It wasn't me. It wasn't my inexperience and inability to relax as Brock said.

Maybe if you stopped overthinking, you'd enjoy it, Lyra.

I tried everything I could. What else do you want me to do?

You should move more; it's not just the guy's job.

Brock said he wanted to help me, but all he did was make me want to fake it so it'd be over fast.

I didn't need to fake with Rys, and I didn't want the night to be over. After cuddling me, Rys disposed of the condom in the en suite and slid back under the covers. I fell asleep in his arms for a few hours, but here I was now, wide awake at barely seven a.m., replaying our night and the events of the festival.

I'd planned to turn on my phone once we were back but changed my mind. If Max told Brock he saw me — and he would — I'd have to hear more reproaches and unsolicited opinions, and I'd rather stay in my happy bubble for a bit longer.

Soft morning light seeped into the room through the balcony door, and the first rays of sun landed on Rys's back. Handsome and serene, he slept on his stomach, hugging his pillow. My fingers itched to brush his hair away from his forehead, but I didn't want to wake him after keeping him up almost all night.

It would hurt like hell. Less than a week passed, and it felt as if I'd known him forever. And now that we'd become physically close and I didn't have to wonder anymore what intimacy with him would be like, my heart ached at the thought of giving him up.

Rys shifted under the white sheet. He opened his eyes slowly and found my knee under the linen with his hand. "Good morning, mi cielo."

I smiled. "Hi."

"Does it hurt?" he asked, rubbing the spot I'd hit.

"No," I said. "I forgot about it already."

Rys yawned into his fist and rolled onto his back. "I need to use the bathroom. Wait for me."

He rose from the bed and ambled to the en-suite, delighting me with the view of his gorgeous naked body.

When he returned, he got in bed and drew me to him. I put my head in the crook of his bent arm, and we lay in silence for a few moments.

Rys traced patterns on my bare back with his fingertips. "You're quiet today."

"Have a lot to process."

"Do you regret last night?"

I tilted my chin up to see his expression. "No. Do you?"

A shadow of a smile touched his lips. "I regret not making you mine sooner. I regret not meeting you sooner. I feel like I've wasted lots of time while you were somewhere out there."

I giggled despite myself. "How much sooner, Mr. Delano? Because you were five when I was born, and you'd already graduated when I started college."

Rys pushed me onto my back and trapped me under him. A smirk curved his mouth. "I told you not to call me that. Unless you really want me to show you who's the boss."

"So, I can tease you about your age but not call you Mr. Delano?"

"Age is just a number, mi cielo. I'm not sure you would've liked my younger version, anyway."

I grazed the light stubble he'd started sporting on his jaw with the pad of my thumb. "Why?"

"Because I didn't quite like it myself."

"So you regret not meeting me sooner, but at the same time, think I wouldn't have liked you if we'd met?"

Rys huffed out a quiet laugh and bent his head, nuzzling into my neck. "You know what? You'd triumph in the corporate world."

I snorted. "Right. If the word awkward was in the job description, I'd hardly have competition."

"You're not awkward." Rys placed a lingering kiss on my collarbone. "You're smart and sometimes quiet with those you don't know well. But once there's trust, you're fun." He bit me softly. "Witty. A bit sarcastic, and I love that."

My chest swelled from his words even though I didn't see myself that way.

"Your age must've affected your memory, Mr. Delano," I said, scratching Rys's scalp. "Remember our first meeting? That was in the top five most awkward moments of Lyra's life."

A gentle puff of laughter escaped Rys's mouth. "Do you know what I remember?"

"Mind-reading isn't listed in the skills section of my resume."

Rys pinched my butt, and I squirmed in his hold, which only made him hug me tighter. "So. It was a balmy, sunny morning. Early, might I add. Mr. Delano needed to review a few contracts and answer a few hundred emails, the usual. So, he made himself a cup of strong coffee and headed to the table in the backyard. You asleep yet?"

I tugged at his hair lightly. "No, Mr. Delano. Please proceed."

