Chapter 16
Diesel
G etting out of the water, I ran my fingers through my hair and then opened my eyes to look around the place. We were at this gorgeous pool right by the shore, with a panoramic ocean view and lots of trees all around. If I wasn’t so pissed, I might have enjoyed it.
“Did the water cool you down?” Andrei teased once I slammed my ass on the sun lounger beside his and grabbed a towel to dry off.
“Fuck no.” I lay down and tucked my hand behind my head. “Ever since we got here, they’ve been fucking inseparable,” I hissed, referring to Shay-Lee and Jordan, who, for the last three fucking days, had been glued to each other like bunnies in heat.
“Well, you did crash their romantic getaway. What did you expect?” Levi snorted before flipping to a new page in the book he was reading.
Sarcastic asshole.
“Hey!” he whined when I whipped him with my damp towel.
His little screams made me laugh, so I continued whipping him until Andrei spoke.
“Leave him alone, D,” Andrei scolded from beside us, and I glanced back at him.
“But his crying’s funny.”
“You’re such an asshole,” Levi hissed.
“So you had no chance to speak to him?” Andrei asked, cutting us both off.
I tossed the towel on Levi’s head for a final blow, then shuffled up on the sun lounger to a sitting position and faced Andrei. “Fuck no. Like I said, they’re fucking inseparable.” My chest tightened with jealousy, and I grunted. “I need to find a way to separate them, but I just can’t figure out how.” It was much easier to get Shay-Lee alone back home. But here, where Jordan watched him like a hawk? Fucking impossible . I also didn’t buy all that crap from the plane, where Jordan pretended to be okay with me being around. Yeah, sure . That little insecure bitch was putting on an act just to impress Shay-Lee. What. A. Loser. Although, if I were being honest with myself, currently, I was the one being pathetic while he was enjoying pad thai with my guy.
A shadow suddenly covered me, and I turned to see Jessie standing right beside us, blocking the sun with his body. Fresh out of the water, he was soaking wet. The idea of using a towel to dry off didn’t pop up in that crazy brain of his, and instead, he shook his head like a dog.
“What ya talking about?” he asked, still shaking his head to get water out of his ears; while doing so, he got us all wet, including Levi, who whined about how it was impossible to have some peace and quiet around us.
Andrei fixed his sunglasses to sit better on his nose before answering Jessie. “We’re trying to think of ways to get Diesel some alone time with Shay-Lee.”
“Oh!” Jessie smiled, then sat beside me.
“ Ugh , you’re wet.” I pushed him off the sun lounger. The idiot fell down like chopped wood .
“You don’t need to be so mean, D,” Andrei said while Jessie got up.
“I’m not mean.”
“You sure are,” Jessie pouted, then sat on Andrei’s bed. “Anyway, what if Levi and I take Jordan on a day trip with us?”
“We’re not doing that!” Levi called from behind us.
“Come on, Babydoll. We love Jordan.”
“You love him,” he grunted.
“Are we still jealous over that time?”
I frowned. “What are they talking about?”
Andrei chuckled. “Probably about when they slept with him.”
Wait, what?
“Oh fuck off, Andrei,” Levi hissed, then finally got up from his chair and came to sit with us. “And no, I’m not jealous, Kotik. I’m just not into this little scheme you guys are plotting.”
“And yet, here you are.” I wrapped one arm around Levi’s slim shoulder while waving my other hand around us. “In fucking Thailand, baby.”
Andrei snorted under his breath while Jessie’s face turned serious, and he leaned closer. “It isn’t a scheme, Babydoll. We’re here to help Diesel chase his destiny.”
Levi’s brows pulled down as he scowled at Jessie. “ Destiny ?”
“Fuck yeah.” Jessie beamed. “Shay-Lee is D’s destiny, Babydoll. He’s his one true love, his ride or die, his fucking soulmate—”
“ Eww , that’s so corny,” Levi interrupted before Jessie could go on with his monologue, which I was quite enjoying.
“It’s our job to help them reunite!” Jessie clapped his hands together, fire burning in his determined eyes.
“Fuck yeah!” I growled, then high-fived Jessie, who’d only gotten more excited.
Levi, of course, complained, while Andrei seemed to be on board.
“So you two will get Jordan away for a day?” I asked Jessie .
“Yep.” He smiled widely. “I’ll find a way to make him join us for a trip.”
