Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
They’re good-looking guys. Probably a whole heap of fun, too. There are so many people and places in the world to experience and I never made any promises to the men at Cloud 9, just as they didn’t promise anything to me. We had fun. I’ll carry the memories of the time with them for as many days as I’m gifted.
I need to move on to whatever destination the universe will send me to next.
You don’t want anyone else, my internal voice whispers. You only want them.
But I can’t listen to the truth when it has the power to destroy.
With the salty breeze in my hair and the sails of the ship billowing behind me, I make the decision that it’s time to leave.
But in my chest, my heart rests heavy with the weight of all the lies I tell myself.
31
LOGAN
"Logan!" Dawn’s voice rings out over the music, and I swivel, finding her and Kyla dragging their small suitcases, sunkissed and beaming as they make their way into the bar. Dawn waves and then lengthens her strides until we’re face to face. Without thinking, I pull her into a bearlike embrace, inhaling the scent of her hair and soaking up her warmth. "Wow," she giggles. "I was going to ask if you missed me, but I guess I know the answer."
"You have no idea," I say, meeting Lachlan’s eyes over Dawn’s shoulder and finding him watchful and still. He has a lot on his mind, but for all the stress and strain of what’s happening with the business, I know my friend is worrying about this.
Worrying about the impact on our friendship.
Worrying about Dawn and what she’s hiding behind her bubbly exterior.
Worrying she’s going to tell us she’s leaving.
Worrying about what she’ll leave behind.
I feel the same. All I want is to know that this beautiful, vivacious woman wants to stay and live with us. I want to know she’s committed to this unconventional relationship we’ve built. But wanting and getting are on two totally different sides of the coin.
"Dawn," Jared yells, placing the tray he's carrying laden with dirty glasses onto the bar, and spinning her out of my arms. He plants a passionate kiss onto her lips, taking his greeting one step further than me. Dawn laughs as he spins her again, and her cheeks grow flushed with excitement and embarrassment.
Behind her, Kyla smiles broadly at her friend.
"Welcome back," I say to Kyla as Dawn is passed from man to man, receiving kisses from Thomas, Cooper, Joshua, and Bryce. She has a smile on her face that doesn’t feel genuine, as though she pasted it there to cover her true feelings. Eventually, Lachlan leaves his place behind the bar and tugs Dawn into a fierce hug.
"It's good to have you back," he says, squeezing the life out of her. Dawn seems a little winded, and maybe a little shocked at the fierceness of his reaction to her return. Lachlan's not good at showing emotion and when you spend time with him, you come to expect and accept a level of reserve in his interaction. This is anything but.
"Wow. I should go away more often," Dawn says brightly. Behind her, I catch Kyla pursing her lips.
"How was your trip?"
"It was great." Kyla rests her case against the bar. "Really great."
"Kyla loves it so much she doesn't want to go home." Dawn perches on a bar stool and surveys Cloud 9 as though she expects to see changes. Nothing's different. Cooper's still DJing. Bryce and Brandon are finishing up the grilling. We're all in the same place we were when she left. Only Dawn seems different.
"When are you going home?" I ask.
Kyla reaches into her pocket, pulling out her phone. "I've lost track of the days," she says. "I've got just over a week."
"A week?"
I glance at Dawn, who suddenly won't meet my eyes and I know what's made her tense and different. She's planning to go back to the US when her friend leaves and she doesn't know how to tell us.
Well, fuck that.
"Are you sure we can't encourage you to stay longer?"
Kyla shrugs. "I'd love to, but I have eight men at home who are desperate for me to get back."
"Yeah, that's got to be an incentive."
Her attention switches to her phone, and then she smiles broadly. "They're messaging me right now...look at them."
She flashes me a picture of eight tattooed men, all shoving at each other to get into a selfie. Half of them are laughing and the other half are trying to look sad. A humorous attempt at emotional blackmail gone wrong.
"We should go and put our stuff in my room," Dawn says.
"That's okay. Jared will help you." I grab the handles of the suitcases and pass them both to Jared. "Dawn, go with him so you can unlock the door."