He struggles to clear his throat again and keeps looking intently in front of us. I can tell by his side profile that he’s blinking rapidly as if he’s trying to keep himself from crying.
“I was upfront with any woman I hooked up with that we were nothing and could never mean more than nothing to me. But I knew they wanted more. They always wanted more. And that’s on me,” Logan also laments at my side, taking a long inhale before continuing on. “At first, I was just trying to fuck you out of my system. Especially after that first year where I foolishly waited for you to come back to us. And then when I realized that was never going to happen, I did it just for release,” he adds, a slight blush on his cheeks at how uncomfortable he is with the subject matter at hand.
“You waited for a year?” I asked Logan, even as Quaid starts to walk faster ahead of us. Logan scratches his head awkwardly.
“I didn’t think you could stay away. Because it felt like I was dying when you left. I thought you would come back because of the pain. It felt like my soul had been ripped from my body. Fuck,” Logan curses as he rubs his chest.
We’ve stopped on a ridge right above the bustling dock below us. Quaid has disappeared from our sight, and maybe that’s a good thing. I don’t want to know how long Quaid waited to fuck a girl after I left. I doubt he had the same restraint as Logan, and that is a fact.
There’s a sunken wooden bench along the path, and I sink down onto it gratefully. I rub the area over my heart to remember the pain that he was talking about. I’d thought I was going to die, too. At first, I counted down the hours, telling myself if I could just get through the next hour without calling them or going back, then everything would be all right. And then hours stretched into days, and days turned into weeks, and then ultimately months.
And then suddenly, ten years had been stolen from us.
The pain had just become a dull ache, a scar that hurt whenever I really looked at my life and realized that I wasn’t happy. That true happiness was unattainable for me, and apparently, for them as well.
I finally stand back up and take Logan’s hand as we walk down to where Carter and Quaid are both waiting. I squeeze his hand right before we get there. “I couldn’t choose,” is the only explanation I can give him for why I never came back.
Thankfully, we get there before Logan can ask what changed.
Carter is ignoring me when we get to the dock where our boat for the day is waiting for us. Quaid is twitchy, undoubtedly scared that I’m going to ask for the number of women he’s slept with over the past ten years. Logan…well, he’s just sullen.
Way to go, Valentina.
You’ve done a spectacular job of ruining our outing.
When our guide for the day shows up, I let out a relieved sigh, hoping the day can be salvaged, but unfortunately, it only seems to get worse.
Adonis, our tour guide, is just that—an Adonis. There are not many men that can measure up to Quaid, Carter, and Logan in looks. Girls have always been crazy about them in a ‘can’t sleep, can’t eat, send them used panties kind of way.’
Adonis…well, he comes really close, giving merit to his name.
He’s tan and muscular in all the right ways, with jet black hair and dark as night eyes with lashes that many women would envy. He’s wearing nothing but a low sitting pair of red swim trunks that show off a six-pack and that V that always drives ladies crazy.
He’s also extremely flirtatious.
His eyes light up when he sees me, and he immediately leaves the conversation he’d been having with Carter to meet me.
“Please say you’re the Valentina that booked my boat today, όμορφος,” he coos, grabbing my hand and kissing the top of it while maintaining eye contact. He throws me a seductive look that tells me he’s ready to move this party to the bedroom whenever I’m up for it.
Embarrassed by the in your face flirtation, I blush a brilliant crimson and then I hear a growl. Flicking my eyes up, I find that Logan and Quaid are holding back a furious Carter, who looks like he could kill Adonis with his bare hands. I pull my hand away quickly and take a step back from Adonis.
“Thanks for agreeing to take us out. We’re excited for a day out on this beautiful water,” I tell him politely, making sure to keep a safe distance from the wannabe Casanova.
Quaid lets go of Carter, once he’s made sure he’s simmered down, and comes up to me, wrapping his arm around my waist. It’s a decidedly possessive gesture meant to illustrate very clearly to Adonis that I’m taken, but our guide just looks amused instead of taking the hint seriously.
“Well, let’s get started then, no?” he singsongs exuberantly, striding away to the sleek white speedboat behind him.
Carter gives him a death glare as Adonis passes by him, Logan’s glower not faring any better. Adonis either doesn’t see it, or sees it and doesn’t care, because his stride never falters. He hops on the boat and waves at us to follow him. Carter growls something under his breath once more to Logan before he glares at me and then strides to the boat, ignoring Adonis’s attempt to help him on board. Quaid and Logan both hover by me, making sure they are on either side of me and Adonis can’t reach me to help me onto the boat. Adonis sends me a cheeky grin as I pass by, and I can’t help but smile back at him. Adonis has balls to deal with the three alpha males I have with me today. I just hope he doesn’t push the envelope, or my men might cut them off.
Adonis explains the itinerary for the day, not taking his eyes off of me the entire time, and then we’re off. I temporarily forget all about how much I’ve pissed off the guys as we get farther out into the water, watching all of Fira spread out before us in the cliffs, the emerald water perfectly offsetting the whitewashed buildings set into the volcanic rock.
A dolphin splashes nearby, and I jump in surprise, a move that temporarily breaks the tension and makes everyone but Carter crack a smile. Like I’ve said before, Carter’s smiles are hard to come by, especially when he’s pissed.
When Adonis parks the speedboat, we all strip down to our bathing suits. For the guys, that just means taking off their T-shirts, but I might as well be stripping in front of a pole for how all the men on the boat are looking at me like they’re going to eat me.
I thought I was going to be swimming with the dolphins today, but it feels more like sharks surround me.
Carter
I hold in my moan as inch by inch of her smooth, perfect skin comes into view. She’s wearing a turquoise bikini today that should be illegal. It makes her golden skin and dark hair pop even more, and I think once again that I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.
She’s a seductress from hell, who’s determined to drag me down with her.
I’m not even sure right now why I’m so mad. I just know that our conversation left me royally pissed. I don’t want to be reminded of all the women I’ve screwed over the years because I was pining over a love that decided I wasn’t good enough.
I know that’s not what really happened, but in this moment, it’s easier to blame her than accept that I’m really an asshole with no redeeming qualities besides my ability to love Valentina with my entire soul.
The thought plagues me when a pair of hands pushes me hard on my shoulder, and I fall into the motherfucking ocean. I sputter when I come back up, spitting the salty water out as I drag back my hair to see which of the assholes I share Valentina with did this to me.