Page 11 of The All-Inclusive

I stare at the glowing green words. According to Sara, both of her friends tried the group stuff. It’s another detail she shared about how Eve and Camille spent their time there.

“It’s crazy,” she said in hushed tones. “Like, here’s Camille, she’s already committed to Ashton. He’s told her he loves her, and she’s said it to him, and thenbang!”

“Bang?” I brushed a dark curl off her face. “What’s bang?”

“Gang bang, I guess.” She giggled as her cheeks turned bright pink. “Is that the right word for it?”

“You’re asking me?” I chuckled and let my hand roll down her side. The scent of her lilac shampoo filled my senses as I blurted the question I had no right to ask. “What configuration are we talking?”

“You mean, like—positions?”

“Do you know that?”

Sara bit her lip. “I know there were three guys.Threeof them,Trent—Ashton and two others."

I didn’t know how to pose my next question. I tried to sound casual when I asked what I wanted to know. “Did the guys touch each other, or just Camille?”

Her cheeks went from pinkish to scarlet. Sara’s lips parted like it hadn’t occurred to her to ask. “I assume they didn’t toucheach other.” She chuckled, and I laughed along with her. “Ash isn’t gay. He lovesCamille.”

That’s when I dropped it. I don’t recall how I changed the subject, but I probably asked her if she wanted to go get a pizza. Or maybe I suggested an episode of one of those TV shows she loves, the ones where couples search for a lakefront home where their two precious children can frolic.

That’s the fantasy, right? Mom, Dad, a couple of kids. The nuclear family. That’s what Sara’s described for as long as I’ve known her. The dream we’ve chased since that very first day we built our marshmallow home out of toothpicks and squishy white cubes.

Drawing a breath, I click off the page. I shouldn’t be spying on Sara. I gave up the right to know all her fantasies as soon as I walked out the door.

Closing my eyes, I feel my mind wander. A scene starts to flicker on the backs of my eyelids. Sara on rumpled sheets with her back to me. Sara with her dark hair tousled, her perfect ass flawless and bare. Her lush thighs spread open over the face of a muscular man on the bed. She’s moaning and gasping, riding his tongue as his hands grip her ass.

“That’s it, Sara.”His imaginary voice fills the cavern of her thighs.“Come on my face.”

I picture his tongue in her folds, his giant hands holding her there. His swollen cock twitching with need, aching for hands or a mouth or the touch of someone just outside my view.

“Fuck it.” Before I can think through my options, I’m booking a flight to the airport that’s closest to Crystal Bliss Retreat.

The island is accessed by a private boat shuttle, but I’ll figure it out when I get there. Maybe bribing the captain or greasing the palm of a local fisherman. I’ll fucking swim there if I have to.

With my airfare booked, there’s only one thing left to do.

I pick up the phone and call Mom.

“Hey.” It’s a struggle to keep my voice even. “You alone?”

She knows what I’m asking. “He’s on a four-month assignment near Japan.”

Thank God.“Cool.”

It’s my father we’re dancing around. The man in the shadows of all my dark thoughts. For most of my childhood, Dad wasn’t very involved. As a missile technician on a Navy sub, he’s overseas more than he’s home.

“It’s better that way,” Mom always said, and I knew it was true from the time I was small.

Clearing my throat, I tell Mom the truth now. “I’m not getting married.”

“What?”Her voice fills with tears. “Did you have a fight? Did Sara get cold feet or?—”

“I made the decision.” God, this is hard. “Look, I don’t want to get into it. I just know I can’t make her happy.”

“Trent Montgomery James.” She sounds like she’s crying. “That’s impossible. That girl has loved you since you were kids, and I know you love her. You deserve to be married and happy.”

Married and happy.

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