Whatever Happens Next (Triplets Book 2) Read online

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “No, it’s something. Are you mad they know?”

  “It’s not that. There’s just…there is one thing I’ve been keeping a secret from my family. I think I only got away with it because I left her in California.”

  “Elle,” I whisper.

  Alex nods, a small smile tilting up his mouth on the right side. “That’s a story for another time.”

  “Sounds like something you should share with another person. Perhaps someone going through similar relationship problems.”

  And there it is. That full, blinding smile that is a rare gift.

  “Any suggestions?” Alex’s voice deepens. His head cocks to one side, and the press of his thumbs pushes my mouth higher toward his.

  How can we turn off chemistry this good? I think I need to show him how I plan to ride out my “screw Vic the Dick” campaign.

  “The naked kind seemed to work for me.”

  Alex groans. “You’re killing me, sunshine.”

  I mimic his previous noise. “I love when you call me that.”

  I stare back into his eyes dancing side to side with desire and desperation.

  He heeds them both.

  Alex starts to drop his mouth. I feel the press of his soft lips touch mine.

  “Yo!” A shout rings out all around us.

  Alex and I freeze. We turn in the direction we thought we heard the sound coming from.

  The problem with a small island was that almost everything had an echo.

  “For the two people who think we all don’t know what they’re doing, we do.” Cam hollers from somewhere in the distance. “I’m supposed to tell you lunch is ready. But I’m also all for sex on the beach, so feel free to carry on and skip eating.”

  “Cam!” A very faint yell from Jo reaches us.

  “He’s going to be a nightmare,” Alex growls.

  “It’s just three days. We can stay away from each other easily.”

  Alex lifts one arrogant eyebrow.

  “We have to, right?” I don’t sound very confident.

  “Right. Then when we’re back home, I likely won’t see you anymore.”

  “Right.”

  Dammit, that probably is right.

  “I’m going to head back first. Maybe that will divert Cam’s mind.”

  Alex chuckles. “King of Diversion.”

  “Huh?”

  “Nothing. You go. I need a minute to…” He clears his throat, pointing down between us with his eyes.

  “Ah. Okay.” I bend to grab my flip flops, carrying them between my fingers. When the bottoms of my feet press onto the hot boardwalk, I look back at Alex. He’s moved into the spot I vacated against the rocks.

  “I didn’t get your name,” Alex hollers across the empty beach.

  For a second I’m confused. Then smile, understanding. “Chelsea Lewis.”

  Alex blinds me with another grin even across twenty yards. “Lewis suits you much better.”

  Three days.

  We just need to get through three days.

  CHAPTER 18

  ALEX

  THREE DAYS IS easy, my ass.

  We barely got through day one without jumping each other, and day two wasn’t looking promising either.

  Last night, my first night here, everyone settled in the theater room to watch a movie. It was something they had been doing the previous nights. Chelsea had never seen any of the Marvel franchise movies. Jo was not having that, so they started at the beginning.

  With Iron Man, because let’s be real, no one paid any attention to superhero movies until Robert Downey Jr. blew in with the role of Tony Stark.

  I sat next to Chelsea as the movie started. Not hers or my choice, but Cam’s. He was determined to prove us wrong when we told everybody that nothing was going on between us anymore. It was just a fling a couple of months ago. A way to pass the time.

  I didn’t even believe my own words so I didn’t have much faith that Brooks and Cam would either.

  The room was dark except for the giant screen. There were three rows of deep, cushy chairs for people to sink into. Brooks warned everybody to steer clear of his row. With Taytum and Nick off alone for a nighttime dip in the ocean, Cam claimed an entire row to himself. That put Chelsea and I right in the front.

  She was curled beneath a big blanket. The entire movie, I sat unrelaxed and jittery. Having her pressed so close to me earlier that day brought back familiarity and more. I thought I had feelings for her when she left two months ago. But in those couple of months following, I thought the feelings faded.

