind of thing I guess.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Colton said, “but it sounds like you’re doing what’s best for you. Is it just you and your parents?”

“I have a younger brother as well. We have a complicated relationship. We’re siblings but he’s definitely an asshole. I don’t know if we would talk to each other if we weren’t siblings. It also doesn’t help that I only hear from him when he needs something.”

“Man, that sucks. I’m sorry.”

I shrugged. “It’s okay. You can’t miss what you never had,” I tried to play it off. I had made peace with my family. Or at least I tried to. The therapist I saw in college had helped me a lot with that. But Colton was right, it did suck.

“Still, I hate that you never got that from them. I can’t imagine but I know I’m lucky with my parents. Justin didn’t have the greatest home life so he basically lived at our house growing up. He’s my best friend, I can’t imagine not having him around. He’s always been in my corner no matter what.”

“That sounds nice,” I said. And I meant it. I didn’t begrudge people who had happy childhoods but I couldn’t relate to them.

Colton changed the subject by pointing out some shells up ahead and the conversation drifted back to lighter topics thankfully. We gathered as many shells as Colton’s swim trunk pockets could hold and even found a few shark teeth that made me shudder. He laughed at my reaction and vehement protests about swimming. The ocean was the sharks’ home and I had no desire to swim in it.

By the time we got back to our stuff, we were starving. I pulled my coverup back on and startled when Colton took my hand as we walked back to the jeep. His grip was firm but gentle and the warmth from his palm had butterflies beating against the sides of my stomach. And all of this over him holding my hand.

He helped me into the jeep, his fingers squeezing mine before he let go. When he started driving again though, he grabbed my hand again and rested our clasped hands on his leg as he pulled out onto the road.

“Oh, is that a bamboo house?” I caught sight of a house that looked like it was built in the trees. “I watched a documentary on those not too long ago. It’s apparently a super strong construction material.”

“Really?” Colton asked, his eyebrows going up as we slowed down to get a better look at the house. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Would you ever build a house out of bamboo?” I asked him, smiling.

“Only for you,” he promised with a grin that had no business being as devastating on my insides as it was. His thumb brushed the back of my hand and I squeezed my legs together. It was a good thing I wasn’t standing right now. I know he was probably only joking about the bamboo house but the most my previous partners ever did for me was buy me flowers and this man was offering, even if only jokingly, to build me a house out of some weird construction material.

“I’ll hold you to that,” I joked, squeezing his hand.

We stopped in the village and found a place selling street tacos that smelled delicious. We walked around the village as we ate. Colton pointed out a vendor selling sea shells for me to take back to Ryan and we laughed. I snapped a picture of him in his bright blue shirt at the village square for his crew back home, laughing when he scrunched up his face. He held my hand the whole time or had his hand on my back and it was both steadying and arousing. There was something about him that just felt safe but also turned me on in a way that I hadn’t experienced prior. With past flings, I went into it knowing I wanted sex and almost convinced myself of it beforehand. I hadn’t seen Colton coming but my body didn’t seem to care.

At the wildlife sanctuary, I leaned back against his chest as we listened to the guide talk about the different animals that lived there. He traced his fingers up and down along my arm, goosebumps breaking out in their wake. I wanted to pull him behind some trees and jump his bones but I held myself together. He must have felt the same way as he was always finding some way to touch me as we walked through the sanctuary.

When we finally headed back to the hotel, I thought we were on the same page and fully expected to pull him into the elevator along with me. When we walked into the hotel, however, we saw the signs for the evening beach party and Colton suggested we go and grab some barbecue and dance. The food was amazing but dancing was torture with his body pressed against mind. I felt like a wild woman or like a character in a romance book but every inch of my skin he touched felt like it was on fire and I could barely think straight. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.

We were in a quiet corner of the patio that spilled out to the beach. I turned in his arms and placed my hands behind his neck. “Take me to your room.” I practically ordered him. “Neither of us has been drinking tonight.” When the bartender had asked what we wanted earlier, we both said water at the same time.

Colton’s eyebrows shot up but he chuckled. “I thought you would never ask,” he said, with the same confidence he delivered his words from last night.

I rolled my eyes but I bit my lip and grinned. “Time to see if you’re all talk or if you can deliver.”

“Oh, I can deliver alright. Hope you’re ready for it, baby girl.”

CHAPTER 3

RILEY

The next few minutes were a blur and I barely registered Colton guiding us out of the party and into the elevators. Thankfully, he was thinking as he had both our bags in one hand and the other hand firmly clasping mine. When the elevators closed the doors behind us, he groaned and pulled me to him. “I can barely focus right now with you looking at me like that, Riley,” he said, dropping a soft kiss on my lips.

“Looking at you like what?” I asked breathlessly, leaning into him more.

“Like you want me to devour you.”

“What if I wanted to devour you?” I teased and he groaned, pulling me impossibly closer and covering my lips with his, our bags dropping to the floor with a soft thud.

I gasped into his mouth at the first touch of our lips together. Heat shot through me as butterflies danced in my stomach and I lifted up on my toes to get even closer to him. His tongue slipped into my mouth and I let mine tangle with his. Fuck, if this is what kissing with him felt like, I couldn’t wait for the actual sex.

I barely heard the elevator ding but Colton must have, tearing himself away from me with a groan. “Fuck, you taste good.” He caught the elevator doors just as they were starting to close and leaned down to scoop up our bags. “You’re going to have to go ahead of me or I won’t be able to focus.”

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