THE BEACH BUZZES WITH CHATTER. There must be over two hundred people here. Around the blazing fire, bodies dance to the rhythm of pounding bass from nearby speakers. Palm trees line the private cove, leaves rustling in the breeze.
“Diego, this is Lily.”
My surf instructor scoops up Lily’s fingers and brings them to his lips.
Disgust sprinkles over my skin. I do my best to not let my mind wander to where his mouth will be by the night’s end.
“About time you introduced me to your girlfriend.”
I don’t even have to guess the next words out of Lily’s mouth. “Oh no, we’re just friends.”
There must be a broken record in her annoyingly beautiful head repeating the words just and friends.
Just friends, just friends, just friends.
This is the second time this week someone’s assumed we’re a couple. It’s as if us being together doesn’t seem outlandish in the eyes of a stranger. But Lily waves off the suggestion at once.
“Only friends? How’s that possible?” Diego asks me.
I sip my drink, the cool, citrus-malt taste coating my tongue. “What do you mean?”
“She’s a gorgeous woman.” Diego smirks at Lily. “Any man would be a fool not to keep you for himself.”
I roll my neck, working out the strain of annoyance. Diego’s acting as if he’s the first to discover the treasure that is Lily Rodin.
News flash, dude, you’re not good enough for her. Nobody fucking is.
What do I care?
“Well, it’s not like that with Nico.” Lily smiles politely, and Diego’s satisfied look is enough to make me feral.
I’ve never been a violent man, but I have the sudden urge to tattoo my fist into his conniving smirk.
He leans in toward her. “What a shame for him, but I think it’s a blessing for me. You’re a true beauty, gatinha.”
A tinge of blush splatters across Lily’s face. “Thank you, you’re not bad yourself.”
What the fuck is this?
She rarely blushes, like almost never. But who could blame her?
Diego isn’t horrible to look at. He’s taller than me and, yeah, he’s ripped. Ridiculously ripped.
He’s decent.
Decent for a fucking asshole.
“You should come on the waves one day,” he says. “I can give you a private lesson.”
All the students in my surf class who’ve taken Diego’s private lessons
rarely returned with an improved skillset.
She won’t fall for it.
“I’d love a lesson. What do you think, Nico?” Or I guess she will.
Lily scrunches her dark brows at me, urging me to continue the conversation, but I’m capped. There’s no way I can deal with this any longer.
“Marcelo’s over there. I’ll catch you later.”
“Alright, buddy.” Diego lands his palm on my shoulder. Lily frowns at me.
I’m glad she’s getting what she wants, but it doesn’t mean I have to be a close witness for the rest of the evening. My wingman duties are done.
I venture into the crowd, searching for my friends. Instead, my attention snags on Lily and Diego, who are making their way over to the coolers overflowing with beer.
She hates beer.
Lily’s head tips back in laughter as she traces her fingers over Diego’s forearm. Her skin glows with a tan, warmed by hours of lounging in the sun. Those perfect curves are held together by a dress I bought her from one
of the beach vendors. It’s different from her regular monotone wardrobe, with splashes of red and purple across the sheer fabric and a cut down the middle, exposing her stomach.
Rio looks good on her. Spending the entire summer with me would look even better.
I bounce my gaze away from them, trying to settle the piping-hot wash of anger finding its way into my throat.
Why does it matter to me if she wants to hook up with Diego? She’s not fucking mine.
I find Marcelo surrounded by a group of women in bikinis and a few guys from our class. He waves me over.
It’s time to have a little fun.
 |
MY HEARTBEAT SYNCS with the music, and my calves strain from learning how to samba. Tequila shots swim in my veins.
This is the life.
On either side of me, Marcelo and João dance with two stunning women, both of whom seem thrilled to find themselves wrapped up with my friends.
“Nico.” A hand grabs my shoulder and spins me around. Susana again. I try to shrug her off, but her fingers tighten.
“Hey.” I look for an escape route.
Sure, Susana is a damn good surfer and undeniably cute. She has a button nose and large round eyes that sit nicely on her face. The entire night she’s been throwing not-so-subtle hints at me, practically spelling out she’s interested.
