Page 111 of His Secret Gift

We continue eating in silence, but I catch her looking at me occasionally with a mysticism in her eyes.

“Everything okay?” At first, I’m worried I have chocolate or a strawberry seed in my teeth. But I find nothing when I check with my tongue.

“I just really appreciate this.”

I roll my eyes. “It’s nothing compared to what I’ve put you through.”

Then, the part between her eyebrows gets all wrinkly. “About that. I was thinking, if what happened with you and Harper was as you said… some kind of horrible roofying or whatever.”

“Yes?”

With her dessert gone, she circles at the pattern of the blanket with her finger. “Well, I just think we need to wait before anything happens with us.”

Okay.I’m still not sure I’m following.

Even in the dim light, I can see her cheeks reddening. “I mean, for safety reasons. It’s not clear, at least from what I’ve seen whether or not the two of you used any protection.”

Ohhh.Now I’m caught up. But I’m full of conflicting emotions—horrified she’d had to see me having sloppy practically incoherent sex with another woman, scared at the realization that I might have caught something, excited that Kayla’s still interested and even thinking about taking the next step with me, but also in complete understanding of where she’s coming from. She has to protect herself, and it was probably best for me to know, too. Who knows where Harper has all been during and after our breakup.

Did I secretly hope something sexy would happen between us given all the whipped cream? Of course. I’m a heterosexual man who is incredibly attracted to her.But it also felt a little dirty to have relations with her so soon after Harper’s attack. I mean, I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to perform well.

“Tell you what. I’ll find somewhere in Greece to get tested.”

Her dazzling green eyes meet mine. “Thank you.”

I reach over and put my hand on hers. “Of course.”

Chapter 34

Consoling a Friend – Kayla

It was Callie who brought up the fact that I should probably wait until Jack can be properly STD tested before taking our relationship to the next level. And I was so grateful to her for thinking and saying something.

Of course, I’m no virgin, but the thought honestly didn’t even cross my mind—as embarrassed as I am to admit that.

“What’d he say?” she asks after tip toeing into my cabin later that night. She somehow managed to get her straight brown hair back into a teeny tiny ponytail near the nape of her neck—although chunks were still falling on the sides. Regardless, she looked adorable, as always.

“That he understood.”

“Oh, good.”

I’m sitting with my legs in a pretzel, but I shift when one of my feet starts to fall asleep. “He said he’s going to get tested in Greece.”

“Aw, that makes me happy.”

I’m confused. “What?”

“Just that he seems to be a good guy. I always hoped he was. But before you came along, none of us had a whole lot of access to his actual personality. Instead, there was an atmosphere of ‘Don’t speak unless spoken to.’ I mean, I suppose it’s still kind of like that. Except for you.”

My shoulders wriggle at the thought of me having special privileges. Even after everything, I still didn’t feel like I deserved them deep down.

Then, her face falls flat again.

I put one hand on her shoulder. “Cal? Is everything okay?”

She’s looking down on her phone. “Um, I guess we randomly hit a spot where I could connect to my 5G.”

Oh, no. I know where this is going. The notorious, four-letter named man.

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