Chapter Twenty-Six
After their steamy make-out session from the night before, Kayla woke up more confused than ever.
Apart from the sexy fantasy that had spawned their libidos, her dreams had been full of frustrating, exhausting scenes.
She had chased a car with an unknown passenger in one, and searched an endless high-rise office building for the correct highlighter in another.
More than once, she had woken herself up grinding her teeth.
Worst of all, for the first time since arriving in St. Lucia, she had not woken up curled into Mack’s arms. It was a distinctly unsatisfying night’s sleep.
When her eyes popped open, Kayla found Mack already out of bed, tying the laces on her running shoes. She avoided direct eye contact but still gave Kayla her trademarked crooked grin. “Morning. Ready for a workout?”
She was, but not the kind that involved running shoes.
Now wasn’t any more an appropriate time for that than last night had been, however.
Mack usually worked out her thoughts by running, so it wasn’t surprising to see her interested in a workout rather than a sit-down chat.
While that wasn’t Kayla’s preferred method of sorting out details, Mack deserved the right to set the terms, so she dragged herself out of bed and into the skimpiest running shorts and tank top she owned.
Was she doing that in case they ran into Skye, or was she doing it for Mack? She never did make up her mind.
Every morning, while she dressed for their jog, Kayla had mentally ticked through the bullet points of the Plan of Seduction.
Her mind hadn’t gotten the memo her libido was sending, so it started up with the same routine.
As if on cue, her stomach clenched at the monumental task and the limited time left.
In fact, she realized with a twist of her gut that today was her last shot.
They were scheduled for afternoon wedding ceremonies followed by romantic candlelit dinners on the beach.
She had until two o’clock to convince Skye that she should be the one saying “I do” rather than Amy.
Mack’s overly cheery morning voice cut through her thoughts. “Ready to go?”
“Um, sure.”
Kayla winced at her own lackluster reply.
Why was she feeling so weird about this now?
So they’d made out, so what? Clearly Mack wasn’t ready to talk about it, and neither was she.
After all, Mack knew they had come here to win Skye back.
She knew about the Plan of Seduction. She seemed to be willing to continue playing along.
But was that what Kayla wanted anymore? Wasn’t last night with Mack proof that she wasn’t fully committed to a lifetime with Skye?
She chided herself as they skipped down the stairs from their room and toward the running path.
She shouldn’t have led Mack on last night.
She wanted a life with Skye. She had their future planned out and she wasn’t going to lose that future. It was the one she wanted.
Wasn’t it?
Mack eased into a slow jog to start their warmup. “So, um, things got weird last night.”
Every muscle in Kayla’s body tensed. “Yeah. It did.”
“How do you feel about that?”
How did she feel? That wasn’t an easy question to answer, and it also wasn’t exactly romantic.
She was relieved Mack hadn’t woken up spouting love poetry, but also a little disappointed.
Mack was her safe place, not her sexy place.
Kayla was the one who’d made it weird with her wildly inappropriate sleep humping.
Kayla forced a smile onto her lips and a sunny lightness to her voice. “I feel great. You’re an amazing kisser, and last night was fun.”
Mack tensed beside her. “Yeah, it was.”
A noncommittal answer if there ever was one. Kayla said, “We should probably hit pause on anything more until we figure out what’s going on, though.”
Mack’s body visibly relaxed, and she even let out her breath in a rush like she’d been holding it waiting for Kayla’s answer. “Absolutely. I want to go slow, too. More talk, less action.”
Before Kayla could ask what she meant by slow, they turned a corner by the beach access and nearly collided with Skye and Amy coming out of the gym.
Skye was drenched in sweat and beaming. Just looking at that smile brought a veritable flood of memories over Kayla.
She’d forgotten how much she loved that wired, manic energy Skye always got from a serious workout.
Some of their best times as a couple were hitting bars or being flirty right after the gym.
Something about muscle fatigue and calorie burn ramped Skye’s personality up to eleven.
Kayla missed that. She missed the adventurous spirit Skye brought to her life.
Skye gave her that look, one eyebrow raised and mischief twinkling in her eye. “What’s this? It’s nearly six a.m., and you haven’t even broken a sweat yet. Clearly Mack isn’t pushing you hard enough.”
