I quickly went over the rules of beach volleyball with her, but she still didn’t look very enthusiastic about playing.

Hopefully Emma and I would be able to pull off a win just the two of us.

We lined up with me on the front left, Arden to the right, and Emma behind in the middle.

Ezra tossed me the ball. “Y’all can serve first.”

“Aw, look at you guys trying to be all gentlemanly.” I laughed and threw the ball to Emma. “You’re still gonna lose,” I warned.

“We’ll see.” He grinned.

Emma served and the ball went over the net. Maddox hit it back over in Arden’s direction. She screamed and started to run away, but I managed to bump it back over the net.

“Get your head in the game!” I yelled at her. Yeah, I was competitive. So what?

“Did you just quote High School Musical to me?” She laughed.

The ball came sailing back over the net and Emma ran forward to hit it back over.

“Oh my God,” I groaned, “just play.”

Arden joined in after that, but it was up to Emma and me to make sure we didn’t lose. Poor Arden would never make it in sports. It was a good thing she worked in retail.

We ended up tied and my body pulsed with adrenaline. We were so close. We had this. I knew we did.

Hayes served it and it headed in Emma’s direction, but was low to the ground. She dove into the sand and bumped it up. Arden hit it and it went a little higher, but not enough to go over the net. I ran over and spiked it over the net.

It landed in the sand before Maddox could get to it.

“Did we win?” Arden screamed in excitement. “We won, right?”

“Yeah, we won,” I grinned, sticking my tongue out at the guys. Childish? Yes, but when you were friends you were allowed to do those silly things without it seeming rude.

Emma dusted sand off her body and I did the same.

“I think I have sand between my boobs,” she groaned.

Maddox strolled over and kissed her cheek. “I’d be happy to help you clean them.”

“Of course you would.” She snorted. “I really do need a shower, though.”

“Good, me too. We can shower together. You know, save the planet and conserve water. I’m very environmentally conscience like that.”

“Mhmm,” she hummed in agreement, “and it has nothing at all to do with getting me naked.”

“None at all.”

She shook her head, fighting a smile.

We all headed inside to shower and relax for a while. We were all tired from being outside all day.

I grabbed a quick snack before heading upstairs to my room to shower.

The bathroom attached to my room was just as dazzling as the rest of the house. Metallic glass tiles covered the walls and the floor was some kind of white tile that resembled wood. The shower was glass and there was a large Jacuzzi tub. I’d have to put that to use at least once before we left.

I turned the water on and let it get nice and warm before peeling off my bikini and stepping inside.

I felt my stiff muscles instantly uncoil and relax at the feel of the warm water.

I began to sing—don’t judge me, everybody did it—and didn’t notice when the door to the bathroom opened.

When the shower door jerked open I let out a scream. Ezra stepped inside, his hand falling on my mouth to stifle the sound. “Shh,” he warned, his dark brows drawn together, “you don’t want anyone to hear you.”

The noise coming out of my throat cut off and he dropped his hand.

“What are you doing in here?” I hissed, glaring at him. I refused to let my eyes stray over his body and his hard cock jutting proudly from his body. Nope, I wasn’t looking. Not. At. All.

He grinned. “You’ve been prancing around in that tiny excuse for a bikini teasing me all fucking day. Do you have any idea how difficult this has been to hide?” He pointed to his cock.

I swallowed thickly, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth.

“It’s been the best and worst kind of torture imaginable.” His voice dropped to a husky whisper. He stalked forward, like a panther cornering its prey. My back hit the tiled shower wall and water poured down around me. He placed his hands on either side of my head and leaned in close. “And now,” he continued, “if I don’t get to touch you, I think I might die.”

“Dramatic much?” I quipped, trying to hide how much my body was reacting to him.

“Just the truth, baby.”

Baby. I’d never liked pet names. I found them degrading and annoying, but hearing that word roll of Ezra’s tongue gave it a whole new meaning.

He continued to hover there, the water pouring down around us, like he was waiting for something.

Finally, he spoke again. “I won’t touch you until you give me permission.”

I stood on my tiptoes, holding onto the wall for added support. My lips grazed his ear and I whispered, “Touch me. All of me.”

Those words seemed to spark a fire inside him, one that burned for me and me alone.

He grasped my hips and lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he pressed me into the wall.

He kissed me deeply, like he was trying to memorize the contours of my lips with his.

My fingers delved into his wet hair, tugging him impossibly closer. Our chests were pressed together fully and all he had to do was pull back and move his hips slightly and he’d be inside me.

Our pants filled the steaming air and I moaned into his mouth.

His hands palmed my ass and he lifted me up slightly, breaking our endless kiss.

“Hold onto my shoulders,” he commanded.

I did as he asked and the moment I did he thrust inside me. We both let out embarrassingly loud moans. He’d fucked me senseless the night before, and yet somehow it felt like it’d been forever since we were joined like this.

He rested his forehead against mine, not moving his hips as we both struggled to compose ourselves.

When he looked into my eyes I hoped he couldn’t see the fear there—the fear that I would never find this with anyone else.

His head moved from my forehead to the crook of my neck and his lips pressed gently against the spot where my pulse raced. Ever so slowly he pulled back slightly and then pushed inside me. He did it again and I thought I might cry. I wanted hard and fast, I didn’t want this. This was too much like making love and things like this weren’t allowed in our arrangement. Okay, so maybe it hadn’t been defined that way, but in my mind it wasn’t allowed. This felt too real.

“Harder,” I begged, clinging to his wet shoulders.

“No,” he growled lowly. He nipped my chin and then took my bottom lip between his teeth before letting it go.

“Please,” I panted, trying a different tactic.

“No.”

I really hated that word.

I tried to take matters into my own hands and began to circle my hips faster.

He grabbed my hips and held hard enough that I couldn’t move them. “I said no.”

“Ezra,” I begged.

“Stop thinking,” he whispered, his lips a breath away from mine, “just feel.”

God, I wanted to. I wanted to let myself go and revel in the way it felt to be held and loved so gently by him, but I was scared. So, undeniably, terrified that I’d end up ripping my heart out of my chest and handing it to him in the process.

“Feel, Sadie,” he said again, kissing me sweetly. “Feel how good we are together.”

Didn’t he know that was the problem? We felt too good together. Not just when we had sex, but at all times. He was my perfect other half.

A tear fell down my cheek, getting lost in the shower water.

I didn’t know how I would ever find the strength to let this go.

I didn’t want to.

But I had to.

I closed my eyes as his lips ghosted down my neck.

He clasped my hands in his and held them above my head. I gasped when he hit something deeper inside of me. “Ezra.” I panted his name over an over again. “Ezra. Ezra. Ezra.”

I was desperate to touch him, but he held my hands prisoner.