Dylan
I open my eyes and stare up at my pale, white ceiling, then do a quick check of the time.
Fuck, I’ve been asleep for hours.
I guess the excitement of the last twenty-four or so hours have really taken its toll on me.
I don’t for a second regret anything that’s happened, and the truth of the matter is, maybe I’ve allowed the recent events to consume me so much that I’m just mentally exhausted.
I’m not going to lie, when Liam dropped the bombshell of spending Christmas alone with him on Necker Island, I was …
shocked. I honestly wasn’t expecting any of that.
The other thing I wasn’t expecting was the hot-as-fuck sex we had, fucking one another in all sorts of erotic positions was only something I’ve ever dreamed of in my wildest fantasies.
Experiencing that in real-life with Liam was definitely something I don’t ever plan on forgetting.
There’s all this talk that Liam wants to spend the rest of his life showing me just how much he loves me.
Yeah, that kind of freaked me out, even though I didn’t tell him that.
But the crazy part? I don’t even know why the fuck that freaked me out.
I’ve wanted Liam since I first laid eyes on the guy, we’re both consenting adults, and we’re not doing anything wrong or hurting anybody.
So why the hell am I lying here analyzing everything like a fine-tooth comb instead of enjoying what we have?
I mean, it’s not like the guy just asked me to marry him, it’s just a getaway for the two of us.
My phone pings from the coffee table, alerting me of a text message.
I look down at the screen and see the message from Liam.
Liam: The resort is available! We can leave tomorrow. Call me when you’re free.
The thought of me and Liam being completely alone on a remote island for Christmas puts a smile on my face and makes me feel all giddy on the inside.
I guess when you have plenty of money, you really can have everything that you want.
Liam reassured me that it doesn’t bother him that I don’t have money, and I believe him.
I knew him before I started working for him, so I’ve never been after his money either, and even though I don’t know how much the guy is worth, I’m sure he would have all his financial affairs legally protected in case someone tried to screw him over.
I rub my eyes and then pinch the bridge of my nose.
I honestly don’t know why I’m having all these reservations.
Maybe things are moving too quickly, or maybe this is normal.
God, I don’t know. One thing I do know though, is that Liam Samuels is driving me fucking crazy right now, but for all the right reasons.
The sound of my doorbell has me sitting up in the chair and looking around the house in confusion.
I then look back down at my phone at the last text from Liam.
There’s no way he could get here that quickly, even in his Ferrari.
Unless he wasn’t texting from his house.
No! He wouldn’t just show up here unannounced, not after the talk we had.
And when he dropped me off earlier, he said that he’d wait to hear from me.
The doorbell chimes again and I lift myself off the couch and move toward the front door, yawning as I turn the handle.
And I’m surprised when I see Elvis and Isabella standing on my front porch.
“Hey,” I say. “What are you guys doing here?”
“You invited us, remember?” Elvis tells me through the wire door.
“I did?”
“You sent us a text a few hours ago saying you wanted to talk to us,” Isabella says.
“I’m sorry, I was exhausted. I’ve been asleep for hours, I must have forgotten. Come in.” I unlock the wire door and make room for the two of them to enter.
Elvis greets me with a big brotherly hug that I always love, and so does Isabella which is followed by a kiss on the cheek. I close the door and the three of us move to the living room where Isabella sits down on the couch and Elvis takes the armchair beside it.
“Can I get you guys a drink?” I ask.
“No, we’re good,” they both say.
“Sit down and tell us what’s going on,” Isabella says.
I sit down beside her and make sure my phone is on silent, the last thing I want is to be interrupted.
“Is everything okay, Dylan?” Elvis asks.
“Everything is fine. Sorry, there’s just … something that I really need to talk to you guys about.”
“Has something happened?” Isabella asks.
“You could say that.”
I sit there in silence for what feels like an eternity but I know it’s only been a few short seconds.
“Dylan, what’s going on? Have you killed someone?” Elvis asks.
“What? No. Nothing like that.”
“Then stop freaking us out and spit it out already,” Isabella orders.
“That’s just the point … I did.”
The two of them give me a questioning look.
“Am I supposed to know what you’re talking about, Dylan?” Elvis asks.
