his lips turns up in a smirk. “Don’t worry. We’ll find a way to be together. Just let me figure it out.”
“Fine. I’m going to bed, but under protest.”
“Goodnight, Angel.”
“Goodnight, Spike.” Only there’s nothing good about tonight. Or rather, there’s all kinds of good, except the way it ends.
Thirteen
Spike
Cock-blocked by Forest is not the way I want to end our night, but in some small way, I agree with him.
Angel and I are too new to each other, too eager, too willing to take risks when caught up in the moment, and therefore, we lack appropriate caution.
That thing in the pool can never happen again. I shouldn’t have let it happen in the first place, but she was such a tease, and let’s face it, I wanted to do it. Even though I knew we shouldn’t.
Look how that turned out?
As for spending the night together, her rooms are buried way back in Insanity. Mine, like the rest of the guys, spread out along the side facing the ocean with its sweeping views. There’s no reason for me to be seen coming from her rooms and no reason for her to be seen coming from mine.
With all the creative energy around here, nobody keeps normal hours. From Noodles rising before the crack-ass of dawn to greet the sun, to Ash’s all-night composing sessions that last through and past Noodles’ sunrise meditation, it’s either a ghost town around here or Grand Central Station. It’s impossible to know who is up, who’s asleep, or who’s just fucking around.
That’s something I, and especially Angel, don’t need to explain at one, two, or three in the morning as we race to our respective rooms. Hell, we don’t need it at noon, three in the afternoon, or as the sun sets.
We don’t need it at all.
Considering we were exceptionally careless, caught up in the moment, or as Forest so aptly said, our lust, it’s a recipe for disaster.
Where does that leave us?
Again, that can never happen again.
Maybe if I repeat it enough, it’ll sink in. As much as I want to kiss Angel goodnight, I lift a hand and wave goodbye. I exit far left, and she exits far right. In the morning, I’ll have a solution on how, and where, we can be alone.
Needless to say, I have a horrible night. I toss and turn until I finally crawl out of bed in frustration. Exhausted, I make my way to the kitchen in search of caffeine. The pungent aroma of coffee percolating into caffeinated goodness draws me like a zombie from my room.
I enter the kitchen in pajama bottoms and a loose-fitting T-shirt. Not my choice. I sleep in the nude. But Mitzy, Skye, Holly, Piper, and even Forest’s Sara laid down the law. No naked men allowed outside our rooms.
Yeah, things have really changed.
I’m the only single man standing, and yet I’ve been pussy-whipped into adhering to a string of rules that, honestly, make little sense. But this is the way of things now.
“Hello.” I yawn as I enter the room. Rubbing at my eyes, I catch a flash of psychedelic pixie dust.
“Hey, Spike!” Mitzy’s exuberance is far too much for my bleary brain, especially this early in the morning.
“Please tell me that’s a fresh pot. I’m not too late, am I?”
“Nope. You’re the first up. Well, the first after Noodles.” She wriggles her fingers out toward the pool.
“I’m surprised you’re not out there with him. I thought he roped you into his sun salutation thing.”
“I drew a line.”
“Huh?”
“You know, a line in the sand. I can’t do that seven days a week. Not when I’m up until three or four in the morning.”
One might think Mitzy meant that she was working those late hours, but she’s the queen of online games. In that tight-knit community, she’s something of a legend. At least, that’s what she tells us. I wouldn’t know.
“I see.” I take in a deep breath and glance outside. Don’t know why. Noodles isn’t out back. The sun rises to the east and we look out west toward the ocean. He’s on the other side of the property greeting the sun. “I would really love a cup.”
“One cup coming up!” Damn, Mitzy’s perky today.
“Thanks.”
She pours me a cup, and I load it with sweet shit and cream until it’s barely recognizable as coffee. The whole time she gives me the eye, and I grow more and more nervous. The thing is, she and Forest are thick as thieves.
What if he told her?
I