I feel the loss of Hex’s warmth immediately. It’s like I have been robbed of something precious, and no matter how I try to enforce logic to the sensations coursing through me, I can’t shake off the budding frustration.
God, this is worse than I thought. I’m losing my mind by the second as I follow the two men and watch them interact with each other. A touch here, a smile there, a joke that goes completely over Hex’s head. He looks so at ease, and I don’t know what to do.
Was he always like that and did I just miss it? Or is this one of those ‘new love, new me’ things that Leo was telling me about? He went through one of them when he broke up with his ex-girlfriend before coming to Japan and he insists that his change in attitude is what brought him and Kwanchai together.
I pause with the door handle in one hand, prickles covering my back and the tips of my fingers.
I might be losing Hex. And I don’t know what to do to stop it. The fake flirting with Tracy must’ve pushed him off the edge and now he’s finally realized he doesn’t need me.
This was always supposed to happen. Not like this necessarily, but we were meant to reach this point one way or another. To outgrow our arrangement and go our separate ways.
I should feel a weight off my shoulders. I should be happy.
But I’m not.
No.
The only thing that fills my mind as I watch Hex take out the tabletop game with the gems I gifted him last Christmas is that I have to stop being a coward and fight for what my heart wants.
13
Hex
Aranisbeingweird.Again.
It keeps happening since we got on the cruise ship, and I haven’t been able to figure out why. My plan to make him jealous of Mong seems to have backfired as well, if the constipated look he has while I deal our four starting cards is anything to go by.
I chew on my lip, cursing my stupid idea. What if this makes him finally cut me out of his life for good? But I got so annoyed watching him flirt with that woman! He’s never done it before, let alone so blatantly. And even if it was because he wanted something from her, he didn’t need to do it to my face. I know I can be a pain in the ass, but he’s stuck around since the start, so I sometimes forget his patience might also have limits.
Still. If there is a way to salvage this mess, it’s by making my plan a success. I’ll wow Aran with my resourcefulness, then give him my puppy eyes, maybe toss an apology and a promise to decrease my alarms to seven instead of ten, and he’s bound to forgive me.
If worse comes to worse, I’ll even temporarily stop trying to get to his mouth or cock. But only temporarily. Like, for a day.
I place the first card face-down and end my turn.
“Drinks after the game, then? Go easy on me, though. It’s been ages since I played anything,” Mong says, placing a card of his own on the table.
Aran is next, doing the same. “Hex is the one you need to look out for. He’s competed in tournaments,” he says flatly and detachedly without even glancing at me.
Yep, something is definitely off. He sounds like this is the last place he wants to be, and like he’s pissed off that we didn’t stay at the pool so he could flirt with the Evil Witch. But we agreed on the plan beforehand, so, really, he has no right to give me this attitude.
“So, Mong, what is it like working in the off-limits areas for all these bigshots?” I ask with a sweet smile, changing the direction of our conversation so smoothly you’d think I’m a real pro at this.
I hear Aran bite down on a groan next to me.Yeah, I really am so good I don’t even need your help. I got this. And I’ll prove it to you tonight so you realize that no one can match up to me.
Mong raises one eyebrow and gives me a strange look. “Why’d you want to know? We aren’t really supposed to discuss these things. It’s in the NDA.”
I scoot closer to him and place a second card face-down. The rules are that you do this three times and then turn them over in a backwards order. The hand with the most points wins unless there are spell cards on the table, at which point you have to read their effects and do what’s required.
“Well… I’m just curious. Mr. & Mrs. Lynx were super nice, so I was wondering if the rest of the guests are too, since I’ll be accompanying the two of them to game night.”
Mong’s eyes cut to my face, swimming with questions. “You are going to game night? They must really like you then. It’s too bad I’m not working tonight.”
“It really is,” I agree. If he had been, then Aran could come with me once Phase Two of my genius plan kicked in.
Dragging his chair a little closer to me as he flips over his second card, Mong tucks a lock of stray hair behind my ear. It was beginning to bother me, and I was about to do it myself.
Everything happens very quickly after that. One second, I’m thanking him as he leans in, and the next, Aran’s hand is pressing against my mouth as I find myself pressed to his strong chest. With his free hand, he’s lifted Mong off the chair and is squeezing his neck. Mong yanks and tries to get free, gagging and gasping as his eyes water and roll back.