"Thank you, Miss Walton. So, I believe Mr. Delano turned on his laptop, took a few sips of his drink, and frowned at some bullshit he read because people could just do their damn job instead of wasting time on half-assed excuses."

"Don't stray from the topic."

"Sorry, my bad. Anyway. He was fuming when something pink landed on his laptop keyboard."

I leaned my forehead against Rys's shoulder. "It did not."

"It sure did. Don't get me wrong; it was a welcome, albeit unexpected, distraction. He examined the thing. It said, 'Piss on the patriarchy,' and man, did he agree. Honestly, he would've kept the underwear, but he thought someone must've been looking for them. So he grabbed his coffee, got up from the chair, walked up to the fence, and..."

Rys went quiet. I poked his chest with my finger. "And?"

He swallowed. "And there she was. Long legs in the tiniest shorts. Long, wavy hair. Eyes the color of the stormy summer sky. And the most beautiful breasts straining against the thin cotton of her top."

Lucky for me, our position made it easy to hide my mortification from Rys, but he knew me well already because he lightly touched my hot cheek. "And Mr. Delano stared. But then he remembered he was a selectively polite person and introduced himself. He asked the beautiful stranger to call him Rys, a request she keeps ignoring days later. And just when he started to think of a strategy — lunch, dinner, flowers, a walk on the beach under the shimmering stars, and a heated discussion about the devastating consequences of letting the patriarchy rule society..."

I tried to contain the laughter within my chest, but it escaped, ringing in the hotel room.

"Hey." Rys kissed my forehead. "I wasn't done."

"That's what she said, Mr. Delano."

I craned my neck to look at Rys in time to register the amused rise of his brows. "She said no such thing, Miss Walton. She said it felt good to have me inside her and then fell asleep in my arms. But let me finish the story."

I slid lower and rested my chin on my folded hands. "Finish."

Rys pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. "Right. So, Mr. Delano was planning his move, but she ran away from him and hid in the house almost all day. It took him a while to gather the courage to approach her again."

"Liar."

He poked my nose. "Just a little. I always go after what I want, mi cielo. But you looked terrified, and I wasn't too proud of myself."

"Again, liar. You absolutely enjoyed making me flustered."

"Last night? Sure as hell did. I'd kill to hear the sounds you made again. But when you ran away, I felt a bit bad."

The sounds I made. I must've been more lost in the moment than I realized not to remember them. But what if...

I lifted myself off Rys and lay beside him, putting my leg between both of his. "Rys..."

"Yeah?"

"What if Ash and Kaia heard us?"

"The rooms are soundproof. They wouldn't."

"They must be up already."

Rys angled his body away from me and grabbed his phone from the nightstand. "Let's find out."

He unlocked it and pulled up the messaging app. A few seconds later, his cell vibrated. Rys read the text and put the gadget aside. "Ash says they're ready to have breakfast whenever we are."

***

I wore the long white dress I bought when Kaia and I went shopping and paired it with a colorful bead necklace and dainty stud earrings. Rys patiently waited while I applied light makeup, and once I was ready, we went downstairs.

Rys led me to the garden, where a few tables stood in the shade of the palm trees. Ash and Kaia sat at one of them. She was perched on his lap, gesturing while telling him something.

"Buenos días," Rys called as we headed toward them, holding hands.

A smile splayed across Kaia's lips. "Good morning, guys. I was telling Ash I wish we could stay here longer. This place is amazing."

Rys pulled a chair out and waited for me to sit before taking a seat by my side. "I'm happy you like it. And, of course, we could spend a couple more days at the hotel."

Asher sighed. "Wish I could. Training starts in a few days, and I have some meetings before then."

"If you tell me with enough time in advance, I could arrange a stay here or somewhere similar for the four of us next time you're in the area."

For the four of us. I didn't think Rys realized what he said. Ash and Kaia didn't seem to, either. I wasn't sure Rys explained our arrangement to his friend, anyway, but it was enough that I knew I wouldn't be with him the next time he met his friends.