  They most definitely did not.

  A part me wanted her to scream for my rational and reasonable decisions toward us leaving things where they ended months ago. It was the only choice if I wanted to keep my job.

  Then Cam fell asleep during the movie. All it took was one look from Chelsea to throw rationality aside.

  I said I was cold. She shared her blanket.

  I slipped my hands underneath. She was wearing one of those short, silky nightgowns beneath a robe. My fingers ran up the inside of her thighs. I palmed her right between the legs and her moan got lost in action unfolding on screen. I went through the front of her panties and found her so wet I almost threw her over my shoulder and carried her out.

  But fucking Cam and his loud ass snores hit a crescendo that jolted everyone inside the room.

  Chelsea threw the blanket aside and sailed out of the movie room with a strained, “Good night!” to all of us that remained.

  That was yesterday.

  Today started off much the same.

  I woke up later than I usually do, but even then, everyone else in the house was still sleeping. I found a pot of coffee brewed and ready to go, thinking it was preset. I poured a cup and stepped outside onto the deck. Chelsea was laying there on a lounge chair like a goddess glowing underneath the sun. We always woke up around the same time. An internal alarm clock that we shared.

  She wore a black and white bikini.

  When I was a teenager, my dad watched the old Bond movies over and over. Thunderball was my favorite. There’s a scene I remember with strange detail because I was a horny, prepubescent boy. Domino lived in my fantasies. Specifically, Domino in her black and white two-piece bathing suit.

  Unable to take my eyes off Chelsea’s chest, I couldn’t figure out how we not going to hook up while stuck on a small island.

  “Good morning,” she said to me.

  I picked my eyes up from the small strip of cloth covering a set of breasts I wanted to bury my face in like I was thirteen all over again. “Morning.”

  “Hope the coffee is okay. I got used to Brooks’s single serve machine and felt like I forgot how to make a regular pot.”

  “You did good. It’s just right.”

  She smiles, and dear God, I want to praise her some more if that’s the smile she’ll reward me with.

  “Fuck,” I curse low.

  “This isn’t going to be as easy as I thought, Alex.” Chelsea stands, bookmarking her pages in the small paperback she had in her hand. She reaches for a pair of pants draped over another chair. “It’s a good thing Brooks is taking all the guys out on the boat today. After last night… I’m just going to go back inside and hide in there until you leave.”

  Chelsea steps into some weird pants that open over the entire front of her legs. It covers her bikini bottom and her ass, but the fucking point of them looking like pants is absolutely ridiculous when they flow out behind her as she walks.

  I take a step toward the pool to get out of her way, but when she walks past me, I catch a whiff of her vanilla scent on top of the only thing that can be described as the beach. It’s that sunscreen and tanning lotion mixture. The smell a body creates after sitting beneath the sun.

  I’m not even thinking clearly when I set my coffee down just in time to wrap a hand around her waist before she makes it inside.

  She coll
ides into me. I run the flat side of my hand up her back, gliding with ease over the moisturized skin from whatever lotion she has on. Her hair that is almost always left untamed and wild around her shoulders is pulled up on top of her head. I find the base of her neck and begin to explore with my mouth.

  “You should wear your hair up more,” I whisper into the curve where her neck and jaw connect. “I like seeing your neck exposed.”

  Chelsea sighs and drops her head back. “Alex, we agreed.”

  “I know, sunshine. Maybe we just need one more time with each other.”

  “I think we both know that won’t fix it.”

  The hand on her back slides up while the one on her front slides down. My fingers brush over her hardened nipples. Running my mouth over her jaw, I slide my tongue to the spot behind her ear. My cock hardens beneath the boardshorts.

  Chelsea feels me pressing into her belly. She cups my ass and pushes me closer. I reward her with a pinch to her nipple.

  There’s a weight pressing down on me from behind. I thought it was Chelsea until I realized her hands were right where I wanted them to be. I was trying to determine that feeling blasting onto my head when a voice broke us apart.

