While I said it four times, he responds after the first. His cock is yanked from me, and my feet lower back to the shower floor.He backs away, turns off the water, then steps out of the shower entirely. Water drips from his clothes, the only sound in a room penetrated by my pants.
“Summer, I’m sorry.”
“It’s not you,” I whisper.He stopped.He did what I was testing—what I needed from him. Perhapstestisn’t the correct word. After all, I never doubted he’d force me, but I needed to confirm it, to claim control over the situation.
Once, I pleaded with my father to stop, questioned him, and was ignored. It took elbowing his nose hard enough that, combined with the few beers he downed, allowed me to escape to Levi’s.
“It’s not you,” I repeat, tilting my head forward to stare at the drain, which is much closer than it was when he was in me.When did I kneel?
Hunter approaches the tub, also dropping to his knees. The Xs for eyes destroys the emotion existing below, but I envision Levi’s eyes. “Summer, I… Are you okay?” His voice shifts slightly, my best friend again, though he probably doesn’t realize it.
“You stopped.”
“Of course. Did I hurt you?”
“Not at all. I just…” He knows what’s going on, yet telling him while he’s another person feels different, like I’m disclosing the truth to an outside, trusted person. “My father escaped from prison, and he’s here. Like, at the resort. And you—just…it was great, but I needed to?—”
“Hey.” He cups my chin. “Don’t say more. I get it. Let’s get you into bed.”
“I’m alright now. We could finish.”
A low chuckle comes from behind the mask as he dislodges my hold and reaches for a towel hanging nearby. “The best thingwe can do for you tonight is to be together. Come on. I’ll put you to bed and stick around for a bit.”
He moves through the bathroom and helps me into the towel, then leads me out of the bathroom before he heads for my suitcase. There isn’t the kind of hesitation he should have as a ‘stranger’, as if his fake persona is slipping for him too. After the kiss, he’s less interested in upholding Hunter.
Maybe he just needs a reminder to end it entirely.
“Could we take a walk down the beach? I wanted to go earlier, but being alone in the dark wasn’t smart.” It probably is still unwise, but Levi will defend me.
Within minutes, he’s leading me down the stretch of the beach and away from the cabanas. Sand kicks up with our steps, forming a path. The moon is almost full above, an anchor between us. We walk in silence, each lost in thought.
All I know is the deception on both our parts must end.
SEVENTEEN
LEVI
What a fucking nightmare of a day.It’s why I had to come see her as Hunter—to heal in ways only she’s capable of. After avoiding her messages as Levi, driven by rage as I sat in the security team’s office and scoured every second of footage all fucking day with no sign of her father, I’m about an hour away from locking down the entire resort. The manager contacted my father, who wasn’t pleased by the ‘inconvenience’ this might cause the other guests.
Summer’s safety will never be aninconvenience.
The police are so un-fucking-helpful, and the prison is under fire from our lawyers over the slip-up in not reaching out to Summer to warn her.
It’s probably a terrible idea to return as Hunter after kissing her last night. The two identities are converging, as they need to, but I can’t say if she welcomed the idea of Levi wanting her as much as Hunter. If she’ll give me up entirely, not want anything to do with either version of me.
She’s silent while walking, but the teeth imbedded in her lip tells me her thoughts are deep and troubled. I want to inquirewhere her head’s at, but that’s something Levi would do, not Hunter.
A few more steps, and I glance around, cursing the mask. My visibility is worsened, which means checking more often. From what little of her father the cameras picked up, he hasn’t come around the private cabanas. As long as he believes her to be in the main building, it’s where he’ll linger.
“Thank you,” she murmurs suddenly, coming to a stop in front of me. Her attention, however, goes to the rolling waves crashing onto the sand, forming white mist.
“You really need to stop thanking me for showing basic respect.”
She lifts and drops one shoulder slowly, as if she’s not fully present. “Not only for earlier, but everything. The years of friendship. For discovering another side of me I never could without the assistance from a screen.”
Then, she drops to her knees and reaches for my waist. I’d like to be a good man, instruct her to stand, that this isn’t required. But when she unzips my shorts and grips my cock, stroking me until hard, all thoughts disappear into the waves. Her lips wrap around my length, until taking me halfway down her throat, and I’m a goner.
“Summer.” My hand lands on her head and then slides to cup her cheek, finally fisting her hair for leverage in the way I know she enjoys. “Fuck, Sunshine.”