turning around to face Houston, who had already removed his own wetsuit and now wore cotton shorts that hung off his hips. He wasted no time kissing me deeply once I looked up at him.
“Come with me,” he whispered when he finally let me catch my breath.
Left only in my blue bikini, I followed him through the suite and into the bathroom with an L-shaped view overlooking the harbor.
There I found Jericho dressed only in jeans and sitting on the lip of the bathtub centered in the room as he checked the temperature of the water pouring from the spout. Loren had shed only the top half of his wet suit and stood at the end of the tub, pouring a generous stream of bubble bath into the tub. I knew it had to be the source of the lavender aroma filling the room and not another new emotion I couldn’t name. Watching the tub fill, I felt my muscles ache at the promise of soaking them.
Houston made short work of my two-piece, pulling the string at my neck and the ones at my hips until they both fell from my body and decorated the marble floor.
“Bath’s ready,” Jericho announced when he was satisfied with the temperature of the water.
Houston immediately lifted me off my feet bridal style before carrying me over to the tub. After placing me in the water, I realized just how deep the tub was. I was covered almost to my chin in warm, lavender-scented water.
Houston accepted a bottle from Loren while Rich worked to wet my hair. I didn’t realize their intention until I felt Houston’s fingers in my hair, massaging my scalp with shampoo and making me moan as I tilted my head back.
I hadn’t expected this when I said yes to them.
Any of it.
But I couldn’t say I wasn’t pleased.
Loofah in hand, Loren lifted my left leg and gently began washing me. Rich disappeared from the bathroom for a minute or two, and when he returned, it was with a platter filled with fruit that he began to feed to me from his lounge beside the tub.
It was never far from my lips to ask what brought this on, but for some reason, I never did. I shut up and let them dote on me as if it was always meant to be this way—as if we hadn’t hated each other once upon a time.
Loren moved onto my other leg just as Houston began rinsing the shampoo from my hair and adding conditioner. Together, the trio worked in perfect harmony and comfortable silence. I blushed when I saw how dedicated they were to their tasks.
Or maybe they were hoping I’d forget about the dare or have mercy on them.
Not a chance.
I was yawning uncontrollably by the time my skin was pruned and rubbed raw because the three of them were having too much fun to leave me be.
Houston stood me up, Jericho wrapped me in a towel, and Loren carried me into the bedroom with the biggest bed. Once I was under the covers, I tried to pull him down with me for a quick nap, but he mumbled something about needing to shower. I pouted, causing him to smile and kiss my lips before placing my phone on the nightstand and walking away.
I didn’t even know he had it.
The door made a soft click when it closed behind him, but my eyes were already closed, so I didn’t watch him go. Everything felt good and hurt at the same time as I shuffled my feet and burrowed deeper under the cool, expensive covers with a satisfied sigh.
I’d almost made it too.
It would have been the nap of the century.
But no.
My phone played the specially assigned ringtone, “Dear God” by XTC, and the last person I expected was calling.
Canceling a show mere hours before the start without demanding a reason why was a pretty accurate measure of how far I’d fallen.
We were currently back on the private jet and headed to some town I’d never heard of called Faithful. I watched Braxton’s knee bounce rapidly before giving Loren and Rich the same quizzical look we’d been sharing since she told us she had to return to California.
We tried to get answers, but she hadn’t been willing to give them. Our only option had been to watch her grab her shit, leaving us no choice but to grab ours the moment she darted out the door without an explanation.