“No. God this is so crazy I can’t even find the words to put the sentences together.”
“Don’t overthink it, Dylan, just––”
“Liam and I had sex,” I blurt out.
The room is met with instant silence. My eyes shift from Isabella to Elvis and then the two of them look at one another before turning their attention back on me.
“Well, it’s about fucking time you two got your shit together,” she finally says.
“Huh?” I reply, surprised by her remark.
“The way you two have been flirting with one another, please, it’s sickening,” she continues.
“And it was bluntly obviously at my wedding that the two of you were eye fucking one another the entire day.”
Okay, so he makes a compelling argument.
But I mean how could I not? Liam was all sexed up dressed in a navy-blue suit and black tie with pointed toe shoes.
All I kept thinking about the entire day was how delicious he looked and what it would be like to suck his dick.
But in reality, I knew that could never happen … well, at least not until now.
“Has it been that obvious?” I ask.
Isabella glares at me with a ‘Are you serious?’ look.
“I’m just surprised it took the two of you this long to figure out that you wanted each other. Especially knowing that my brother can’t keep his dick in his pants.”
“So you’re okay with this?” I ask, looking at Elvis.
“I don’t get why that’s relevant, Dylan. What difference does it make to me?”
“He’s your brother-in-law and my boss.”
“And that’s what makes it so fucking sexy. These are the kind of romances I only ever read about in books. What I don’t understand is, why do you think you need our approval? You’re an adult and you can make your own decisions.”
“I just didn’t want things to get weird or awkward whenever we were at family gatherings, an event, or somewhere else we may see each other in public. I mean, Liam has a high-profile job and lifestyle.”
“Let me tell you something, Dylan. When I met Dean I didn’t know he was a billionaire or anything about his family fortune. In fact, it wasn’t until well into our relationship before he told me everything.”
“He didn’t?” I inquire.
“No. When he first introduced me to his parents, he told them to keep everything low-profile and not splash the cash. I don’t think it was about trust, I believe it was because he didn’t want me to feel uncomfortable at his lavish lifestyle, which I wouldn’t have been anyway.
Dylan, we’re your family, Isabella and me, and we know what you’ve been through.
And I think I can safely speak for Liam when I say this, he doesn’t give a shit about the money.
Dean told me the same thing, he said what good is it to have all this money if you have no one to share it with?
Money doesn’t always make people happy.”
“That’s exactly what Liam said,” I reply.
“So then what’s the problem?” Isabella asks.
I get to my feet and slide my hands into my pockets as I walk over to the window and stare outside. I love that I can open up and speak freely with my brother and sister, they make it so easy for me to just let everything out and they never judge my choices.
“What’s going through that brain of yours, Dylan?” I hear Isabella ask.
“Liam has asked me to spend Christmas with him on a private remote island.”
“And what’s the problem?” Elvis asks.
“I don’t know, I just feel like … it’s all a bit much, you know?”
“Did he pressure you?” my sister asks.
“No, not at all. It was actually quite a surprise, he took me completely off guard. He said that he just wanted to spend Christmas with me, alone. Just the two of us.”
“Sounds pretty romantic if you ask me,” she says.
“Yeah, I guess so, it’s just … I don’t know. I can’t help but shake this feeling.”
“What feeling?” Elvis asks.
I spin around so that I’m now facing the two of them. “Would he still have asked me if we hadn’t had sex? I mean, was that the deal breaker, to see if I was a good fuck before he offered me an all-expenses-paid trip to the middle of nowhere?”
The thought has been playing on my mind since he dropped me off earlier.
It’s the only thing I’ve been thinking about, and one of the reasons why I’ve spent most of the day sleeping, trying to get my head around it all.
I know he reassured me that there were no strings attached, but what if I’m right, what if we didn’t have sex, would he still have asked me?
“No offense, Dylan, but you’re making yourself sound like a whore. It’s as if you see this trip as some sort of payment,” Elvis says.
“But that’s exactly how I feel. I told Liam that if we were going to be exclusive, that I wanted to take him out on a proper date, you know, like a real couple. But I know that I could never afford the expense of a night out to his standards.”