I woke up Saturday morning with a pounding headache. In the fuzzy parts of my brain, I could hear something jingling. I blinked a few times, trying to adjust my sore eyes to the dimly lit hotel room.

As I sat up, I gasped in horror when I saw a woman in my bed. Her silky red hair splayed out on the pillow like something from a seductive photograph. Then it hit me. Like a herd of stampeding bulls, all my jumbled memories fell through my mind, fragmenting their own picture show of last night's events.

The bathroom door opened, revealing a stark-naked Paul looking mighty fine in all his glory.

He grinned at me. "Morning."

I groaned and clasped a hand to my head. I met his amused gaze, squinting as his words from last night filtered through my mind. Right from where we stood of not being in a relationship to him tearing my touch from Tessa and telling me that I'm his.

What did it all mean? Why was he not a relationship guy? Why did he come down here if he wasn't interested in something more committed?

I pushed the thoughts away, not needing to dissect them with a hangover. I pulled the duvet back and stumbled towards the bathroom. "I need a bath."

I turned the bath taps on before realising I had no shower gel to clean myself with. Wrapping a towel around me, I walked back out to see Tessa getting herself dressed. Paul sat in the chair in the corner of the room, looking at something on his phone.

She flashed me a dazzling smile. "Hey. I had a good time, thank you." She zipped her dress back up and then said, "For what it's worth, I think you two should definitely reconsider your 'fun' arrangement."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

She gave me a lazy smile. "Well, let's just say that's the first ménage a trois I've had where the guy makes his singular interest rather clear."

Heat flushed through me as I realised that, really, the poor woman had ended up enjoying herself more than either of us. But what exactly did that mean?

I glanced at Paul who didn't react at all. Faking a smile, I nodded at Tessa, not quite clear-headed enough to make sense of her words just yet. She ran for the door, making her excuses for having work in less than an hour.

As the door slammed shut behind her, an uncomfortable silence fell in the room. Paul didn't even look up at me, so I said nothing and walked back in the bathroom. I shut the door behind me before slipping under the bliss of the bubbles. My peace lasted for barely two minutes.

"Kyra..."

I groaned hearing Ash banging on the room door.

Several seconds later, I heard him say, "Hey, Hot Stuff."

"She's in the bath," Paul replied.

Ash's voice boomed through the bathroom door. "Ky, get out here."

"No, I'm having a relaxing bath."

"Ky," he said, his voice deep and commanding. "Get out here, now."

I sighed and muttered swear words under my breath as I got up and wrapped a towel around me. Poking my head around the door, I said, "What do you want?"

Ash smirked back at me, his eyes lighting up at impending gossip. "Did I just see Tessa leaving your room?"

"Is that all you got me out of the bath for?" I rolled my eyes. "Go away, Ash. I'll speak to you later."

"Holy shit. You did, didn't you?"

I didn't dignify him with a response except for shutting the door in his face.

"Time to go," Paul said. "She'll talk to you later."

"All right, gorgeous, chill out," Ash replied. "Tessa is quite a fun girl, isn't she?"

"I wouldn't know."

"Oh, come on, man, we're all grown-ups."

"And some things still remain private."

"Fine." Ash's voice changed slightly, his tone lowering as he turned serious. "Let me put it another way. Did you stick your dick in another woman in front of my sister?"

"Ashley!" I yanked the bathroom door open, absolutely fuming at my brother. I glanced at Paul, who stared at Ash with nothing but a blank look on his face. "That's enough," I said, "Out. Now."

"What?" His dark eyes told me he was more than serious at this moment in time and I had no idea why. "I'm just trying to have a normal conversation about sex and Mr. Uptight here is refusing to."

"Ash, I'm your sister. This is weird enough. Get out."

Ash ignored me, turning his attention back to Paul. "Alright, let's cut to the chase. What are you doing with my sister exactly?"

I interrupted before Paul could even open his mouth. "We're having sex. That's it. End of."

"Yeah, you've told me your side already, but from what I've heard from Tess, it's not quite that simple."

Paul shrugged his shoulders. "We're having fun. It's nothing serious. I'm not a relationship kind of guy."

I glared at Ash, hating him for making me hear those words again. I fought back the tears that threatened to cover my eyes and swallowed the lump in my throat. "Satisfied?"

"Not completely, no, but it'll do for now." Ash raised his eyebrows and chuckled. "How awkward is this going to be on Monday morning?" He turned and left, the door closing shut behind him.

The tension left between me and Paul became so intense I felt as if I could reach out and snap it.

"Kyra..."

He said my name in such a soft tone it coated me in shivers. I ignored him and started closing the door. I couldn't do this now. Not again.

"Kyra, we need to talk."

I sighed and said, "About what?"

"You know what."

I smirked. "If I knew what, then I wouldn't be asking, would I?"

He folded his arms over his muscled chest. "What was that? Last night? I mean, I'm not complaining, but it's like someone flipped a switch and boom, off you went and jumped into bed with a woman. Where did that come from?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I told you I'd always been curious."

He narrowed his eyes and took a few steps towards the bathroom.

"Fine," I said. "You said we're just having fun because you don't do relationships, so I figured I had nothing to lose. Why not?"

"I see." He rubbed his chin between his thumb and forefinger, his face harbouring a thoughtful look. "So, despite the fact I may change my mind at some point, you decided to put the final nail in the coffin by involving another person in our sexual relations?"

My heart raced to new heights as dread and regret tumbled through my body. Had he just said I'd stopped any chance of us getting together? I looked down at the floor, wishing I could curl up into a ball and rewind time.

My stubborn side chose its moment to show itself and I met his eye contact with a defiant tilt to my chin. "Yes. I'm not waiting for anyone." I closed the door to finalise the conversation before reopening it again. "Besides, most guys would love what happened in here last night, and you're complaining? Pffft."

He raised his eyebrows and twitched his lips into something of a smile. "I understand you don't want to wait but expecting me to declare my commitment to you after a week is a little high expectation, don't you think?"

"I have high expectations and patience isn't my strong point."

"Clearly."

I scowled at him. "Why the hell did you come down here anyway?"

He ran a hand through his hair and looked away. "I wanted to see you."

"And you couldn't have waited until Monday?"

He sat back on the bed, his elbows on his knees as he cradled his head in his hands. "I thought it would be a nice surprise."

"Surprises are usually a relationship type of thing, Paul. You can't take me out for dinner, ask to see me in the evenings, follow me three hours down the road, and then act shocked when I think this is going somewhere."

He remained silent for a few seconds before his eyes met mine, somewhat empty. "When you put it like that, I'm sorry. I guess I have given you false hope. I shouldn't have come here."

My heart sank and my urge to cry became too overwhelming. "Wow. You really are a piece of work. Just go, please."

I slammed the door in his face before he could respond. I clicked the lock as loudly as I could to make a point. Sliding back inside my now lukewarm bath, I switched the hot tap on, cursing under my breath at all the interruptions I had at just wanting a damn soak in some hot water.

A gentle knock tapped at the door. "Kyra..."

"I'm not listening."

"I'm not going home until you talk to me."

I snorted. "Enjoy your stay, then."

"Stop being awkward, Kyra."

"I will. When you stop being a confusing asshole."

"I like you, you know this. I've told you plenty of times."

"Yep," I said. "I know. I get it. It's the whole 'it's not you, it's me' thing."

A loud sigh came from the other side. "Friends with benefits, Kyra. That's the best I can offer you."

I smirked as I sank under the bubbles. "Fine. Whatever."