Chapter 60

Chapter 60


Sable 

I woke just after midnight, my throat dry and craving water. With Joss sleeping peacefully beside me, I decided not to wake him. I slipped out of bed, dragging my feet quietly as I made my way toward the stairs.

As I passed Brant’s bedroom, I froze.

Moans. The muffled sound of a woman’s moan slipped past the door, hitting me like a punch to the chest. My heart thundered so hard I thought it would burst out of my ribs.

Against every instinct, I edged closer. And then I heard her. Melissa.

“Ohh, Brant… how much I’ve missed your cum dripping down my pussy,” she purred, her tone filthy, needy.

My mind betrayed me. I pictured her fingers between her thighs, her face twisted in ecstasy, writhing beneath him—images that clawed at me, burned me from the inside.

I ran straight back to Joss’s room, slowly closed the door so I wouldn’t wake him, though he was a heavy sleeper, and locked it. My back pressed against the wood as I slid down, gasping. My body trembled, heart racing, chest heaving, my pulse wild, refusing to calm.

But no tears this time. I refused to cry.

Still, every nerve was on edge, every inch of me too aware, too alive. Even my pussy throbbed with a cruel ache I didn’t want, craving what it should hate.

I want Brant’s…

It should be… me.

“No. No, stop it, Sable,” I muttered fiercely to myself, clutching my head. “He’s the enemy. You keep forgetting. He’s the enemy. A fucking liar. Don’t you dare.”

But the thoughts wouldn’t leave me. That night, I didn’t sleep until the first light of dawn.

When I finally woke again, morning light streamed through the open curtains. The bed beside me was empty. Joss was already gone.

I showered, dressed, and forced myself downstairs. Laughter and the clinking of plates drifted from the backyard where everyone was gathered for breakfast.

I stepped outside. Melissa was seated right beside Brant, practically glued to his side. Kit and Rhett sat at the head of the table, and the empty seat next to Joss was clearly waiting for me.

I slid into it. “Good morning,” I said, keeping my voice light.

“Good morning,” they all replied.

“Honey,” I said sweetly, turning to Joss. Before he could answer, I pressed my lips against his. He stiffened in surprise at first, then kissed me back.

When I pulled away, my eyes darted across the table.

Melissa’s eyes were wide with shock. But Brant… Brant’s expression burned like fire. His jaw clenched so tightly the muscle ticked, his lips pressed in a grim line, hazel eyes dark and stormy. His hand gripped his coffee mug until his knuckles whitened, like he might crush it in his palm—the only sign of the storm he refused to unleash at the table, his gaze flicking to where Joss’s hand still rested over mine.

“You two are… dating?” Melissa blurted.

Joss lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it. “Mel, this is my beautiful girlfriend, Sable. I must’ve forgotten to properly introduce you yesterday.”

Melissa’s fake-sweet smile spread across her lips. “Sable… What a nice name.”

“Thanks,” I said simply before turning to Joss again. I curled my lips into a sly smile, my voice soft but loud enough for the one person I wanted to hear. “I had an idea this morning… I thought maybe we could go skinny-dipping in the lake later. Just the two of us. We can tell everyone, so no one comes snooping. Just us.”

My smile widened, meant for one pair of eyes only.

“That sounds like a great idea,” Joss said with a grin.

Melissa let out a nostalgic sigh. “I remember when we used to do that, Brant. It was fun.” She giggled suddenly.

Brant bent to her ear, his voice deliberately raised so it carried. Each word cut straight into me.

“When I drove my cock into your tight pussy out there, your legs wrapped around me,” he said darkly, “and you screamed for more… I can’t wait to do that again.”

Melissa laughed softly, pleased, leaning into him.

And I sat there, my smile still plastered on my lips, while my heart clenched like it was being torn in two—even as my insides burned alive.

After breakfast, Joss and I went down to the lake. It was just as beautiful and magical as I remembered: sparkling water framed by high rocky mountains, the trees casting their reflections across the surface. The air smelled of pine and earth, cool and crisp, wrapping around us.

But the problem was me.

The moment I dipped my foot into the water, I yanked it back out. Cold panic crawled up my skin. My chest tightened. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t get into the water, much less swim.

Joss, of course, already knew. He smiled softly and told me it was fine. He’d come prepared with a blanket, spreading it out for us to lie on.

We ended up having sex, slow and heated, but even with Joss’s hands on me, even with his body pressed against mine, even as my body moved with his, all I could think about was Brant. My mind betrayed me. My body craved Brant. Every touch, every kiss—it was his face that flashed through my head. His lips. His hands. Him.

Don’t get me wrong, Joss is a master when it comes to lovemaking, at worshipping every inch of me. But my stupid heart and my stupid body had already chosen someone else.

And then Melissa’s voice echoed in my head. That smug, filthy laugh. Those words. Ugh. She’d just appeared yesterday, but somehow she was already domineering, like she’d always belonged.

When we got back to the cabin, the sight that greeted me made my stomach twist.

Melissa lounged on the sofa, legs elegantly crossed, while Brant’s head rested on her lap, his body stretched out. She was stroking his hair like he was hers, like she was claiming him right there in front of me.

Joss and I sat on the sofa opposite them.

“Hello, guys,” Melissa said sweetly.

“Hey,” Joss replied easily.

“Look at you two, smelling all sexy in here,” she teased with a smirk.

The bitch. Can you meet someone and just instantly hate them? Because that’s exactly what I felt for Melissa.

I was about to excuse myself and go shower when Brant’s voice cut in.

“So, how was the skinny-dipping?” he asked, a smug grin tugging at his lips.

He was pulling at me, despite knowing damn well I couldn’t get in the water. He knew. He knew damn well I couldn’t go in. He was mocking me.

“It was awesomely none of your business,” I shot back. “We don’t kiss and tell.”

“You don’t have to,” he murmured, eyes trailing over me, dark and taunting. “It’s written all over your body.”

Heat rushed through me, anger mixed with something I didn’t want to admit.

I stood up abruptly and walked off.

The shower did little to cool me down. No matter how long I stayed under the hot spray, Brant’s words stuck to me, crawling under my skin. I couldn’t wash off the irritation. Couldn’t wash him off me.

When I finally stepped out, drying my skin, a paper slipped under the door.

I should’ve been shocked—but I wasn’t. I walked over, picked it up, and opened it. Joss would never do something like this.

Inside, a single line.

Meet me at the lake.

I stared at it. A laugh escaped me, bitter and disbelieving.

Yeah. Meet me at the lake. Like the title of a damn movie.