I want to make love with her, but not here in the hot tub.
This is community property and no matter how sensual it might be, I don’t think now that the lust fog has lifted that I could go through with it. But when I glance to my left and look at the massive house, I know we have so many options.
And I plan to explore some of them while we have the place to ourselves.
She turns slightly and I hear her say, “Please tell her we love her, and we all want her to come back with you.” She pauses. “Okay. Sounds good. Drive safe. Bye.” When she looks at me, I can almost feel her sadness, and I float over to her and take her in my arms the minute she puts her phone down.
“You okay?”
“I don’t know. I hate that Roxie’s hurting, but I’m glad she’s not alone.” She snuggles close. “Was that Zayne on your phone?”
“Yup. He told me everything.”
“They’re staying in Raleigh tonight, but don’t know if Roxie’s going to come back with them.”
“He told me, but…you never know. Maybe a night away will put things into perspective and she’ll feel better tomorrow.”
“Maybe.”
I move us over so I can sit down and cradle her in my lap. She’s still essentially topless and I try not to fixate on that. The tone is definitely somber, and I don’t want to come off like an insensitive perv.
“This trip is jinxed,” she quietly states.
“I want to disagree, but I can see what you’re saying.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t have planned this fun getaway when we learned that Matt died. Like this is him getting even with us for partying without him.”
I’m not going to comment on that one because it seems a little out there.
She continues, “Maybe getting even isn’t the right word, but maybe this is karma? Like the universe feels like we’re celebrating his death?”
“Liv, come on. I don’t think it has anything to do with Matt. Sometimes things just happen when you have a bunch of distinct personalities in the mix.”
“And I get that, but ever since we showed up here, things have been a little off.”
I try not to take offense at that.
“That’s because so much of it was sprung on you. On us,” I correct, because I wasn’t in on the plans either. “So maybe the lesson here is to be honest from the get-go.”
She lifts her head and studies me like she’s not sure she agrees.
“Think about it. You and I didn’t have any say about what was going to happen here, but Roxie knew and she didn’t speak up. If she was that uncomfortable with me, Mike, and Zayne coming, she should have said something sooner. And Vanessa should have told you all the plans and then dealt with it like an adult if you decided you didn’t want to be a part of it. I’m guessing you still would have come for the funeral, but maybe skipped this vacation.”
That crease is back, and I want to smooth it away, but I don’t.
“That’s an interesting question. Would I have still flown here for that, or would I have told Mrs. Serrano no?” She pauses. “I’m honestly not sure. And now we’ll never know.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m glad you decided to be here.” I kiss her cheek. “I’m glad I sat next to you on the plane.” Another kiss. “I’m sorry I approached you the way I did at the funeral.” And another. “And I’m really glad I was up getting a drink when you came downstairs that first night here.”
This time when I go to kiss her, Olivia turns toward me so I can press my lips to hers. She reaches up and cups my face with her wet hands like she’s holding me there to let the kiss linger, and it does.
Then it deepens.
And then we’re back to the level of frenzy we had before our phones rang.
Olivia straddles my lap before reaching up and gripping my hair. My hands immediately go to her hips as I haul her close. Tongues tangle, breaths mingle, and it’s seriously insane how much she turns on me on with very little effort.
She whispers my name like a plea when I move away from her lips and turn my attention to her throat. I’m working my way back to her breasts when she says, “I want you so much.”