Well, that would be a start, but I found it hard to believe that Shay-Lee would just fall into my arms with that idiot out for a few hours, especially after he’d been ignoring me ever since our short quality time in the airplane washroom.
“I still need to think of a way to convince Shay-Lee to be alone with me,” I said, scratching my jaw.
“You don’t think he’d agree to it?” Andrei frowned.
“No, man.” Leaning back on my arms, I sighed. “That stubborn bitch has been ignoring me since we got here. Ain’t no way he’ll come without a fight.”
Andrei turned to look ahead while biting his lip. That guy was clearly working his brain right now. “We can ask Miles for help. Other than you, he’s the closest to Shay-Lee.”
I snorted because what were the chances Miles would agree to help me ? But once I realized everyone was staring at me, I sulked. “Wait, you were serious?”
Andrei nodded.
“I’m not asking that twink for help.”
Pulling his shoulders up, Andrei went back to tanning on his stupid sun lounger. “Suit yourself, man.”
“Can’t I just kidnap him?”
“No,” Levi muttered, and I rolled my eyes.
“Miles hates my guts. He’ll never help.”
“Who knows? If you ask nicely, he might do,” Andrei said, a hint of a smile on his lips.
He was enjoying this, which meant I was so screwed.
Walking around the resort with a cup made out of a half pineapple in my hand, it took me about an hour to find the French brat. At last, I saw him sitting in one of the beach restaurants with a plate of fries in front of him .
“Hey there, Miles,” I said with the most friendly voice I could manage after stopping next to him.
Miles glanced up from his phone for a quick second before going back to it. “What do you want?” he snarled, his fingers moving fast over the screen while he was typing.
Ugh. I hate him.
“I brought you a pineapple smoothie from the tiki bar. Andrei mentioned how much you loved those.” I sat in the chair beside him while pushing the drink his way.
Miles reached for his plate of fries and took one. “Is it poisoned?” He tilted his head in the direction of my peace-offering smoothie before he popped the fry in his mouth.
“What?” I gasped. “No, silly.” I fist-bumped his arm, and the fucker immediately rubbed the spot. What a weakling. “Why would I want to poison you ?”
Taking another fry, I watched how he took his time bringing it to his lips. I swore to God he moved slowly on purpose, just to spite me.
“I don’t know, you tell me.”
“It isn’t poisoned, Miles. Just a small gesture to show I care.”
He snorted. “Since when do you care?”
“Since now,” I grunted, pissed because he was annoying as fuck.
Miles cleaned the salt off his palms before reaching for the smoothie. Pinching the straw between his fingers, he brought it to his lips and took a small sip. “That’s tasty, but seriously, Diesel, what do you want?”
“Can’t I just be nice?”
Taking another sip, Miles snorted. “Is that supposed to be a rhetorical question? Because if not, you’re probably the least nice person I have ever met in my life. Not to mention rude—”
“Fine,” I cut him off before he could continue trashing me. “I need you to help me with Shay-Lee.”
Miles’s lips perked up before he took off his sunglasses and looked at me with scrutinizing eyes. “How so? I thought you two were doing great.”
Immune to his snark, I swallowed my pride and forced a smile. “Apparently, not as great as I thought. So, can you help?”
Smitten with himself, Miles ate another fry and chewed it with a smile. “I never thought I’d live to see the day mighty Diesel would come asking for help.” He sucked his fingers clean. “I must say it’s quite lovely.”
Seeing how this was leading to nowhere, I decided I’d had it. My life was already hard enough without making a fool out of myself in front of this dude. I chewed at the inside of my cheek, frustration bubbling just beneath the surface as I got up. “Fine—”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t help you.”
My eyes shot to him. “Seriously?”
He nodded, and I immediately sat down and reached for his hand. “Thank you so much—”
“But I won’t do it for free.” He slipped his hand from my hold.
“Sure. Let me hear it,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back.
“I don’t have anything in mind now .” He pursed his lips before glancing at me. “Let’s just say you’ll owe me one.”
I eyed him suspiciously as he was probably plotting something vile in that big head of his.
Miles checked his phone. “I need to call Papa, so do we have a deal or not?” he asked while putting his sunglasses back on and taking a small sip from his drink.
It wasn’t like I had much choice, and besides, what was the worst he could come up with?
“Hell yeah.”