Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Phoebe
T he endless blue ocean spread out all around us, and the usual wind that surrounded Mykonos grew even stronger the moment the catamaran set sail with only the captain of the vessel and the six of us onboard.
It whipped through my hair while I sat next to Bailey and Rhea on the trampoline netting at the front of the boat.
As usual, I positioned myself in the middle, my legs crossed, with a bottle of champagne in a cooler propped in there while the other two rested back on their elbows, their legs kicked out and faces tilted to the sun.
I took a sip from the flute in my hand, unable to believe the glorious view before me. “I can’t believe Jace spent his winnings on this for us.”
“Must have cost him a fortune,” Bailey said with a contented sigh.
“Over seven hundred for three hours,” Rhea chimed in, making us turn her way. Her eyes remained closed. Sensing us staring, she shrugged and added, “I was there when he booked it. Think he was trying to impress me.”
“Has it worked?” I asked.
“No comment.”
“Hell, it’s impressed me.” Bailey laughed before downing the rest of her champagne and reaching for the bottle for a top up. “You’re running out of time, Rhea. We only have a few days left.”
“Time for what?”
“You know damn well what.”
The reminder of our impending departure made my stomach dip, but I kept the smile on my face somehow… until Bailey nudged me with her elbow. “Tell her, Bee. She may never see him again. Shouldn’t she just go for it?”
“I don’t think it’s my call to say who Rhea sleeps with.”
Bailey rolled her eyes. “Always so sensible.”
If only you knew, I thought, remembering the way I’d streaked naked down the beach beneath the moonlight the night before while Henry chased me.
Thinking of the way Henry had trailed strawberries all over my skin while we’d laid in the sand two days before that.
The rides on the moped over the island. The way we’d explored parts of Mykonos the others didn’t even know existed.
Sensible? I hadn’t been that since meeting Henry.
“I just think if Rhea wants to go there with Jace, she should. If she isn’t sure, she shouldn’t.” I stared out to sea, really not wanting to get involved in this. I had no right to tell anyone what to do, or rather who to do, when I was holding back so many secrets of my own.
A twinge of guilt ran through me, making me want to turn to them both, blurt out the truth, and lay it all out there.
But I couldn’t. I’d made a promise to Henry that this thing between us, whatever the hell it had become, would stay exactly that: between us.
Our secret adventure. Our fling in the summer sun.
But then more memories of the last week drifted through my mind.
When Henry had rolled me onto my back in the sand and laid on top of me, running his hand through my hair and down my cheek as he just stared into my eyes as though I was his to lose and he didn’t want to let me go.
The wind blowing against us on the moped, the sun up ahead, and the smell of him surrounding me, making me lean in even closer to rest my chin on his shoulder as the muscles in his arms flexed while he steered us around the winding streets.
Was it wrong that some of the best moments of my life had happened with a man I barely knew? Those smiles he gave me in secret gave me the strength to carry on as normal in public. I couldn’t imagine how I’d have gotten through this trip without him now.
By the time I’d zoned back into Rhea and Bailey’s conversation, my cheeks had become flushed from the memories of Henry lying on top of me, when Jace called out from behind us.
“Hey, Ree-Ree?”
Groaning but unable to hide her amusement, Rhea glanced over her shoulder in his direction, making us do the same. Jace stood there in his swim shorts, wearing a pair of dark shades while holding up his almost-empty glass.
“Yes, Jay-Jay?” she hit back.
“Fallen in love with me yet?”
“Nope. Not yet.”
“Shit.” He shook his head, his grin as big as ever. “How about now?”
“Go away, Jace.”
“You’re coming around, baby. I can tell.”
With a laugh I’d grown to appreciate, he turned back to the guys, who were sitting on the leather U-shaped seating area behind us.
My eyes found Henry instantly, and he looked back at me like only the two of us existed.
For one selfish moment, I wished that were true.
The wind whipped over his thick hair, making me want to run my fingers through it before I’d press my lips to his and wait for his hands to slide around to my arse to pull me closer.
I imagined how the two of us would be able to sit together, him wrapped around me as we watched the sun begin to set in the next few hours.
I imagined us sharing champagne, eating off each other’s stomachs, and the tender touches he’d grace to my face and body when he had nobody to hide from.