  “Little fucking liars,” Cam shouts, raising his voice on purpose.

  We were clearly caught. There is no way someone couldn’t see where her hands were on me and where my mouth was on her. So my reaction to the sudden intrusion was really a knee jerk reaction. I would never shove a woman otherwise.

  What I didn’t expect was Chelsea to drag me along with her.

  Standing closer to the pool than I initially thought we were, Chelsea’s arms flailed after I pushed her away from me. At the very last second, I realized what I’d done and tried to salvage the situation. But she locked onto the front of my shirt with a death grip, yanking me down with her into the cold, chlorinated depths.

  I toppled forward, falling face first into the cold, chlorinated depths with Chelsea.

  When we resurfaced, deep enough to stand inside the pool.

  Glaring at Cam, I growled, “Why do you keep popping up everywhere?”

  “Just like before, you two are terrible at hiding.” Cam lifts the steaming mug to his mouth.

  To make matters worse, Brooks comes out from the house at that moment. “Morning swim. Most people don’t wear their clothes when they do that, you know. Hell, Jo and I haven’t worn any clothes when we’ve gone in there.”

  “They were making out,” Cam says.

  “No, we weren’t.” Chelsea pushes aside the hair flattened to her head. I shoot her a look. She shrugs, “Technically, we weren’t.”

  “How long is this going to go on for? You don’t have to hide it from us. We’re family.” Cam holds a hand out for Chelsea as she climbs out of the pool.

  “It’s not that simple,” Chelsea murmurs.

  I catch the sadness in her voice. She’s not looking at me, doing all she can to avoid eye contact.

  “Excuse me. I’m going to get changed.” Slopping wet, she goes inside the house.

  “It’s not about hiding it from you guys anymore. So drop it okay,” I bark at them, picking up my coffee before walking in behind Chelsea.

  Jo stands in the kitchen, looking off in the direction I assume Chelsea went. She turns toward me, taking in my same soaked appearance as her friend. Creating water puddles everywhere I walk.

  “Must have been one hell of a kiss,” Jo mutters.

  Grumbling, I think to myself, I wish.

  I want nothing more than to get my mouth on hers. I’ve always been attracted to Chelsea, but what I felt now was borderline insanity. I ached for her. For just a touch, a caress, a small glimpse of her scent. I craved getting ahold of any little sparkle she left in her wake. One piece of what makes her shine would satisfy my needs.

  Until I needed another and another. Because she was an addiction.

  This feeling sucks. Not for the blue balls I’m working my way toward, but for the emptiness that continues to grow deeper and deeper in my chest every time I have to watch her walk away from me.

  CHAPTER 19

  CHELSEA

  IT WAS OUR last night on the island and the triplets’ birthday.

  I was struggling with wanting this vacation to hurry up and end, but also never end. If we did not leave, if Alex and I could stay on this remote island forever, then we could stop fighting our chemistry. We could finally give in.

  But then there was my new life to start. I was so excited to get back to Tampa and begin my interior design work. In my downtime, while sitting by the pool or tanning on the beach, I was adding designs and images to my mood boards. I created one for each client, but I also had other boards when inspiration would strike. Cheryl’s friend knew precisely what she wanted redone, but Kate was diving head first with a crazy trust exercise by letting me decide.

  I even created a mood board based on this bungalow home. Whoever designed it created a masterpiece.

  The sun touched through every angle inside the house. The colors were done in teal and lime green. Each bedroom was decorated differently. The theater room had dark blue walls and aqua blue furniture. The library was mint green, pastel blues, and creams. All the greens and blues should have been overkill, but it was not. It worked.

  I was stepping out of my room after changing into something warmer. The wind that picked up around this little island was drafty once the sun went down. I wore my yellow and green floral maxi skirt with a long sleeve white, crop top. Jo and I came up to the house after we all watched the sunset. The guys were building a fire on the beach. We walked back here to grab the food, cake, and fireworks. Cam demanded fireworks to be set off on their birthday.

