“Rogelio, Jane’s Dad.”
With a loud blast, Dev spit out his seltzer, looking horrified. One eyebrow raised high, Dev stared at me.
“Rogelio? Rogelio? Seriously? What about Rafael? Or Michael? Are you serious right now, Lyra?”
“Wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on…” I narrowed my eyes at him, my lips pulling into a satisfied smile. He knew about the love triangle between Jane, Rafael, and Michael. One was a suave yet sensitive hotel manager, the other a police officer with a heart of gold. Both desirable, both crazy about the heroine of the show, both sexy in their own right. Rogelio, on the other hand, was the comic relief—the ego maniac who had to learn how to be a father to Jane. And Dev knew all of that. All of it.
“You’ve watched it, haven’t you?” I bit down on my lower lip and raised both eyebrows, staring at him. He wiped the seltzer from his mouth and hung his head.
“Fine! I’ve seen every episode. Happy now?”
“And what’s so embarrassing about that?”
He shrugged. “It’s not embarrassing. It’s just not…a guy show. It’s for women to gush over. But I loved it, okay? I loved everything about it. But being compared to Rogelio de la Vega? That cuts me deep.”
“Would it help if I told you he was my favorite character?” I tilted my head to the side and put my hand on top of his, patting him gently. He turned his hand and clasped mine, holding it close. I looked down at our connected hands and adrenaline shot through my belly.
“What are you doing?” I asked softly, still staring at his hand on mine.
“Why?”
“What?” I asked, feeling discombobulated, my pulse quickening.
“Why was he your favorite? Because you liked laughing at him?”
My lips parted and I stared at him, finally understanding what was going through his mind. He thought he was a joke to me.
“No.” I shook my head, then cleared my throat, feeling overwhelmed in Dev’s vulnerability. “He had the biggest heart of anyone on the show. He really did. He just didn’t know how to express himself in the right away all the time. He was a work in progress, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s endearing.”
“You’ve never found me endearing.”
“I’ll admit there were times you annoyed me.”
“Many times.” Dev narrowed his eyes.
“Sure, but, c’mon, you called me the freaking Mistress of Evil.” I raised one wicked eyebrow, driving home my point.
He grimaced, still gripping my hand. “Maren told you, huh?”
“Yep.”
“Shit.” He looked away, shaking his head, his thumb moving slowly over the top of my hand. A small shiver crawled down my spine. It was the slightest touch, but I liked it. I liked it a lot. “Our disdain was mutual, right?”
“Was?” I asked, swallowing hard.
Dev leaned toward me, hovering over the coffee table. His voice dropped an octave, his smile was warm yet seductive. “Definitely was.”
I could feel my heart pounding inside my chest as I stared at him. His deep brown eyes bored into mine as he continued to lean in. My lips parted and I mirrored his movements, moving to hover over the coffee table. I was about to kiss Dev, my sworn enemy, the thorn in my side, and right at that moment, the only man I desired.
I wanted him badly. And I knew the feeling was completely mutual.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
We both jumped at the loud noises coming from our door. Before Dev could even get the “What the fuck was that?” out of his mouth, the door opened.
“Surprise!”
Our mouths dropped as we took in the sight of our friends all plowing through the door and entering our suite. Maren, Peter, Scott, and Allison—they had all arrived. Quickly, Dev and I made eye contact, and I ripped my hand away from his. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see his expression turn to stone.
My stomach clenched as I hopped to my feet, pulling myself together as quickly as possible to welcome our friends—the friends we had been begging to arrive just twenty-four hours prior. The friends we thought we couldn’t survive the trip without.
Turns out, we didn’t need them at all. In fact, if I was honest with myself, I would have been more than content to be with just one person for the rest of the trip.
Just one.
And I had just pissed him off.
What else is new?
Chapter 9
Dev
She let go.
She fucking let go.
The second she saw our friends enter the room, Lyra yanked her hand away and I felt a forceful punch in my gut.
Why did you let go, Lyra?
If I wanted to lie to myself, I’d make excuses for her—like she was so surprised by our friends showing up to the resort that it was an involuntary movement, an impulse. I could tell myself she realized in that instant that I was attached, that I had a girlfriend. I could tell myself she just wanted to avoid the questions.
But the truth was, I suspected the real reason was that despite all the tension that was building in that room—hell, the tension that started building since when we arrived at the damn resort—was that she was embarrassed to have any feelings for me. I was a loser to her, a joke. To her, I was Rogelio when I wanted to be Rafael.
“What are you guys doing here?” Lyra asked, jumping to her feet and running to Maren, pulling her in for a hug.
“They opened the roads this morning, so we thought we’d surprise you. Didn’t expect the hotel to lose power, though. How long has it been out?”
“A few hours, I think?” Lyra said, looking back at me, her expression soft with guilt. I looked away from her, too pissed to make eye contact.
“Yep,” I said, still sitting on the floor. “I’d get up, guys, but my ankle’s all jacked up.”
“I heard,” Pete said, tearing off his coat and walking to the living area, sitting on the couch. “I tried to warn you, man. How you doin’?”
“Oh just peachy,” I said, unable to hide my annoyance.
A few hours ago I would have been ecstatic to see my best friends, but now…now everything was just screwed up. Things were happening with Lyra…possibly big things, and now everything was turned upside down and inside out. And the only thing I knew for sure was that my instinct about my relationship with Trupti was dead on. I had to end it. Regardless of what happened between Lyra and me (and at the moment, it didn’t look good), I knew I didn’t want to be with Trupti anymore. That love, that spark, that devotion that I felt for her for years of my life were just…gone. Lyra or no Lyra, I had to do the right thing and cut Trupti loose so we were both free to move on.
“Hopefully you’re on some good drugs,” Scott said with a laugh, plopping down in the chair. “Ooh, unicorns. Someone’s brave,” he said, looking back at Lyra. “He smokes me every time we play.”
“Actually,” Lyra said, clenching her teeth, “I’ve given him a run for his money.”
“Oh yeah?” Scott asked, raising an eyebrow, looking back at me. “Did she beat you?”
“Several times,” I deadpanned.
“Aha, it seems our friend has finally met his match,” Scott said with a grin.