“Talk to me,” I tell her as I climb in after her and begin to help her pull her hair up and out of the way of the water, tying it off with the hair tie I keep on my wrist.
“You don’t know what you’re asking.” She sighs and holds out her hand for the bottle of soap. I ignore her and begin to lather her up myself, turning her around to face the water so that I can rub her shoulders and neck. “We don’t even know who each other is anymore,” she groans. “You don’t know me. There’s too much time between us now. You’re all hyped up on orgasms and endorphins. Not to mention, Wes, you have a job back home. You can’t just quit your job and come with me.”
“I wouldn’t quit my job,” I tell her, moving my hands further down her back, working on her tight muscles. “I would take a leave of absence and travel with you for a while. We would get to know each other again and have lots of sex,” I say, swatting her ass softly. “I have enough saved up that I would be able to live comfortably with you for a few months before I needed to go back.”
She’s quiet, and I can tell she’s debating whether or not she wants to believe me. I give her a moment, continuing to make my way around her body with my hands before rinsing her off and starting on myself.
“You seem very confident,” she says, wrapping her arms around my waist and leaning into me while I wash my hair.
“I am.”
“What if you get sick of me? Or we can’t stand each other anymore and just start to fight the whole time?”
“Zo?,” I laugh, looking down at her. “You act like if you agree to this, there’s no out, like I’m trapping you.” Which, I kind of am. I don’t plan on letting her go. Ever. “If that were to happen, I would just leave. If at any time it isn’t working, I can just fly home.”
Her fingers work their way up and down my back, causing goose bumps to break out across my skin. She leans her forehead on my chest, the water running over me and onto her.
“You may as well just say yes.” She looks up at me confused. “I’ve already decided you’re mine and that I’m coming with you. So if you don’t want me lurking in the background, stalking you everywhere you go, you should just say yes and let me travel with you instead of behind you.”
“Creep!” she squeals, laughing and slapping me on the chest.
Oh, she thinks I’m kidding.
“Fine, Wes,” she says, her tone evening out. “Fine. You can come with me. But if at any time I want you to leave…”
“I leave.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
I wake up to roll over, reaching out and searching for Zo?’s warmth, but the sheets beside me are cold. Instantly, I’m sitting up, trying to get my eyes to adjust to the darkness. She’s not in bed with me anymore, and I roll over to check the time. It’s four in the morning; I’ve barely been asleep for a few hours.
“Zo??” I whisper, wondering if maybe she’s in the bathroom, not wanting to turn the light on to wake me up. There’s no answer after a moment, so I try asking for her a bit louder. Nothing. My stomach is in knots. I know she isn’t in this room.
I know she isn’t on this fucking boat.
“Fuck’s sake, Zo?,” I growl, crawling quickly out of bed and throwing on some clothes before stomping out of my room and down the hallway to Jack’s. They’re probably going to kill me, but she isn’t getting away again. I’m not letting it happen.
I reach their door and start banging on it loud enough to wake the dead.
“Fucking what!” Jack yells from the other side before a loud thump echoes through the door.
“Jesus Christ, what is going on?” Owen asks, opening his door with a half-naked Pyro stumbling out after him. Jack opens his door, and we both look at Owen and Pyro standing there together.
“Okay, there are going to be questions about that later,” Jack says before turning his attention back to me. Owen laughs before Jack’s anger gets thrown in my face. “Why the fuck are you banging on my door at the ass crack of night?”
“The saying is ass crack of dawn, and Zo? is gone,” I tell him, my attention swiveling from the two freshly fucked men in the doorway behind me back to Jack. “She left. I need to know where she’s staying.”
Quinlan comes into view, rubbing her eyes and wrapping a robe tightly around herself. She peeks through the door and takes in Owen and Pyro with a surprised smile before looking at me.
“Where is Zo? staying on the island, Quinlan?” I ask her, trying to plead to her with my eyes. “I know you know.”
“Wes,” she starts. “If she took off…”
“No,” I interrupt her. “She did this before, and she doesn’t get to do it again. Running away like a damn thief in the night.”
“Wes,” she says, shooing Jack back into their room and giving the other boys a look to leave us alone as well. Owen’s door shuts behind me, and she closes her door, leaving us alone in the hallway.
“Quinlan?” I ask.
“Ever since I’ve known Zo?, she’s been closed off. She never dated and always had one foot out the door. I knew when I met her that she’d be the absolute worst roommate ever because there was no way she’d be staying in one place long enough to hold a lease.” She smiles. “But that leaks into her personal life, too. Her walls are built so fucking tall, no one can get in. If she left, it’s because she wanted to. She knows she can’t give you whatever it is you want.”
I rake my hands through my hair and pace around the hall a couple of times.
“Quinlan,” I tell her, coming back and taking her hands in mine. “I need to know where she’s staying.”
She sighs and turns around, walking back into her room and closing the door behind her. I stare at the closed door for a moment, wondering how the hell I am going to find her without knowing where she’s staying. Can I go out there and walk the streets until I find her? Can I go sit at the airport, searching for her until she leaves for Morocco?
“Fuck,” I swear under my breath.
“If you make me regret this,” Quin says, opening her door and handing me a piece of paper. “I will tell Jack you’re never allowed back in his club, capisce?”