Page 60 of All Bets Are Off

With my stomach somersaulting, I pluck up the courage to uncross my legs and stand from my chair. It feels like it takes a lifetime to close the small gap between Jameson and me. I slip effortlessly onto his lap and gently slide my hands around either side of his neck, using my thumbs to guide his jaw up toward me. We’re both quiet, both holding our breath, and his warm hands disappear inside my robe, brushing over the soft skin of my waist.

Just as he leans up to take my lips in his, I pull back.

“Wait,” I say, staring over his shoulder at nothing in particular as I concentrate. “Do you hear that?”

Jameson sighs at the interruption. “Hear what?”

I really tune in now, my ears pricking up. Over the balcony divider, I can hear something from the room next door. Something like . . . Oh my God. My eyes widen in horror and I snap my attention back to Jameson, who’s staring at me like a puppy waiting for its treat, as my jaw hangs open.

“Someone is having sex next door!” I hiss.

“Well, don’t be a freak who listens.”

“No, Jameson, you don’t understand.” I shake my head wildly at him, my hands still on his neck, his skin warm and flush beneath my touch. “That’s Addy and Hailey’s room. So either Addy and Liam are getting it on or . . . Or Hailey is fucking my brother. Ew, ew, ew! I mean, very cute for the two of them because I think they’d be an adorable couple, but ew!”

“Shall we go to my room instead if this is too weird for you?” Jameson suggests, and I immediately take him up on his offer.

Climbing off his lap, I dart back inside the room. Jameson clears up our trash from the terrace while I quickly pull on some jean shorts and a tank, slip my feet into some flip flops, and grab the chance to brush my teeth. I do not want to stick around to hear anything more from next door, so armed with my key card and my phone and Jameson by my side, we leave my room and take the elevator down to his floor instead. In the few minutes that it takes to reach his room, the reality of what I’m doing sinks in.

I don’t do these kind of things.

“Now where were we?” Jameson murmurs, hooking his fingers around the belt loops of my shorts and tugging me in close as he backs inside the room. His lips trail over the corner of my mouth, but I stiffen beneath him.

“Can I be the worst person in the world and say I changed my mind?”

Jameson leans back, letting his gaze land on mine. “Oh?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” I blurt, trying to salvage his feelings, because I really, really do want to. More than anything. “It’s just that I prefer to know someone a little longer than twenty-four hours before we . . .” My cheeks feel hot and I blow out a quick burst of breath, composing myself. “Basically, I don’t do one-night stands.”

“Well, I was planning on seeing you again in the morning, but . . .” Jameson grins. He delicately tucks my hair behind my ear and presses a soft kiss to my forehead. “I don’t want you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with. Besides, I’m pretty sure that sister of yours would have my balls. So maybe—”

“Maybe just this?” I stretch up on my tiptoes and kiss him.

It’s far from the boozy, wild kiss in the corner of the pool party we shared earlier. It’s very much like the gentle, meaningful way we kissed last night. It’s slow, deep, passionate. I’ve never been kissed like this before, and maybe that’s the difference between Jameson and all of the frat guys back at college. Jameson has the self-restraint to take his time. He makes it memorable. Leaves me wanting more.

“That was nice,” I whisper, biting down on my lower lip as I look up at him from beneath my natural lashes. I almost forgot I’m still standing in front of him with damp, unbrushed hair and not an ounce of make-up covering any of my skin’s blemishes, yet he still gazes down into my eyes like I’m the sexiest thing he’s ever seen.

“Would you like to stay over again?” he asks, and last night feels like a million years ago. “I don’t mind another night on the couch.”

I laugh, because no way. “How about we just share the bed? You can be the big spoon. Just no wandering hands, okay?”

“You’re putting a lot of trust in a stranger.”

“I’m putting a lot of trust in you, Jameson Park,” I say, kissing him once more, just a quick peck, before I reach for his arm and pull him further into the hotel suite.

25

Adelaide

Something feels wrong about this.

I’m in an Uber with Connor, heading to a mystery destination. The car pulls away from the rear entrance of the Cosmopolitan, and when I glance sideways at Connor in the back seat next to me, I feel . . . guilty. And I think I know why, but I don’t want to admit it to myself.

Because I know, deep in my gut, that if it were anyone else keeping me company tonight then I would not be having these guilty thoughts. If it were Tyler or John here with me instead, I’d believe they were just being a good friend to Liam, looking out for their buddy’s future wife. But it’s different with Connor. I have history, albeit ancient, with Connor. And something tells me Liam would hit the fucking roof if he knew we were alone together right now.

That would be irrational though, wouldn’t it? Because there’s nothing there with Connor. No justifiable reason for Liam to feel insecure and threatened.

Yet the guilt creeps into every crevice of my chest . . . Because I know the way Connor looks at me and the way my heart pounds when he does.