Page 9 of Dumping the Puck (Men of Havoc #4)

Day 1: Ravello

Hey Boss, Figured you might be a little tired after your first night in Italy, IYKYK. Winking emoji

So today you’re going to visit the Villa Cimbrone to take Wren to see the gardens. Then you can go to Piazza Duomo to explore the local markets, she will love that. Then you can cook dinner together with your ingredients. I’m setting you up for success here, don’t fuck it up.

To say last night was awkward was an understatement.

My little inadvertent show after my shower was mostly forgotten until bedtime. When it came time to share the bed.

Coming out from the bathroom, I climb into one side of the bed. Getting comfortable under the blankets.

I hype myself up, ready to settle in for a night in the sheets with Kayce Bicknelle, without touching him. Repeating over and over to myself that he’s my best friend, and the same Kayce he’s always been.

All of a sudden in the last twenty-four hours he seems to be more, and the sexual tension, holy crap.

At that thought he exits the bathroom and I can see the outline of his thick thighs encased in boxer briefs, and his muscled biceps being strangled by the sleeves of that tee. While the darkness stops me from seeing all of him in his glory, it doesn’t stop me from drooling.

Holy Moses. When did he get this hot?

He climbs into the other side of the bed, gingerly, trying not to allow himself to touch me in the slightest.

“I’m sorry Charley only booked us a one bed room.”

“Oh it’s fine,” I squeak out.

“I promise I won’t get close to you. I’ll stay over here on my side.”

“Kayce, it’s fine. I don’t think you have cooties or anythin’.”

The exact opposite actually. I want him to touch me. I want his hands on every square inch of my skin.

He sighs and hunkers down for the night so I roll over and curl up in a tight ball, settling in for a long night of no sleep.

Now, I’ve been laying here, since sunrise. Wide awake and on high alert to avoid another plane incident. But his leg is across mine, and his arm is thrown over my chest. Somehow in the middle of the night we were like magnets to each other. Our bodies call to each other even though our brains repel the idea.

I know he’s stirring because his dick is poking me in the thigh, and the feel of it has me thinking about him touching me again.

I squeeze my thighs together at the thought.

“Good morning,” he mumbles through his sleepy haze.

I gulp at the sound of his raspy deep voice. “Good morning. How’d you sleep?”

His arm tightens around my chest, “So good. How about you?” He pulls himself up on the pillows, dragging his cock across my leg.

“Uhh. Good.”

“Is this going to be a problem? I can sleep on the couch. I swear it’s fine.”

“Let’s have vacation sex.” I slap my hand over my mouth, surprised by myself and the words I just spit it out.

He laughs. “Vacation sex?”

“You know what, I didn’t mean that. I don’t know where it even came from . That’s so crazy of an idea,” I ramble.

He reaches out, running his finger under my chin pulling my face to his. “But you said it, and the way your body reacted to my cock dragging across your skin, tells me you did mean it. So, be honest. Do you want vacation sex?”

I don’t answer right away, pausing to think about how to answer.

While I’m thinking his hand slides down my thigh, and back up my inner thigh. My traitorous body reacts by dropping my thighs open just enough for his hand to barely reach me. He stops just before grazing my panty line.

“I need an answer right now. If I keep going, I won’t stop, June.”

My brain is scrambled. All I want is for him to touch me. “Yes. Touch me, Johnny.”

A growl from his lips registers right as he grips my hips and pulls me over his lap. Straddling him I can feel how much he wants this too. Like a teenager who's never been with a man before, I grind into him with too many layers of clothes between us.

He grips my face with both hands, pulling me down to him and taking my lips with his in a needy, demanding kiss. My palms rest on his chest between our bodies.

As the kiss deepens, his hands roam down to my silky tank and shorts set. He slips his hand under the hem of the tank and slides it up over my head. His lips leave mine and suck on my nipple on each breast, leaving behind hardened peaks from his warm mouth.

I lean back, and repeat his motions sliding my hands up under his shirt. He sits up a little for me to pull it over his head.

Right there on his chest, staring back at me, are the words You’re the nearest thing to heaven.

One of our favorite Johnny Cash songs.

I freeze. Staring at the words etched over his heart.

“Johnny.”

