I sent the message, and then turned off my phone, sitting up. My muscles ached as I stretched, complaining from the strange position we’d slept in all night, trying to fit on a twin-sized bed.

“I got an invitation in the mail the other day. My brother is getting married again.”

“Again? He’s already divorced?”

“No, they eloped, so they’re making it formal so the family can attend. It’s going to be in St. Thomas mid-March next year.”

I sighed. “I love St. Thomas, but that’s not enough time for me to save.”

He touched my lower back with the tips of his fingers. “I’ve got it. Wanna go? With me?”

I looked over my bare shoulder at Tyler. “Like … as your date?”

He shrugged, stretching his arm above his head. “You can call it whatever you want. I just want you there.”

I looked forward, pulling the blanket up over my chest. “I don’t need a passport for St. Thomas.” I sighed. “I hate this. I feel like this,” I said, gesturing between us, “is paying for whatever.”

He chuckled. “It’s not. I had already planned to ask you to go.”

I offered him a small, regretful smile. “We can’t do this again.”

His sleepy grin was infectious. “You keep saying that. Why don’t you just admit it?”

“Admit what?”

He waited.

“Fine,” I said. “We have a … thing.”

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” he said, but the grin was wiped from his face when I stood, taking the blanket with me to the bathroom and grabbing my bath bag and robe from the knob of the armoire on the way.

“Shower?” Tyler called.

“Yeah.”

“Want company?”

“Nope.”

I hung the robe on a hook that was nailed into the divider between showers and let the down quilt fall to the floor, reaching behind the plastic curtain to twist the knob. The water sprayed from the head, instantly steaming. I stepped under, letting the water run over my head and down my face.

My mascara burned my eyes, and I reached for the soap, quickly scrubbing it away. Tyler had kissed me all the way to the bed and undressed me, and neither of us had left that spot the rest of the night. His tongue had tasted almost every inch of my body, making me come over and over until my legs twitched with exhaustion.

Once it was over, though, and I was lying in his arms, I could feel his relief. He practically radiated how at home he felt against me, and all I could think about was that it was getting harder to pretend what we had was just sex. Underneath his thick armor, Tyler cared about me, and I wasn’t sure I deserved that—at least, not yet.