Page 24 of Best Vacation Ever

“Um, yeah, sure! I love swimming,” I say before he realizeswhohe asked to spend time with.

“Yeah, you mentioned that before,” he laughs, and I turn to face my door so I can pull the key card out of my bikini top.

“Then you know I really mean it.” I cringe and swipe my key card, opening the door. “See you tomorrow! Good night!” I say before he has time to change his mind.

He says good night, and I close the door behind me, a giddy and excited feeling coursing through my veins.

The room is dark, and I leave it that way, but something seems off.

From where I stand in the little entry hall, there’s a door to the bathroom to my right, and straight ahead is the sliding door to the balcony, but I can’t see into the main part of the room where the beds are located.

I pause for a second and tilt my head, listening.

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

I sprint out of that room as fast as humanly possible and frantically shake my head to get the mental image out of it.

Those were sex sounds.

And those were definitely Kellan’s flip-flops and swim trunks I noticed in my rush out.

Gross.

Outside the room, I lean against the wall beside my door and slide down to sit on the floor, setting the towel underneath me so it’s more cushioned. With a sigh, I knock my head back on the wall; I’m going to be stuck here for a while.

Instead of dwelling on what I’ve just walked in on, I reflect on what happened to me tonight.

I actually had a normal, real conversation with Dean.

Granted, I royally embarrassed myself in front of him first, but after that we talked for hours, and Iwasn’tawkward.

Life’s too short to let other people make your decisions for you.

He’s right. I should be more assertive about what I want, more like Faye.

I glance at the door to my room, which she’s effectively kicked me out of.

Okay, maybe I’d be a bit more considerate, but still confident like her. She always knows what she wants andalwaysgets it once her mind is set. If she wanted to travel and not go to med school, she’d do everything in her power to make it happen.

“Lori?”

There’s a pair of legs standing in front of me. I follow them up to red swim trunks, a lean, naked torso, and my eyes finally land on Adam’s handsome face. He looks like he just got back from the pool party, his blond hair still sporting some water droplets and a towel draped over his shoulders.

No matter how many times I’m around him, I’m always struck by how good-looking he is. “H-hey.”

He looks around the empty corridor before his gaze lands back on me, his eyebrows drawn together.

“What are you doing out in the hallway?”

Crap. What’s an appropriate reason to be sitting on the floor out here alone at two in the morning?Waiting for your best friendand your sister to finish bangingdoesn’t seem like the best option.

“Oh. I—uh. I’m—uh . . . I forgot my key card! Yeah. I’m locked out. And I’m sitting on the floor because I’m—uh, waiting for Faye! You know her, off socializing.”

Anyone else would clearly notice that I’m lying; I mean, that wasn’t the smoothest of deliveries. But, luckily for me, I’m always this awkward around Adam, so he’ll just think I’m a total weirdo, as per usual.