Jett jumped in surprise and then his whole body went rigid. “You’re still here?”
I frowned. “Well, yeah. I just woke up. I figured we could lounge in bed …”
“I don’t have time for that.” He stepped back as if offended by my suggestion.
I scooted off the bed and found my dress in a ball on the floor. "You're totally right. We should start the day off by getting outside to explore this amazing island. Do you have some sweats I could borrow? My dress…" I held it up and shrugged, knowing that guys loved when a woman wore their clothes. I hoped he’d think I looked cute standing there completely naked.
I was excited to see his face when I slipped on the shirt he would give me, excited to spend the day with him too.
He didn't move to get me a change of clothes though. He stared at me like gum on the bottom of his shoe. My smile dropped a little.
Did I imagine that look of annoyance?
He raked his eyes up and down my body and then rolled them. Dramatically. "You can't just wear that dress for a minute to get back to your place? It can't be far from here …."
"But I thought we—"
"We?" He spit the word out like it was gasoline in his mouth. "There's no we, Pix."
"Last night was …"
He held up a hand to stop me. "Last night was last night. Now last night is over."
"But you said—"
"Nothing to make you think this would last till morning. Honestly, why did you even stay the night?"
Shock ping-ponged through me. And the reality that he’d spoken so damn highly of dropped down on me like a lead weight, crushing all my hopes with that one question.
“I stayed because I thought we were enjoying each other.”
“I enjoyed fucking you. I think it’s safe to say you enjoyed that part too.”
I wanted to throw my dress at him, but I didn’t want to retrieve it completely nude. So, I took my time stretching out the wrinkles all while I looked at him.
He didn’t shrink away from my glare. He met it head-on by crossing his arms and pointedly looking at my deliberately slow movements. “I don’t have all day, Vick.”
“Wow, you know my name now. Not your little pixie anymore, huh?” I fumed. “And you had all night. You can spare me a precious few minutes of your day so I can at least look presentable when I do the walk of shame.”
“Oh, please,”—he turned toward the living area—“half of the island is probably doing the walk of shame. You could call it a normal stroll at this point.”
“Where are you going?” I quit trying to smooth creases from my dress and threw it on as I stomped after him. “You don’t get to whisper sweet everythings in my ear all night and then act like a complete jerk the morning after.”
His face held a question. “‘Sweet everythings'?” He burst out laughing, like the answer he found was the most comical thing ever. He laughed so hard he bent at the waist and held himself up on the island counter near the living area. The towel barely clung to him as his whole body shook.
Maybe he’s joking with me. Maybe he’s laughing because he’s about to tell me he really does see us going somewhere.
“You.” He wiped his eyes quickly and then shook his head as he righted himself. “‘Sweet everythings.’ That’s ridiculous. You know what a one-night stand is. I know you do.”
My laugh died as my jaw dropped.
“Come on.” He rolled a finger in front of him, motioning for me to start moving. “Let’s get moving. I need to get dressed.”
I snapped my mouth shut. I straightened up. And I stepped up to face the terrible morning this was turning out to be.
“You know what?” I stalked toward him, not waiting for him to respond. “You’re exactly what is wrong with this world. Don’t tear me down because I had a fucking hope that this was more, you dick.”
His eyebrows slammed down. Good, I wanted a reaction.