The sheer thought of it all had me turning back around to look out at the ocean instead of him, because the need I had for him now had grown so strong, I struggled to keep control of myself in front of the others.
The thought of Henry being able to stand up in front of our friends and make jokes the way Jace had just done with Rhea had a knot of want mixed with jealousy forming in the pit of my stomach—one I didn’t like the feel of.
“You know what, Rhea,” I said. “I think you should go for it with, Jace.”
“You do?”
“Yeah.” I turned to her, forcing a smile I didn’t feel. “I think maybe it’s time you gave into what you really want. It’s not every day a guy our age puts so much effort in to getting the girl, is it? Jace is sweet as hell, he clearly wants you, and it’s pretty obvious you feel the same way.”
“Atta girl, Pheebs,” Bailey said beside me.
“But I…” Rhea trailed off, a small scowl forming, because even she knew her arguments had run dry at this point.
I glanced over my shoulder one last time and locked eyes with Henry, wishing I could go to him. Wishing I could show them all what he’d done to me these last few days, not just physically, but emotionally, too. The way he’d pieced me back together without even realising the work he’d put in.
Rhea had no idea how precious our time left on this island was, and I didn’t want her having any regrets or wondering what could have been the way I would have done had I not taken Henry up on his offer.
Looking back at her, I gave her a brighter smile this time. “Go get him. Give him the surprise of his life. We said we’d make this a holiday to remember, right? Don’t go home with any what ifs.”
Despite our sunglasses being in the way, I could see the way Rhea searched my eyes, trying to read me instead of dealing with her own wants and desires, so I raised my eyebrows at her and mouthed only one word: Go.
She looked back at Jace one final time, let out a heavy sigh, then handed me her empty champagne flute. “Screw it,” she said under her breath. “What are holidays for?”
Bailey gasped behind me, but before either of us could say another word, Rhea was crawling over the netting of the catamaran. When she got to the edge, she pulled herself up and over it to where all three of the guys sat on the leather U-shaped seats, and each of them turned to look up at her.
Rhea planted her hands on her hips before she raised a crooked finger in the air and beckoned Jace closer. “Come on, then.”
“Huh?” was his only response.
“You heard me. On your feet.”
Jace glanced at the others in confusion, but it didn’t take him long to ditch his drink in Andy’s lap and go to her like an excited puppy about to enter an all-you-can-eat hotdog buffet. Within just a few steps, he towered over her, and Rhea had to crane her neck to look up at him.
“Ask me how I feel now, Jay-Jay.”
“You love me yet?” He smirked.
“No. I still think you’re a complete imbecile. You drive me crazy more hours than you don’t, but I figure you’ve earned at least one thing for your efforts.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“This.”
Without missing a beat, Rhea rose on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and she pulled him in for a kiss that had the whole catamaran whooping with cheers of approval.
Andy clapped, Bailey screamed, “Finally!” over the sound of the vessel’s engine and the waves.
I smiled the proudest smile I could muster, watching the two of them as Jace’s hands found Rhea’s waist and he pulled her even closer to him, his desire for her as obvious as the colour of the sun in the sky.
But when I let my gaze drift over to Henry, his eyes were on me, and I saw the look he gave me.
I understood it.
We were happy for them.
We were jealous, too.
He wanted to come to me. I wanted to go to him.
Instead, we remained where we were, pretending not to be lovers, pretending we were barely friends, because that’s what we’d promised each other this would be: a secret.
When Jace and Rhea finally came up for air, they took a second to stare into each other’s eyes before they both burst out laughing, their happiness infectious, pulling me out of any morbid thoughts threatening to take over.
“I knew you’d come around,” Jace told her. “And my Lord, woman, you can kiss!”
“I know I can.” She tapped his cheek like a parent would a child. “Now, be a good little boy and run along to get me another drink, would you?”
“What do I get in return if I do?”
“Try it and find out.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He planted one final kiss to her lips before he slapped her on the arse and made his way inside the catamaran like the good little boy she’d told him to be.
It was only when he’d disappeared from sight that we heard the howling of his happiness echoing from inside the boat, followed by a cry of, “Jace got the girl, baby! Never in doubt. Never in doubt,” making the rest of us fall into fits of laughter all over again.
If I couldn’t have my guy in public, at least Rhea could have hers.
“Hey, Bee?”