And just like that, her competitive fire was stoked. “I’ve got plenty in the tank.”
“Oh yeah? Prove it.”
“How about a race?”
Mack cleared her throat. “Do you think that’s a good idea, LaLa?”
Somehow, with the glint in Skye’s eye and the sweat on her forehead, time flew backward.
The previous year melted away, and they weren’t standing beside two other people they were supposed to marry.
The only things that existed were Kayla, Skye, and the thrill of the challenge.
The future she’d lost when Skye walked out was standing right there.
The prize at the end of one more competition.
Kayla didn’t think. This was what she’d come to St. Lucia for. All she had to do was act. She surveyed the scene around them and spotted the perfect racetrack at once. “Down the beach, around the bend, to the rock cliff.”
Skye’s smile was answer enough. “You’re on.”
Mack’s voice came from a long way off. “Seriously. That cliff is super steep. It’s not a good idea.”
Skye didn’t break eye contact. “On the count of three?”
Kayla’s cheeks hurt with the ferocity of her smile. “One…two…”
“Three!”
Skye turned on her heel and bolted before the word was fully out of her mouth.
It didn’t matter, though. Kayla knew her well enough to expect it.
She tucked her shoulders and sprinted hard.
She leaped from the foot-high stone wall onto the sand without breaking stride.
A slice of white-hot pain shot through her leg on impact.
It was enough to take her breath away, but she had run without breath most days during her playing career.
She knew how to fight through it when it really mattered, and it mattered right then.
Skye was three strides ahead of her, but Kayla had always been a better runner.
She had been seven years old when she realized she could run longer and faster than anyone else her age, even the boys.
She had been ten when her father taught her to keep running even when it hurt.
There was a corner of her brain permanently reserved for shoving the pain into so she could keep up the push.
She used it now for the first time in ages.
When she pulled even with Skye, she had enough breath to tease. “That all you got, Skye? You run like a girl.”
“I am a girl, and we run fucking hard.”
Skye surged, the strain showing in her face, and gained back a stride. Kayla knew the signs of weakness in an opponent, though. Her mouth was tight, and her arms were pumping too hard for the start of this sprint.
Kayla dug deep and clawed back the distance. “Your new girlfriend doesn’t push you like I did. You’re going soft.”
“Bullshit,” Skye said, but she was breathless.
“Admit it.”
“Just wait and see who wins before you start crowing too loud.”
They whipped around the corner, Kayla laughing.
She had chosen the inside track, closer to the water, so she had a shorter distance.
Skye had never been the type to strategize.
She had given up the best position, and it was going to cost her.
Kayla pulled ahead, but she heard Skye’s panting breath right on her heels.
The rock face was in sight, but Kayla couldn’t afford to slow down.
She called on the last of her reserves, pressing the pain in her knee farther back in her mind, and threw herself into the race.
Kayla’s hands slapped the sun-warmed stone as she crashed into the cliff face. She should have slowed to spare her body, but that might’ve been the difference between winning and losing. She couldn’t afford to lose this one.
Skye’s hand slapped the stone a second later. “Damn. I didn’t think you had it in you.”
Kayla kept her face pressed against the stone. If she turned now, Skye would see the pain in her grimace and she couldn’t have that. She forced a laugh. “You know I always beat you.”
“Bullshit. Race to the top of the rock?”
Kayla finally turned, all smiles. “Winner takes all?”
“Always.”
“What are we competing for?”
Skye laughed and shrugged. “How about the winner buys breakfast?”
“Now who’s full of bullshit? We need higher stakes than that.”
Skye said, “What did you have in mind?”
Kayla didn’t let herself think. It was now or never. This was what she came here for. She spoke but couldn’t feel her lips making the shapes of the words. If she had, she would have stopped them.
“If I win, you marry me instead of Amy.”
The words tasted like poison on her lips, but it was too late to take them back. Skye stopped dead. Even her heaving chest held still as she stared at Kayla in disbelief. “Are you insane?”