“It’s for you,” he breathes out.

I reach down, tracing the words with my fingers lightly. The first time Kayce ever held me in his arms was to this song. We danced together in the field under the starlight. I contemplated telling him that night how I felt. But his dad was in the hospital and everything just didn’t feel right. Everything but being in his arms.

Fuck. What am I doing? I’m about to ruin everything with the most important man in my life.

“I can’t do this.” I hop off him and run into the bathroom.

Slamming the door shut, I throw myself against the counter, staring in the mirror as my bare chest heaves up and down. How could I be this stupid to risk everything with Kayce? He has a goddamn tattoo for me.

My mind is spiraling back to what Cameron said on that video. That he took the girl Kayce loves. I start to run through every conversation I’ve had with Kayce. How he started to pull back from me when I moved in with Cameron.

Holy shit . Does Kayce actually love me?

If that’s true, I can’t do vacation sex with him. I can’t rush into this decision. I can’t risk ruining whatever this is with him before it can even start. Because I am not in a place to start anything with anyone.

Taking a deep breath, I splash some cold water on my face. I wanted to get ready, but then realize that all of my clothes are in the room with Kayce.

I suck it up and poke my head out of the bathroom, when I see Kayce sitting on the end of the bed, I brace myself to walk out into the room.

I walk gingerly to my side of the dresser, opening drawers and pulling out clothes.

“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have blurted that out. You weren’t ready for it. I just didn’t want you to think it was meant for someone else. It was a lose, lose for me. But I shouldn’t have dumped that on you.”

He doesn’t look at me, he’s still fidgeting with some invisible string in his lap.

“So what Cam said, it’s true then?”

He nods his head. Not giving me an answer out loud.

I walk over and stand in front of him between his legs, placing a soft kiss to his forehead. “It’s okay, Johnny. I just need a minute to process everything, ya know?”

Again a silent nod of acknowledgement.

I extricate myself from him, and go back to the bathroom, closing the door to give both of us the space we need right now.

Leaning against the door, allowing myself to sink to the floor, all the emotions are flooding through me at once. Kayce has the song I listen to in the dark of night, giving me comfort as it reminds me of him, tattooed on his chest. He feels the same way I do. Cameron knew all this time. My chest feels like it’s constricting.

Slowly getting up, I turn on the water as hot as I can get it, and soak a washcloth to lay over my face. Deeply inhaling the steam helps me calm my nerves.

I just have to hope that this doesn’t ruin our day at Villa Cimbrone.

Roaming around the gardens at Villa Cimbrone is nothing short of magical. It’s everything I ever dreamed Italy would be. Kayce is putting on a brave face for me today after this morning. But I know everything is weighing on his mind.

How could it not be when we’re strolling through beautiful gardens hand in hand. It’s the most romantic vacation that could be for two people in love. If only those two people hadn’t fought it for years, and still refuse to talk about everything admitted less than five hours ago.

We stop at an arch overlooking the ocean. “Take a picture with me, Johnny.”

I pull him into me by wrapping my arm around his waist. He leans into me and places his head in the frame of the photo so we can still see the view behind us. I snap a photo or two and then he leans down to kiss me on the cheek as I take the next photo. My shocked face is now forever frozen in this photo, but the next one shows the pure joy on my face at the fact that this man loves me.

Something I’ve wanted my whole life is now a possibility. But what will people think if I jump from Cameron’s bed to Kayce’s? And do I even care?

I pocket my phone and spin in his arms, pulling him to me and popping a leg. Every girl who's ever watched The Princess Diaries knows that the leg pop is a telling sign of true love.

“What was that for?” he asks when he pulls back.

“It just felt right.”

“So are we going to talk about this morning? Or just kiss?” He lets me go, but keeps my hand laced in his.

“Can we just agree to go with what feels right for the trip? I don’t want to ruin things by talking about them, and I don’t want to ruin things by not talking about them. I just want to be happy this week. Is that selfish?” I rest my head on his arm as we walk.

He kisses the top of my head once again. “Anything you want, June. We’ll just be.”

Taking this step feels big. It feels big to admit that I want to be happy with him. The serious feelings and admissions can wait until we get back and deal with the fallout from walking out on Cameron.