Page 69 of The Lodge

“What I’m trying to say is—thank you.” He looks down at his hands, and then back up at me. “Thank you for the question that saved my life, and for never releasing that interview even thoughI was so rude to you. I’m so, so sorry, Alix. I hope you know I’m not the same person I was back then—I tried to leave behind more than just my name.”

I don’t know what to say, not to any of it.

He’s basically just confirmed that it wasmyquestion that sparked his decision to disappear—when I listened back over that interview, I guess I just assumed the timing had been coincidental.

It’s a lot to process.

“Tyler Jett Beckett,” he says now, and I tuck it away like the secret it is. “That’s what the monogram was meant to represent.”

His gaze locks with mine.

“In eight years,” he goes on, “you’re the only person I’ve ever actuallytold. Riv and Jules know, of course—but they helped me get out, start over. They know because they lived it with me.”

I set my wine on the side table, shift as close on the couch as I can get without sitting on top of him. I’m facing him, one knee tucked up to my chest. I could kiss him right now, easily—but there are still things left unsaid.

“Thank you for telling me,” I say. “Fortrustingme.”

He breathes out a little half laugh. “Of all the people in the world to figure it out,” he says, shaking his head, “anentertainment journalist. Because of course.”

I tense on instinct.

Can he tell that one of my first impulses when I realized the truth was to sell him out?

Honestly, if he’d lied to me tonight, I would have felt more inclined to do precisely what entertainment journalists do: send a splashy article out into the internet with the intent of making his incredibly juicy gossip go viral.

But the fact is, he told me the truth. He trusted me.

Which makes everything feel more complicated.

This man has trusted literally no one but his two best friends in the last eightyears—but he let me in. And while some aspects of my life might be easier if I were to betray that trust, I can’t help but wonder if I’d be happiest in the long run if I were to prove myself worthy of it instead.

“In all fairness,” I say, “only an entertainment journalist in exactly this situation would have had all the pieces to put it together like I did. So if it hadn’t been me, another one of us might have figured it out eventually.”

His smile is soft, subdued. “I’m glad it was you.”

“Me too,” I say, and then I can’t stop it—the force that pulls us together—and the next thing I know, his lips are on mine, and this kiss is full of more fire than any we’ve had yet, any I’ve hadever.

His hands find their way to my face, fingers tenderly tracing my jawline until they’re buried in my hair. He kisses me harder, harder still when I wrap my arms around him and pull him in closer. Everywhere I touch is soft cotton over pure muscle—his strong upper back, the defined curve of his shoulders, the smooth skin of his biceps just below the hem of his sleeve.

He returns the favor, his strong hands tracing the lines of my racerback tank down to my waist, and then to my hips.

“This okay?” he murmurs between kisses.

“Definitely okay,” I reply.

“And what about this?” he says, as he tugs me onto his lap so that I’m straddling him, my knees sinking into the soft leather couch, gravity pulling us even closer and reminding me there is very little fabric between us right now.

I nod, kiss him again. “Yeah,” I say. “It’s good.”

Very good, actually, but neither of us says another word, and we get lost like this, lost in each other. He doesn’t press for more than I’m ready to give—and as much asmorewould be fun (fun beingthe understatement of the century), I scrape together just enough self-control to stop before I get even more hopelessly entangled.

I want it. I wanthim.

But being worthy of his trust means his secret has tostaysecret. I don’t know how any of this can ever exist outside the bubble of this penthouse, this resort.

I pull back, surprised to find myself blinking away tears. I’m not quick enough to hide them.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

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