Without Merit(33)

His expression leaves no hint of his thoughts. He just stares at me as calmly as the water has become around us. Our knees touch briefly and it sends a shiver over me. I notice the same chills climbing up his arms when his gaze drops to my mouth. Just like it did the day he mistook me for Honor and created this monster inside of me with his kiss. I need him to back up a few miles. Or lunge for me.

Just like he’s lunging for his phone.

Here and then gone.

He hopped out of the pool as soon as his phone started ringing. I’ve never seen anyone so anxious when their phone rings. I want to find out why he gets like that, but I also hope I never find out because that would mean we’d have to have another conversation.

Sagan answers his phone as he’s walking out of the pool room. I’m alone now. It’s kind of creepy, so I jump out of the water and grab the last towel. I also grab the key card and my stuff and head to the bathroom to change.

Honor has a fresh face of makeup and she’s currently brushing her hair at the sink. She’s already changed out of her bathing suit. “Is everyone ready to go?”

“More than ready,” I say, closing the stall door behind me.

“I’ll be in the van,” she says on her way out the door.

I finish changing clothes, but I don’t bother brushing my hair or applying makeup like Honor did. I just don’t care as much as she does.

When I make it back to the front desk to return the key, Sagan is in the lobby, still on the phone. Honor hands him his dry clothes and he smiles at her and then walks them to the bathroom. Honor and Utah both walk outside and once again . . . I’m all alone. Because the front desk clerk is nowhere to be found.

“Angela,” I say, tapping the key card on the counter. I’m not sure if I should just leave it on the counter and go, or if I should wait on her to return to the desk.

“Coming,” she says, a little too cheerful. The door to an office opens and she slips out, smiling a little too widely. She combs through her hair with her fingers.

“Just returning this.” I slide the key across the counter to her. I’m about to walk toward the exit, but I pause when Luck emerges from the office Angela just came from. He’s still wearing the shorts he had on in the pool. I look at Angela, but she darts her eyes away, tucking the back of her work shirt into her skirt. I look back at Luck.

“Is everyone ready?” he asks casually, as if I didn’t just interrupt whatever was happening in that office.

I nod, but I don’t speak. I just walk away quietly because I’m speechless.

Did that seriously just happen?

Luck was in the middle of a conversation with me a mere fifteen minutes ago when he got up and walked away. How—in the span of fifteen minutes—did he end up having sex with a girl he doesn’t even know in the office of a hotel?

I’m angry and I don’t even know why. I couldn’t care less who Luck has sex with. I don’t even know him. I’m angrier about the fact that I wouldn’t even know the first thing about having sex, much less a quickie with a guy I’ve never met before. Sex seems like such a monumental thing. It should take months to lead up to, and he accomplishes it in fifteen minutes.

The door is open when I reach the van. Honor is sitting in one of the two middle seats, so I save the other one for Sagan and take the backseat this time. I’m not sure I want to sit by anyone at this point.

Sagan walks outside and climbs in the front seat.

“Where’s Luck?” Honor asks.

“He’s getting dressed,” Sagan says.

“He got held up,” I add. “He was busy screwing Angela in the back office.”

Honor spins around in her seat, wide-eyed. “Shut up! Angela is dating Russell!”

I really don’t care.

“Is she really?” Utah asks. “Isn’t that Shannon’s older brother?”

Honor turns around in her seat. “They’ve been dating for like two years. I can’t believe she’d do that to him!” Her words make it appear that she’s upset about Angela cheating on her boyfriend, but her voice is way too eager over the possibility of it happening. Honor has always loved gossip. It’s one of the many things she and Utah have in common.

Luck finally returns to the van, pulling his shirt over his head as he takes his seat. He closes the door and Honor doesn’t waste any time. “Did you really just have sex with Angela?”

Luck turns around in his seat and faces me. “Really, Merit?”

I feel guilty for telling them now. It seems like I came straight out to the van with gossip, but I only told them because I was . . . I don’t know. Why did I tell them?

Luck turns back around in his seat. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

“She has a boyfriend,” Honor says.

“That’s lovely,” Luck says, uninterested.

“You’re going to make things even worse for us,” Honor says.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“The Voss family already has a terrible reputation around here, thanks to our father and Victoria. Now we’ve added you to the mix and you’re a man-whore.”

Luck laughs. “Do people not have sex in this town?”

“They do,” I say. “But there’s usually more than a one-minute screening process.”