  “Can you grab that jacket right there, please.” Jo pointed to a red sweater on the couch. “Taytum didn’t ask for it, but figure I could save Nick the trip when she realizes she needs it.”

  “Is this everything we’re taking down to the beach?” I peek inside the two large bags sitting on the chairs at the island counter.

  “Yep,” Jo adds one last dish. We each carry a bag over our shoulder, taking the walkway to the right and toward the beach. The boardwalk is lit up from beneath. Solar lighting is spaced two or three feet on both sides of the walkway, guiding us through the rather pitch black woods. “So you haven’t said much about it, and I haven’t brought it up thinking you were eventually going to explain something, and I didn’t want to pry but now we all know because Brooks and Cam won’t stop yapping about it…”

  “Jo. Spit it out.” I know what she wants to talk about, but listening to her ramble and tweak her glasses a million times puts a smile on my face.

  “Fine. Alex.” She catches my eyes in the golden glow. “Is there still something going on with you two?”

  “Nope.” I break contact before her studious stare breaks me.

  “So whatever went down a couple months ago was really just a fling?”

  “Just a fling.”

  It’s not healthy to lie to yourself.

  Fine, as Jo would say. But not every decision pans out as we intended.

  “That just doesn’t sound like Alex. Brooks says he’s the commitment kind of guy.”

  “Can’t be a commitment when it’s one of your player’s wife.”

  Jo doesn’t look convinced. “You’re divorced now.”

  “Alex is still his boss and still thinks it would be wrong.” An orange hue flares at the end of the boardwalk.

  “So you do want to be with Alex?” Jo slowed beside me. I glanced over in time to see her face transform into glee. “I knew I wasn’t imagining the way you two have been looking at each other since he arrived.”

  “There are no looks,” I scoff, forcing a short laugh to play it off.

  “Oh, please, tell that to someone who isn’t dating a Labelle. Everything they feel is written in those wonderfully unique gray eyes.”

  “They are wonderful,” I sigh.

  Jo grins. “You really like him.”


  “Doesn’t matter. He’s Vic’s boss and doesn’t want anything to interfere with his job.” Speeding up the pace, I’m more determined than ever to get back to the others.

  I felt like a bad friend for not sharing all that has gone on with Alex. Or the lack of it since I stupidly want more. But not expressing myself with what I truly want or feel is an old habit. I’m programmed to make the best of any situation. I’m all about doing what brings me joy rather than doing something I dislike just to make someone else happy, but I can’t change who I am to the core.

  If Alex is not all in, I won’t force anything no matter how much I care for him.

  I am my happiest when deserving people do what makes them happy.

  “Screw hockey,” Jo all but shouts.

  Laughter warms my body. “Jo, you are the only one who does not care a lick about how this affects the team.”

  “Of course not. Happiness is more important than some game. Alex should know that better than anyone. His injury could have taken him out in more ways than just his career.”

  I heard about Alex’s injury the same way most of the population did: through the internet. He got tangled up with another guy on a breakaway, hit the ice, and slid backward into the goal post. Reporters said Alex had previous but minor lower body injuries. That’s something the league is excellent about not disclosing to the public. The terms lower body, upper body, or undisclosed injury is a wide spectrum. I know the injury had to do with his lower spine and surgery was needed for correction.

  But it’s not fair to hold his injury over him like he’s supposed to live better or different than any average person just because he healed.

  Alex is back to hockey the only way he physically can. He has the right to pick “some game” over a woman.

  That sounded so mature and practical I wanted to be sick.

  “Jo, listen.” I stop right before the clearing is in full view. “I like Alex, but I’m coming out of a ten year relationship. I’ve never been on my own. I’ve never had a career until now. I am so hopeful about finding love again. Right now I just want to explore who I am.”