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“Really? How am I supposed to believe you after what I just saw?”
Getting him to see logic isn’t working, so in a fit of inspiration, I soften my stance and loop my arms around his neck, locking my fingers together on the back of it. “I don’t want to lose you.” I let all the desire I feel every time I see him seep into my tone, making it sensual and low, “I want us to continue whatever is going on between us.”
“You mean…” he tilts his head as he comes closer, and for a brief flicker of time, I think he’s going to kiss me. “You want to continue enjoying some good sex and letting me romance you while you figure out whether or not you’re still in love with your ex?” He jerks his head to the side and steps back, breaking my hold. “We are done here.”
“Wait––” I breathe, feeling tears in my eyes, but before I can even get the entire word out Dan is gone, leaving me alone in his room.
Feeling shocked, I slowly sit on the side of the bed, surrounded by the scent of the man I want so badly, but with the real thing nowhere to be seen.
3
Dan
As much asI hate to leave Elise so hurt back in my room, I just can’t stay. When she looks like that, eyes big and shimmering with tears, her perfect mouth pulled down at the corners… fuck. I just want to hold and comfort her and make sure nothing in the entire world can hurt her. Elise is a sneaky, conniving harpy at times and I take great pleasure in making her angry from time to time, but her being hurt is a completely different thing altogether. That, I hate and want to avoid at all costs.
If I had stayed, I’d have forgiven her, and that’s something I absolutely refuse to do.
Adjusting my bag on my shoulder, I walk out of the front door and into the bright light of day. Instead of the one long SUV that usually transports our entire group from place to place, two smaller vehicles are idling, both identical. I hesitate on which one to go to, but the passenger window on the closer car rolls down and Andries waves me over.
Opening the back door, it takes my eyes a moment to adjust until I can see who is seated inside and that I’ll be sharing space with. When I can see that it’s Johan, I mumble a curt apology and go to back out and head to the other car.
“No, no,” Johan says, causing me to pause. “Get in here, man. No reason to leave.”
I hesitate. I really don’t want to share the back seat with Johan even if the drive is short, but bailing would make me either look like a coward or an asshole, and I’ve already been quite the asshole to this man. I feel plenty guilty about that already, so I slide awkwardly into the leather seat after stowing my things in the trunk.
“Good to see you, buddy!” Andries crows, turning around in his front seat, as if we hadn’t just been talking during breakfast. His chipper attitude strikes me as odd, but I brush it off. “Ready to go to the port?”
“Sure.” Going to the Blue Grotto would be amazing if I wasn’t crammed like a sardine in a car with Elise’s ex and her brother who may or may not still hate me. I had imagined visiting it with Elise, watching her sleek body cut through the water with her flippers and the way she’d look, slicked with seawater and aquamarine light illuminating her face. What I hadn’t envisioned was being part of the loud, overly-eager group that had come to Capri with Andries and me.
“I think you’re going to have a better time than you think,” my friend chuckles.
The driver pulls out onto the road, and the air is heavy with silence. I’m tired of feeling like an interloper during the vacation I planned and paid for, but thankfully, Johan speaks first.
“Hey, Dan,” he starts rubbing the back of his neck as if uncomfortable. “Look, I just want to say that I’m sorry for any kind of ruckus I’ve caused by coming to the villa. I had no idea that anything was going on between you and Elise, but she told me that you two were involved somewhat, so I can absolutely see why you’d be pissed that I showed up. I can leave the villa at any time if you want me to.”
Part of me wants to tell him to just pack his shit and leave as soon as we get back from the tour, but I have to hold on to at least some of my reputation as a good host. Plus, it isn’t Johan’s fault that Andries was trying to pull something over on Elise and I. Even if Andries seems to be better friends with Johan than I had expected, it’s still undeniable that he was first invited to the villa to drive a wedge between me and Elise. He seems like a decent man, and probably feels painfully out of place right now.
“There is no need,” I tell him, forcing a smile to stretch up from the corners of my mouth. “It’s all good. I’m sorry for reacting the way I did when you first arrived. I had been drinking quite a bit yesterday and it made me freak out when I shouldn’t have.”
Andries turns around again, his expression bubblier than ever. “You know what? I’m sure the two of you could actually be good friends if you didn’t both have feelings for my sister.”
Easier said than done, I think sardonically.
Both Johan and I give forced chuckles, but I don’t entirely disagree with Andries. If he and his sister both had reasons to enjoy Johan’s company, then he couldn’t be all bad. Andries has a good talent for reading people and figuring out their true intentions, and Elise is too stuck up to waste her time with anyone that doesn’t meet her excruciating standards.
I hazard a quick look at Johan, and I have to admit he is a handsome guy. Damn Elise, why does she have to complicate things so much without even trying?
It doesn’t take us long to reach Marina Grande, the drive being filled with surface-level conversation about Capri, the weather, and everything in between. The main portion of the port stretches out far and vast into the water and beyond, while the opposite side curves more gently inward. The sky is cornflower blue, dotted with sparse white clouds, while the sea is an endless turquoise. It’s so stunning that it almost breaks me out of my reverie. Strangely, our driver takes a different turn than what I expect, and doesn’t stop the car until we are parked in front of a small sailing club. There are boats of every size, white sails flapping in the wind and shining, brilliant paint jobs sitting like jewels on the water.
“I don’t think this is the right place,” I say, craning my neck to look at what I can see from the car.
“It is,” Andries assures me, his tone laced with excitement, before stepping out of the vehicle. Johan follows suit.
“Where is everyone else?”
My friend walks up next to me as I also exit the car, clapping me on the shoulder. “They are going to the Blue Grotto on a private tour,” he tells me with a mischievous smile.
Johan then joins us, stepping to the other side of me and holding up his hand to shield his eyes as he looks over the sea, letting out a low whistle in appreciation.
