Page 53 of A Quick Stop in Paradise

Ugh, he was so slick. He must have been so good at business—could take any odious thing,if you don’t get back together with me then I’ll make an even bigger scene with your fragile family,and made it sound like it was what the other person wanted. I liked to think I was smarter than that, enlightened enough to not be suckered in, but I’d been two inches from being under his thumb. If Allison hadn’t mentioned Ryan being with her boyfriend in suite 36, I’d have slept with him, spent god-knows-how-much time flirting with him and buying up everything he was selling, all while he skillfully kept it away from Ryan’s attention.

“You’re a sly one, aren’t you?” I said, measuring my voice carefully, holding my glass tight. “If she doesn’t want to work through our issues.Sweet way to describe a relationship that’s rightfully dead.”

He folded his hands on the bar surface, giving me a thin smile. “It’s good that she has you to look after her.”

“Fuck off, you creep,” I said, words ripping themselves up out of me, and I was so focused on him that I didn’t even notice anyone coming and I jumped when Ryan sidled up to my side, water still beading on her skin around the lines of her swimsuit, a cool and measured look on her face as Shane stood up to face her.

“Well said,” Ryan said with a small smile my way, before she turned back to Shane. “But I can talk to him myself. What do you want, Shane?”

I put a hand on her arm—maybe I should have kept a safe, polite distance, but my chest ached for her dealing with Shane, and I couldn’t help myself. “He’s just being demanding,” I said, but Shane ignored me, speaking to her.

“Baby—”

“Ryan.” She corrected him instantly, not breaking the steely gaze she had on him for a millisecond. It was hardly the time or place for this, but—Christ, though, she was hot when she was like this.

“Ryan,” Shane said carefully. “We both know I fucked up, and that I’m sorry. But—”

“I don’t,” Ryan said, cutting him off, pausing to sit in the weight of the silence for a moment before she carried on. “I don’t think we do know that. I don’t believe you’re remotely sorry. I think you’re sorry you got caught. But—”

“Ryan, I love you and I’m not—”

“But,” Ryan repeated, speaking over him when he didn’t stop. “But I guess I can’t entirely blame you.”

He stopped, furrowing his brow. I shot her a look. “You definitely can,” I said, my chest tight.

“What… do you mean?” Shane said, and Ryan laughed, a smile spreading over her features.

“Brooklyn isnottoo bad,” she said, and my stomach dropped. “I can see why you’d be tempted.”

“Ryan,” I started, feeling so far out of my element it was almost funny. Shane looked quickly between the two of us, lips parted, half a smile playing on his lips like he thought he was supposed to laugh but didn’t want to.

“It’s not like I wastemptedaway,” he said carefully. “I’d just had too much to drink and wasn’t really myself—”

I cut in with, “You were stone-cold sober when you approached me, Shane.”

Ryan laughed, not without mirth but with her eyes still fixed razor-sharp on him. “Should have just dumped me,” she said lightly. “Could have gone ahead with Brooklyn. But I’m not too disappointed it’s played out like this.”

Okay, she wasn’t thinking straight. We weren’t supposed to be doing this. I tugged on her arm. “C’mon, Ryan, you don’t need to entertain him.”

Ryan laughed, giving me a big smile, a glint in her eyes that made my heart jump a beat or two. She was absolutely in her full thinking capacities right now. What was shedoing?“I’m good,” she laughed. “I should probably face this.”

“Ryan, what are you talking about?” Shane said. “I wouldn’t have wanted to trade you out for her—not at any point—”

“Suit yourself,” Ryan said. “I’d gladly trade you out for her.”

I laughed, once, breathlessly. Shane blinked slowly. “What?”

Ryan raised her eyebrows higher. “Do you need me to spell it out for you, Shane?”

He didn’t—he knew exactly what she was saying, judging by the look in his eyes, more like he didn’t know if he was losing his mind or if she was playing a prank. After a second, he laughed, but he didn’t look like he was having fun. “What, because you… decided to switch teams?”

“Switch teams?” She snorted. “Sure. I’ve always been multi-talented. Know how to pitch and bat. Definitely having more fun on this side of the pitch.”

Shane laughed again, once, breathless, eyes flicking between us, his posture getting rigid. “Is this a joke?”

“I’m not in a joking mood,” Ryan said. “If you want to leave the island, you can go ahead. I won’t stop you. I’m in some very good hands here,” she said, slipping a hand to my lower back, and I guess weweredoing this. Not like I was remotely ashamed to claim Ryan. Nor tell off this asshole. I moved my hand to her lower back too, smiling patronizingly at him.

“So if you keep coming around to me looking for her,” I said, “it’s not going to go the way you want. Also, by the way—you massively missed the fuck out, but I guess thank you.”

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