Page 43 of Caught Up In You (Indigo Royal Resort)
“I believe your exact words were, ‘I’m in it for the orgasms, not the emotions.’ Or do you not remember saying that?”
“No, I do. But there aren’t emotions in this either.”
“Are you lying to yourself about this too? Or just me?”
“I’m not lying to anyone.”
“You really mean to tell me that you feel nothing toward Cullen Cruz right now?”
“I feel a certain level of respect and a great appreciation for the three mind-blowing, next level orgasms he gave me last night. That’s it.”
“Okay, so you’re lying to both of us. Just want to make sure I have it straight.”
“I am not lying to anyone!”
“You know it’s okay to admit that you have feelings for him, right? That no one, especially me, is going to think less of you for falling for the big, broody footballer.”
“I’m not falling—” She cut herself off.
Her mind darted back to just moments before Drea walked in, and how her thoughts had been about how much she was enjoying spending time with Cullen and not just in bed. How much she enjoyed talking with him, laughing with him. Just last night they had been sharing secrets like she and Drea would have done at a junior high sleepover—most embarrassing moment, first kiss, the scar on his knee from where a goalie hit him studs up, the little-known fact that she kept a journal full of ideas in case someday she wanted to write her own romance novel. She told him that she’d never left the Virgin Islands and how she wanted to hear all about his adventures traveling around the world. He had shared that he hated being an only child and that even though there was quite the gap in their ages, he was jealous of the relationship that she shared with Josef and how close they were.
“The boys don’t get back from the booze cruise they’re running for another two and a half hours, so I have plent
y of time to sit here and wait for your realization,” Drea said, filling the silence that Leona’s thought process left.
“Keep a secret?”
“Always.”
“Maybe there are some feelings involved,” she whispered her admission.
“I knew it!” Drea did a little dance in her seat.
“Hey!”
“I promised to keep it a secret, not that I wouldn’t gloat.”
The two of them laughed as Drea continued to wiggle in her spot on the table, making the whole thing shift under her ever so slightly.
“He’s just not who I thought he was. Or well, maybe I should say that he is who I originally thought he was and not the amended version. I’m just really enjoying spending time with him.”
“And what happens when he leaves in a week?”
“He leaves,” she shrugged. “And we both go back to our lives. Him to do whatever he plans in retirement and me, here, folding laundry and ordering shampoo. And then next year we’ll be excited to see each other again.”
“You really think that’s how it’s going to go down? That you’re just going to be okay with him leaving?”
“Yes. We’re not you and Kyle. We’re not some fated love match or something, destined for our happily ever after. I won’t fall apart when he leaves.” The moment she said the words she knew that it wasn’t the whole truth. She knew that there would be some hurt involved and that she was going to miss their time together. It just wasn’t to the level she suspected Drea was expecting.
“You just admitting to liking him,” Drea exclaimed, lifting her hands in frustration.
“As a person. This won’t be like what happened when Kyle took his ‘hiatus,’” she said, using air quotes around hiatus. “I won’t need the Dalton special heartbreak drink package.”
“So we’re back to lying to ourselves. Got it,” Drea said with a resigned sigh.
“Girl, I promise.”
“As long as you’re sure.”