But I don’t know what’s wrong. I’m not feeling it. Honestly, I haven’t been interested in anyone since landing in Rio.
Well, except for a certain woman I can’t have.
Susana yells over the loud music, but I can’t make out anything she’s saying.
I lean down to her. “Huh?”
“Walk?” She points to a path leading down to the water.
I catch Lily dancing hand in hand with Diego, who pulls her close.
Half the people at this party, almost all the fucking men, can’t stop staring at her. They’re probably waiting for the opportunity to approach her. As if they’d even have a chance with Diego’s clasp around her waist.
It’s disgustingly territorial. He leans down to whisper something in her ear, and her mouth hangs open with a wide grin. There’s no way the dude’s making jokes while she’s grinding on his front half.
I force a heavy breath through my lungs.
What could he possibly be saying to make her laugh almost as hard as I
do?
“Hello, Nico?” Susana waves a hand in front of my face, her eyes heavy
with expectation. “What’s up?”
“Want to go somewhere more private?” “I’m sorry, Susana, I just—”
Diego’s mouth connects to the side of Lily’s neck like a fucking leech. No.
My body reacts before my mind can process what I’m doing.
“Hey, Lil,” I practically yell across the beach. My legs pound into the sand, but she doesn’t hear me. In a few quick steps, I’m close enough to tap her shoulder. “I need to talk to you for a sec.”
What is happening?
Lily spins around, nearly knocking Diego in the face, and he takes a steady step back. “Can it wait? I’m a little busy.” A pleading look fills her eyes, and she continues swaying.
Her dance partner reaches one of his slimy hands toward her again. My brain short-circuits.
“It’s an emergency,” I blurt. “Ave’s on the phone. She needs to talk to you.”
Lily stops the movement of her hips and instantly unhooks herself from Diego. The needy stare is replaced with panic.
Why, of all the things I could’ve said, did I choose that? She’s not going to hesitate in suffocating me with another pillow again. This time, I’ll have to let her because I’m being a fucking prick.
She tiptoes up to my ear, making sure I can hear her. “Is everything okay?”
The smell of her skin melts my agitation. Lilies, sweat, and citrus mingled with the scent of alcohol and smoke.
I hesitate for a second, knowing I can take it all back. If I don’t act like a complete fool right now, maybe she’ll actually give me a chance to prove to her that exploring something between us is worth it. That I can do whatever Diego could, but better. When my eyes land on my surf instructor, who looks at me expectantly, I taste the lie on my lips. “Yes, let’s just go somewhere quiet.”
Lily turns to Diego and gives him an apologetic look. “I’ll be right back.”
I drag my feet across the sand, leading her away from the crowd. We make our way to the other side of the cove. The quaint area has suspended hammocks and a scatter of chairs lining the rocks.
“Where’s your phone?” Lily asks, catching her breath. “Huh?”
“You said Avery was on the phone.”
I take a few steps back, palming the creases out of my forehead. Okay, calm down. My pulse races from the situation I’ve orchestrated. I need to fess up now, or I’ll ruin everything. “Avery isn’t on the phone. I was trying to rescue you.”
Lily stops her irritated waving. “Rescue me? From what?”
I fold my arms across my chest, feeling like a jerk. “Diego.” “What the fuck, Nico? You literally just cockblocked me.”
I try to pull something reasonable out of the depths of my brain. “You didn’t look like you were having fun.” Yeah, that’s definitely the opposite of reasonable.
She swings her foot, kicking sand up my legs. “I was moments away from letting him rip the soaked bikini bottoms off my body in front of everyone.”
Her admission shoots blood into my dick. Diego isn’t going anywhere near her bikini. Not while I’m here with the suffocating need to hook it around my fingers until she’s begging me to work the beseeching look off her pretty face.
“I didn’t realize you would settle for some random dude.” Yeah.
Definitely deserve getting choked in my sleep for this one.
“Excuse me?” Her voice rushes at me.
“N–not what I meant,” I stutter. Royally fucking this up.
“When did you turn into such a judgmental asshole?”
“The moment you decided to get with the kind of guy who could have a bright, neon map to a G-spot and still not be able to find it.”
