Chapter 15
Dylan
The villa looked even better in person than it had in the online listing. Waves crashed gently against the rocks below, and sunlight reflected off the pool, making it look like the most inviting place to be.
“Holy shit,” I whispered in awe, setting down Faye’s and my luggage in the entryway. “I think I could live here forever.”
Faye laughed as she left her purse on the sideboard by the door. “I could get on board with that.”
Jase put the bags he was holding down as he walked toward the patio doors and pushed them open, letting the warm, salty air drift inside. “So are we swimming or what?”
Faye raised an eyebrow. “I was promised tacos. Swimming can wait.”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “You heard our lady. Let’s go eat.”
“Careful.” She smirked at me. “A girl could get used to having every wish granted.”
Jase stepped beside us. “That’s fine with us. We plan to spoil you all week.”
We closed the doors and dropped our stuff in the bedroom before walking to the nearby taco bar. The place was exactly what one would expect from an island joint, with open-air seating, bright colors, and delicious smells from the kitchen.
We grabbed a table by the railing. A server came by with menus, and we all ordered a rum punch.
As soon as the glasses hit the table, I downed almost the entire thing. “Okay, I officially feel human again.”
“You still look like you missed out on your beauty sleep,” Jase teased.
I flicked a seed from my lime wedge toward him. “Like you look any better.”
“I think you both look great.” Faye smiled.
Our server returned, and we all ordered the house special tacos that sounded delicious.
“So how does it feel to have a break from baseball and take a vacation?” Faye leaned back and sipped her cocktail.
“Weird, actually,” I admitted. “For as long as I can remember, we’ve played ball year-round.”
“Yeah, even in college, we didn’t get much of a break,” Jase added.
“What did you major in?” she asked.
I snorted. “Are we playing twenty questions or what?”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
I didn’t mind the inquiry. While our text conversations went beyond flirty banter, we hadn’t ever really just chatted in person about everyday shit. And I liked the idea of learning everything we could about each other.
“We both have degrees in kinesiology,” Jase replied.
“Ah, you took the easy route,” she said, but there was a twinkle in her eye.
“What?” I gasped in mock indignation. “Kinesiology is hard. We had to learn real science.”
“So you learned anatomy and how to stretch properly. Impressive.” She rolled her eyes playfully.
“I don’t remember hearing you complain about our knowledge of anatomy before.” Jase downed the rest of his drink.
She smiled. “Touché.”
Plates of mahi-mahi tacos, fried plantains, and pineapple salsa were delivered to our table, and the conversation paused as we scarfed down our first few bites.
“Okay”—I pointed at my plate—“this alone is worth the sixteen hours of travel.”
“I’m going to gain ten pounds on this trip,” Faye whined.
“With food like this, I think we all will.” Jase wiped his mouth with a napkin. “So, we told you about our college life. What about you? Did you go to college?”
She nodded. “My parents would have lost it if I hadn’t gone. I actually did take the easy route and majored in communications.”
“Is that what you want to do?” I wondered.
She lifted a shoulder. “It was the safe choice. Something I could use anywhere.”
“Nothing wrong with that.” Jase dipped a chip into the salsa.
“Tell that to my dad.” She laughed, but there was no humor behind it.
I grabbed another taco off my plate. “What’d he want you to study?”
“Law.” She wrinkled her nose. “He had this wild idea that all three of his kids would follow in his footsteps, but only Fallon wanted to become a lawyer. My other brother, Finn, is … Well, he’s not the most responsible guy, and I wasn’t interested in spending all of my time in a courtroom.”
Jase rested his arm casually along the back of her chair. “What would you want to do if no one expected anything of you? No family pressure.”
She looked out over the water, thinking for a moment.
“I want to help people, especially women and kids without support systems. I’ve been working with a few charities—mostly women’s shelters and a program for children aging out of the foster system.
I’d like to start my own foundation, maybe, but it’s hard to get people to take me seriously when they see me only as ‘the president’s daughter’ or ‘the girl with great fashion sense.’”
Her voice held a cautious tone, and I wondered if she’d ever told anyone that before.
I leaned in closer. “You’d be good at that.”
Jase nodded. “And seriously, you’re more than the media’s version of you. Anyone who actually gets to know you can see that.”
She blinked as if she hadn’t expected that kind of affirmation from us. “Thank you. You guys make it really hard not to like you.”
“That’s good, then.” I grinned. “Because we both like you.”
By the time we made it back to the villa with arms full of groceries, we were completely exhausted from our long day.
Faye kicked off her sandals by the door, stretched her arms over her head, and let out a satisfied sigh. “I could go for a nap right now.”
“That sounds like a great plan,” Jase agreed.
We rushed to put away the food, then shuffled into the primary bedroom and collapsed onto the king-size bed with Faye between us as usual.
The ceiling fan provided a cool, comforting breeze, and I didn’t remember falling asleep.
Eventually, I woke to the weight of someone’s leg thrown across mine and the sound of soft breathing beside me.
Looking down, I saw Faye curled against my side, her cheek resting on my chest, and Jase stretched out behind her, a hand resting on her hip.
Her eyes slowly opened. “What time is it?”
Jase stirred and reached for his phone. “Almost five.”
“We napped for two hours? I can’t remember the last time I did that,” she mused.
“It felt good.” I pushed myself up. “But we should probably do something that counts as exercise,” I suggested. “Jase and I can’t show up to spring training out of shape.”
“Then, after, can we finally hit up the pool?” Jase huffed.
Faye leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I’ll be out there waiting for you.”
“What? You’re not working out with us?” I asked.
“Uh … no.” She chuckled.
“You’re going to miss your chance watching all this get sweaty in the gym?” I flexed just to make her laugh.
She rolled her eyes but got out of bed. “When you put it that way, how could I possibly say no?”
We grabbed water bottles from the fridge and headed down the hallway to the villa’s gym. Two treadmills stood in the corner, along with free weights, resistance bands, and a cable machine. It wasn’t much, but it’d work.
Faye stopped at the door and looked around.
“If there’s anything you need help with, just ask,” Jase offered.
“I know how to work out,” she grumbled.
She reached for a pair of dumbbells, choosing ones that were far too heavy.
“Okay, Princess.” I walked over to her. “Put those down.”
She glared at me. “But I can lift them.”
“You can,” I agreed. “But we don’t want you dislocating anything on our first day here.”
Jase gently took the weights from her and replaced them with lighter ones. “Try those.”
She sighed but lifted them. “Fine. This is a little more comfortable.”
“Bet having two kinesiology majors around doesn’t seem so bad now, does it?” I teased.
She continued to glare at me, but the corners of her mouth lifted. She was cute when she pretended to be annoyed.
As we moved through a circuit, I couldn’t stop watching her …
or Jase, for that matter. Maybe it was because every few minutes he’d pause to correct her grip or adjust her stance.
Or maybe it was because I was having a harder time denying that the guy who’d started as my best friend and had eventually become my brother was an equally important part of whatever this was with Faye.
And maybe there was something deeper to how I was feeling.
Faye bent to set a weight down, drawing my attention away from the thoughts in my head. The bottom of her ass cheeks peeked out from the hem of her shorts, and it took everything in me to hold back my groan.
Jase leaned in and whispered, “She’s doing that on purpose, isn’t she?”
I nodded. “Absolutely.”
She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, then grinned. “Now what?”
Jase nodded toward the hallway. “Shower.”
My pulse kicked up. “The three of us together.”
Faye’s gaze darkened, and she reached for both our hands. “Lead the way.”