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Chapter twenty-six

Isabelle

“I’m glad you came with us,” Willow comments, lazily dragging her hand through the water. Us three women are out on floaties in the lake, soaking up the sun while the guys are out on the boat.

“Me too, thanks for the invite. This is perfect,” I reply.

“Even if you are stuck sharing a room with my brother and having to sleep in a bunk bed?” Evie teases and we all giggle.

“I’ll survive,” I say dramatically, holding back my smile. I am a bit confused as to why Willow invited me, knowing the bed situation, but I guess she assumed we could handle it, being friends and all.

No matter what, it’s not going to be a hardship sharing a room with Kai.

Not at all.

And that double bed? Just means we’ll be cuddling extra close. It’ll be our first time spending a night together since I left for Italy. And the only thing that could possibly make it better would be if we were in Kai’s bed and didn’t have his teammates just down the hall.

This afternoon has been heaven. I hadn’t realized how much the city was starting to press in on me until Ronan turned off the highway, onto the country road that wound its way to their cabin.

Back in Italy, the flat I share with Maria is on the outskirts of a moderate-sized town.

We’ve got all the amenities, and it’s a bustling place, for the most part.

But the nearest large city is over an hour away.

Vancouver has an energy all its own. I like it, but I also like getting away from it, as evidenced by how relaxed I feel right now.

Or how relaxed I did feel, because all of that goes away in a heartbeat when the floatie I’m on is tipped over, and I fall under the cold water.

I can just barely hear the shrieks of the other girls, so I’m guessing it was a concerted attack from the men. As I surface, pushing hair back from my face, I see Kai’s grin as he props himself up on my floatie.

“That was not nice,” I say, before giving him an evil look and propelling myself through the water.

“Oh, shit!” His eyes widen as he tries to kick away, but I’m a much stronger swimmer than he is, and I reach him in no time, climbing onto his back.

He’s tall enough to stand, but the water is too deep for him to make an escape, so I attack, tickling his sides until he’s shouting and laughing, and the floatie is drifting up to shore.

Somehow, Kai manages to spin me around, and then I’m plastered against his front. We’re both grinning and breathing heavily, and there’s a very obvious, very large, very hard ridge pressing between my legs.

I squirm, releasing my arms. “Put me down,” I say in a quieter voice. He does so immediately, his face falling slightly, but then a smile masks it as the others reach us.

“That was evil,” Evie shouts at her brother, splashing water at him as she and Rhett come over.

“What did I do? Darling’s the one who dunked you,” Kai protests as his sister splashes him again. He ducks and splashes her right back. The rest of us move out of the way.

“Yeah, but he’s too nice to have thought of it himself. That ploy had Kai Yamaki written all over it.”

The others all burst out laughing. “She’s got you there,” Ronan shouts.

I make my way onto the beach, snatching up a towel and wrapping it around myself before wringing out my hair.

Willow is next out of the water, her tall, lean body looking gorgeous in a black bikini. “They’re dead to me. Now I have to wash my damn hair.” She takes a towel and then sinks down into one of the beach chairs underneath an umbrella.

I sit down next to her. “Let’s just hope there’s enough hot water for all of us.” I try to rake my fingers through my hair, but it’s tangled from the lake water.

The guys and Evie join us, Rhett handing Evie a towel before taking one for himself. “Can we make it up to y’all? I’ve got the ingredients for my mama’s southern mac ‘n’ cheese. It’ll be the best thing you’ve ever tried, I swear.”

“That will be a start,” Willow replies archly, but I can see a smile as Ronan comes behind her and drops a kiss to the top of her head. She tilts her head back to look at him. “And you can massage some after-sun lotion onto my shoulders once I’ve had a shower, Sinclair.”

“Deal.”

Several hours later, we’ve all had showers and demolished a platter of grilled chicken, a massive salad, and Rhett’s promised mac ‘n’ cheese. Dusk is falling, and Ronan has turned on a propane firepit, since wood fires are currently banned due to forest fire risk.

When I reach the fire, Kai, Evie and Rhett are the only ones there, but a blanket is on one of the other benches.

“Willow and Ronan are just calling their kids who are back in the city with his mom. They’ll be out soon,” Evie says with a smile, gesturing to the seat beside Kai.

“I need you to tell Rhett about that place in Italy where you go to watch the sunrise.” She turns to him, squeezing his hand.

Their love is so obvious, so strong, it’s really something.

“Sunrises are kind of our thing. Maybe someday we’ll get to see one in Italy. ”

“Whatever you want, honey.” He kisses her forehead before turning to me. “Evie said you live in the north part of the country?”

I’m careful not to sink into Kai’s side like I want to and instead turn my attention to his sister and best friend. “Yeah, I do. There’s a hike just outside of the town where I live that leads to a lookout that has the most stunning view. I’d love it if you two came to visit sometime.”

“That would be amazing. Would you like to come over for dinner sometime when I’m in Vancouver?” Evie leans forward. “I know it’s kind of rude to ask but I’d love it if you cooked for us, and then I can pester you for more embarrassing stories about my brother.”

“I’d be honoured to cook for you. I love feeding people.” I smile, only to feel Kai leaning into my side.

“If Iz is cooking, I’m coming, too.”

“You can’t invite yourself over, Kai, that’s rude.”

“Sure I can, I’m your brother. And isn’t it also rude to ask someone over just so they can cook for you?”

Evie grumbles under her breath, something about annoying siblings, and I hide my smile. Ronan and Willow finally join us, and the conversation shifts to our plans for tomorrow.

I sit back and let the others take the lead in planning out the day. I’m content to go with the flow and happy to just be here. Even if being here with these amazing people is only adding to the long list of things I’ll miss when my time in Vancouver comes to an end.

The next morning, I wake slowly, to a wall of hot muscle pressed up against my back. Our legs are tangled together, the sheets only covering our naked bodies half way. Good thing Kai locked the door last night, because if anyone were to walk in right now, we’d have some explaining to do.

A smile comes to my face, thinking back to last night. I had zero plans of letting anything happen, but Kai was persuasive. I’m just surprised I didn’t bite a hole in the pillow with how tightly I held it in my teeth to stop from crying out as he went down on me.

The arm around my waist tightens, and Kai nuzzles in closer, his lips finding my throat.

“Do you think they’d be suspicious if we both said we were sick and needed to stay in bed all day?”

I giggle quietly, then turn over to face him. His sleepy smile softens my heart as I gently stroke back the black hair that is falling over his forehead. “I’m thinking we need a better story than that.”

“How about we just stay really, really quiet and maybe they’ll think we left.”

“Except your car is still in the driveway.”

“Hey. At least I’m coming up with ideas, what do you have to contribute?”

I lean in and kiss his nose. “Nothing. We’re here, and we’re going to have fun with your friends.”

“But I can’t touch you in front of them,” he grumbles, tugging me in against his body. I go willingly as he rolls onto his back, pulling me with him. Once we’re situated, with my head resting on his chest, I drag my fingers lightly over the ridges of his abdomen.

“I know.”

His hand strokes down my hair. We’re both quiet. But my thoughts are anything but. I wish we weren’t a secret. I wish we weren’t having to hide our affection for each other. I wish…

Shit. I wish we could be more than friends. I know all the reasons we can’t. And I know they all make sense, and it’s the smart decision to keep the line firmly drawn.

But in moments like this, that line seems awfully blurry.

Moments like this almost make me wish I wasn’t leaving the country in just over a month.