“And would you know that from experience, Nico?” Lily’s nose hikes up into the air.
“Look, he’s a player who’s slept with half the class. None of his students ever go back for more, which can only mean he’s not any good in bed.”
Yeah. Now we’re getting somewhere. Lily wouldn’t want a mediocre lay when she’s so worked up. She gasps instead of giving me a celebratory high five that, ideally, would turn into a tumble in the sand. Her breath hits the back of her throat so violently, I can’t help but imagine if she makes the same sounds when she comes.
Of course, that’s what’s invading my mind right now.
Her hands curl into fists, and she glares at me. “You just want me for yourself because you can’t have me. I’m not a conquest, Nico.”
From the pattern of anger brewing in her eyes, I can begin to guess all the ways she’s planning to rip me to shreds. The image does little to stop the hardness in my shorts from throbbing in anticipation of seeing her let loose.
“Don’t worry; conquering you has never been an option. I’m only trying to save you from another late-night sesh with your vibrator, Lil.”
I avoid filling her in on the fact that when she’s in her room across the hall, I can hear her playing with her pussy, and my fist is locked around my dick while I follow the pattern of her moans behind my door.
A flash of guilt knocks at my thoughts. Perhaps I’m entirely in over my head, but I’m not ashamed to admit the few orgasms she’s unknowingly shared with me were some of the best I’ve ever had.
Maybe this entire thing was a huge mistake.
Jacking off to my sister-in-law’s best friend screams desperate. Pulling her away from her hookup is even worse.
“How kind of you, Nico. I haven’t gotten laid in weeks.” Her loud voice adds to my hopeless need to find out if she tastes as sweet as she did the night of the wedding. “My vibrator died on me days ago because I left the charger somewhere in San Francisco. I just wanna be fucked with something other than my fingers.”
That’s my cue.
“You can do better than Diego. Fuck, Lily, I can do better for you right now.”
She marches toward me. I try to maintain eye contact, but it’s as far as my control lets me get.
I tingle with the urge to pull apart the flimsy knot behind her neck and sink my teeth into each one of her breasts. Run my lips over every square inch of her lush body until the one thing her skin remembers is my touch.
“Hypocrite.” She backhands my bicep, the impact spinning me out of my fantasy. “You had a beautiful girl on you the entire night. Why don’t you tell her who she should or shouldn’t hook up with and leave me alone?”
“Who?”
“Are you serious?”
Susana’s face flashes briefly in my mind. No. There’s absolutely nothing there. Besides, Lily didn’t glance my way the entire party. How could she have seen her?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She groans. “I’m done with this conversation. Bye, Nico.”
Panic gnaws at every cell in my body like a horde of termites. I reach for her. “Don’t go.”
I can fix this.
The music from the party plays faintly in the background, but our spot, enclosed by the rocks, is far enough that the waves drown out most of the noise.
Moonlight caresses Lily’s eyes, nose, mouth, and skin.
I need her so much. The illuminating glow replicates the way she looked the night of our kiss. Except now, when Lily lifts her gaze up to mine, there’s less curiosity in her eyes and something wild waiting to let loose.
“I’m sorry.”
She relaxes, angling her hips into my thigh. “What do you actually want?”
“You’re kind of hot when you’re all worked up.”
Lily attempts to send her free hand into my side, but I catch it and fold it behind her. Then I drag the heat of her body even closer to mine.
The touch is enough to make me forget we’re on a beach, barely a few hundred feet away from a crowd of people. My pulse continues to match the strumming bass in the distance as our gazes remain latched together.
Lily doesn’t break away from me. There’s not an ounce of resistance in her pliant limbs.
“Shut up.” She scowls despite the smile on her face. “It’s not funny.” “I can take you back to the hotel if you need to do something about it.”
A carousel of emotions plays out in her green eyes. I can’t help but enjoy how she doesn’t keep up a front when she’s around me. Every raw part of her is on display, only for me to see.
Lily rakes herself against me. Her thigh glides over the solid mass in my shorts, and she gives me a needy look.
“You know what, Nico? I think you should do something about it.”
