Page 136 of Sour Notes

It’s freakin’ useless anyway.

“Don’t deflect, Angel. You can talk to me. I got you, remember?”

“What do you want me to say? He’s here. Great. He’s next door? Fan-fucking-tastic. Because it wasn’t enough having to share the same hotel with him. Why not share a wall too? That way he can really eavesdrop and judge my bedroom skills. Or lack thereof.”

GODDAMMIT.

See.

I don’t dare move. Or look at him. Or breathe, even. I just stare out at the sea, sparkling like diamonds in the sunshine.

God, what I wouldn’t give to just jump in there and swim away.

Swayze doesn’t say a word, but the weight of his eyes pin me in place. The charged silence whips around us like the sea breeze, almost suffocating in its intensity.

A seagull flying overhead cries out and breaks the silence, making me jump.

He uses that moment to lean over and brush a lock of hair off my face, pushing my sunglasses up with it.

No.

No, no, no.

His eyes lock with mine, determination swimming in their depths.

“You know he can’t judge you for shit, right? You’ve got more class, honesty, integrity in your pinkie than he does in his entire body. Her too, for that matter.” His face contorts in disgust. It’s almost comforting to see him hate them as much as I do.

Sun lounger solidarity for the win.

I nod tightly, not trusting myself to open my mouth again. Because feelings.

Apparently, he doesn’t give a shit, carrying on anyway.

“As for your bedroom skills, we might have an aversion to doing things in the actual bedroom, but I can categorically say with absolute certainty that you excel in all aspects of that particular area. Believe me. I spend way more time than is healthy thinking about it.”

He thinks about it?

Warmth blooms low in my belly, the butterflies that seem to have camped out in there for a large portion of this trip unfurl their wings.

“We really do have an aversion to doing it in the bedroom, huh?” I smirk at him, aiming for sultry seductress vibes. Well… if you ignore the blushing.

Not that I’m trying to seduce him. But a subject change wouldn’t hurt.

“Why are you worrying about him anyway, Angel? Surely we’ve put on enough of a show to prove just how hot for you I am? Pretty sure a blind guy would’ve figured that out by spending two seconds in our orbit.”

I suck in a sharp breath, his words stabbing me right in the heart.

“It’s not that… it’s just…” Pulling my sunglasses off my head, I fiddle with the arms, opening and closing them, before sliding them back onto my face.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m overthinking it. But if he’s right there…” I nod to the wall separating our terrace from his, dropping my voice to barely a whisper. “He can probably hear everything if he stands close enough. Sure he’s heard us laughing and having fun… but he’s not stupid. I told him I like to make you howl. I’m such an idiot. Why would I do that and draw attention to the fact that there’s… well, you know… no howling.”

“You want me to howl, baby? I can howl.” His low chuckle disarms me and I turn to face him again, my breath hitching at the wide, open smile on his handsome face.

He leans over, his eyes dropping to my lips for a second.

Oh shit, does he think I’m trying to angle for private fun times? Because, okay, yeah… I’m all for climbing him like a tree, but if we toss all the rules in the trash, what part of this is still fake?

We already keep tiptoeing over that line and that really isn’t all that smart.