"That'd be great," Ash said. "And before you ask about the festival, you didn't miss much. We stayed for a bit longer and went for a stroll on the beach."

A server in a white shirt and black dress pants approached our table. Rys ordered every breakfast dish they had for us to share and slung an arm around my shoulders, bringing me closer.

I toyed with my necklace, trying to distract myself from thoughts of him and the comment he made.

"Your necklace is beautiful."

My gaze swung Kaia's way. "Thank you."

"Where did you buy it? It was in Marfolk, wasn't it? I'll make sure to visit the store before we leave."

Rys kissed my temple. "Lyra made it. And it's a shame you guys are leaving soon because she's going to take part in Marfolk's craft fair next week."

Kaia's eyes got huge. "What? Wait a minute. So, we hang out, talk about life, dodge Brock's friends at the festival, and you forget to tell me you make the best necklaces I've ever seen?"

Two servers brought trays with our breakfast. While they were busy arranging coffee cups and plates on the table, I gave Kaia a look, and she bit her plump bottom lip, surely realizing what she did.

It was no big deal — Rys would hardly care about me running into my boyfriend's friends — but I didn't want him to know, regardless.

"She's very talented," Rys said. "I'm sure she'll run out of things to sell fast."

Kaia accepted the plate with scrambled eggs Ash gave her and pouted. "Damn, if only I could be there."

I shrugged, smiling. "It's okay. I just make stuff for fun."

"You make really pretty stuff. Do you have an Instagram page or something?"

"No."

Why would I bother with that if I never believed I made something worthy? I pushed my eggs around the plate, and my breath harried in my throat when Rys brushed his lips across my cheek. "She doesn't have one yet, but we're working on it. It should be up in time for the fair."

We weren't working on anything. Calling the fair organizers was the only thing I did after doubting for an eternity.

"That's awesome." Kaia rubbed her palms together. "Tell me when it's ready so we can follow you, although I already sent a request to your personal profile if you want to be my friend."

"Of course I do," I said.

We chatted about trivial things like the weather and tourist attractions in the area while eating. When Rys went to show Ash something after breakfast and Kaia and I stayed at the table, having more coffee with chocolate sweets, my new friend groaned, resting her cup on the table.

"I'm such a fool."

"Stop it. You did nothing."

"You sure about that? Rys looked murderous when I mentioned Brock's friends."

I wouldn't know because I wasn't looking at Rys's face, but it made little sense.

"I don't think Rys cares about them or Brock. We're only together for a month, although he accidentally said the four of us could meet in the future."

Kaia's shoulders slumped. "Well, damn."

"It's okay. We both know it'll end. I just..."

She gave me a sympathetic look. "Vent. The guys won't hear us."

Tears clogged my throat. I swallowed them, twirling my half-empty cup on the white saucer. "I slept with him, and it was the best night of my life. He's...he makes me feel like I matter, but he's just trying to give me what he thinks I deserve, and then it'll be over, and someone else will be with him. Why does it make me so miserable?"

Kaia smoothed her thumb over a small tattoo on her wrist I'd only noticed now. "Why can't we just choose something easy, right? Maybe he's what you need now, Lyra. If he makes you feel good, take advantage of every day together. Let him treat you how you deserve to be treated so you know how it should be. And then..."

"Then?"

A dreamy smile overtook her lips. "Then you'll work on your jewelry business. It's so exciting. You could have a store. Or stores, plural."

I laughed through the moisture fogging my vision and reached behind my neck to unclasp my necklace. When I extended it to Kaia, she frantically shook her head.

"No, no. I can't."

"Take it. I'll make more. It's my stress reliever, and I'll need it once I'm back at my parents'."

I would need to go home, but a part of my heart would stay in Marfolk with Rys.

A lot to unpack for poor Lyra. Is she catching feelings? Is Rys catching them or not?
I love the angst. Hope it shows. Tell me your thoughts, guys, and don't forget about the star❤️