The poison kept flowing from her tongue in the form of the speech she’d practiced so many times she could say the words without feeling them. “You and I are meant to be, Skye. You know that, as well as I do. You love me as much as I love you. That’s why you came to me in the coffee shop that day.”
“I came to you because I needed the wedding package and…fucking hell, because it was the right thing to do.”
“No. You came to me because you wanted me to stop you. You needed me to give you back the future we both wanted. The future we can still have.”
Skye opened her mouth to speak, but Kayla had the upper hand, and she wasn’t about to lose it. She reached out and grabbed a fistful of Skye’s shirt. She gave a sharp yank at the tight fabric, and then Skye’s body was pressed against hers. Skye’s lips pressed against hers.
Skye gasped with shock, and Kayla pressed forward to deepen the kiss.
For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, her tongue slid against Skye’s.
Was it shock, habit, or desire that made Skye kiss her back?
Kayla didn’t wait to find out. She slid her fingers into Skye’s hair, holding her close.
She was only slightly surprised that she didn’t have to use that hand to hold Skye to her. She wasn’t trying to pull away.
In the same moment, she realized Skye was kissing her back, and a horrible realization flooded through Kayla.
All the things she used to feel when she kissed Skye—excitement, passion, need—were gone.
She felt…nothing. Actually, that wasn’t true.
It felt the same as it used to with Skye, but that was nothing compared to what she had felt last night.
What she had felt on the beach with Mack.
In that moment, her body had come alive.
Her soul had come alive. Kissing Mack had made butterflies fill her stomach and desire fill her veins.
But it wasn’t just the desire. It was the rightness of it all.
The way her lips and body and being had fit against Mack’s.
Like they were made for each other. Kissing Skye was a pale, lifeless reflection.
In the end, it wasn’t Skye who pulled away in disgust. It was Kayla. She broke the kiss and scrambled back as far as the steep cliff face would allow. She had made a terrible mistake. This wasn’t what she wanted.
Skye’s mouth hung open, but her eyes filled with fury. “What the actual fuck, Kayla?”
Kayla didn’t look at Skye. She couldn’t. In that moment, she realized with startling clarity that she was a terrible person. She was the villain, and she despised herself. And then it got so much worse.
She looked over Skye’s shoulder up to the raised path at the end of the beach where Mack stood. Did Skye look angry? It was nothing compared to the rage in Mack’s eyes. Her voice was barely above a whisper, barely audible to herself, much less so far away. “Mack.”
“I’m engaged, Kayla. You’re engaged. You can’t just fucking kiss me.”
Mack’s anger morphed into something closer to humiliation as she turned away. Kayla took a step toward her. “No. Wait.”
Skye finally realized Kayla wasn’t talking to her. She looked over her shoulder just as Mack disappeared from view. “Are you kidding me? What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Kayla knew she owed Skye more, but fear like she’d never felt in her life flooded through her. “I’m sorry, Skye. I fucked up.”
“Damn right you did.”
“I have to go.”
Skye’s voice shot up an octave. She was clearly incandescent with rage. “What?”
For better or worse, Kayla didn’t have time for Skye’s anger.
She owed her an explanation and a few dozen apologies, but they would have to wait.
She couldn’t see Mack anymore, and she needed to get to her.
To explain that she had made a mistake. To tell her how her whole life had changed when she kissed Skye and realized she had no interest in ever kissing her again.
Never kissing anyone but Mack ever again.
Kayla said, “I’m sorry, Skye. I really am.”
She pushed past Skye and started to run.
On the third step, the corner of her brain she kept open for ignored pain announced that it was full.
Her foot contacted with the sand and her knee gave out.
She shrieked with a pain she hadn’t felt in years.
She crumpled to the sand as a mixture of agony and numbness shot through her thigh.
It radiated from the knee twisted beneath her at an awkward angle.
Vaguely, she heard Skye behind her and the screeching of a few gulls overhead.
She heard the roar of the ocean dangerously close and the hiss of the wind through palm fronds.
All she could really focus on was the pain in her body and how the ache in her heart was far worse than the one in her knee.
It was something akin to heartbreak, but much worse.
Had she been inconsolable when Skye walked out on her?
It was nothing to the way this felt. She had been sad then. Now, she was broken.