“Poppy, that’s not how it would have been.” Jace’s voice was still barely a whisper. “I would have done anything to keep you. I let you go because I figured you needed time to catch up to me.”
“What does that even mean?”
“You’re so much younger.” Jace mansplained. “You just weren’t ready to be with me. After what happened I knew that I had to let you go and have your own experiences to—”
“Wow. That’s some bullshit.” I spat.
“It’s true.”
“Stop, Jace.” I gave him the hand and reached for my cover-up. “I can’t even.”
“What? I don’t understand.” He sat up and faced me. “I thought I was doing what you wanted.”
“God, you guys are all so dense.” I was so fucking perturbed. “You know, between you, Carter, and the guys, you kind of made that decision for Zoey too. How did that turn out?”
“That wasn’t me.” Jace protested.
“Right. Back when you still called me ‘Beanie,’ you told me you thought Zoey was too young for Ty.” I muttered.
“Alex—” Jace pleaded.
“Jay-son. You’re not that much older, dude.” I wagged my finger at him and, after realizing I looked like my mom, I put it away. “God, the mansplaining is infuriating. Have I ever been someone that doesn’t know my own mind?”
“No.” Jace looked down, flustered. “Never.”
“So, please just shut up then.” I was so pissed; I’d never spoken out like this to him. I wasn’t going to hide who I was anymore.
“How was I supposed to know, Alex?” Jace leaned his elbows on his knees, speaking in a hushed tone. “Sure, you’d show up to see me. But you also always were the one who had plans to bail.”
I stared at him.
“Even your first time, you wanted me to—” Jace cut himself off. “And then, after Barcelona, do you know how much it sucked when you got engaged to that Australian guy?”
“This is so stupid. We can’t keep doing this, and we really can’t do this here.” I managed to keep my voice quiet to avoid any more attention. I was desperate to get away from having this conversation.
“Poppy, just tell it to me straight. Have you moved on?” Jace took both my hands in his and rubbed the tops with his thumbs. And dammit, watching him caress me with his strong fingers provided a sense of comfort I’d been missing since I last saw him.
I didn’t answer, I just intertwined my fingers with his. We sat there silently for what seemed like hours, but it was probably no longer than a few seconds. Zaps of energy buzzed between our fingers. Without thinking, my head tilted up and my lips gravitated toward his, and he met me halfway. Our mouths parted to taste each other for the first time in so many months. Jace’s grip on my hands tightened and he used the leverage to drag me toward him to deepen our kiss.
Conscientious that we were in full public view of hundreds of rooms, I broke our connection completely and grabbed my cover-up in one motion. I pulled it over my bikini, toed on my flip-flops, and picked up my bag. Without saying a word, I strode purposefully away from him, winding through the lawn chairs and around the kiosk where the towels were handed out. Jace followed close behind all the way through the big glass doors and into the corridor leading to the guest elevators. I didn’t stop until I pressed the “up” button.
“Alex, wait.” Jace gently caressed my elbow.
“I really can’t deal with this weird thing we have going anymore.” I steeled my emotions. “It’s too difficult.”
“Do you know what isn’t difficult? I still want to be with you.” Jace’s voice broke. “Now more than ever.”
“Your words and actions are different.” I gulped down the lump lodged in the back of my throat that formed when I realized it was him sitting next to me.
“Let’s go to your room and talk.” Jace regained his composure. “Or, you can come to mine.”
“All we’ll do is end up naked, Jace.” I shook my elbow loose from his caresses. “And once we’re naked, well? We’ll start up again.”
“What’s wrong with starting up again? “Jace was so goddamn gorgeous. And earnest. I knew my resistance would be non-existent if I didn’t get away soon.
“Because, I couldn’t even tell you what we’d start up again.” I practically flung myself into the elevator once it opened.
“We’d start seeing each other again.” Jace sauntered in after me. “It doesn’t have to be complicated.”
“So, being separated by continents for months at a time isn’t complicated?”
“Unlike most people, we don’t have to be separated.” Jace pulled his sunglasses off and leveled his green eyes at me.
“Right, as long as I get a copy of your schedule and you let me know which dates work for you?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“It doesn’t have to be that way.”
“Why didn’t you ever reach out if I meant so much to you? You just let me go.” I slumped against the wall. “You never even texted me.”
Jace shrugged his shoulders. “I thought you must have needed a break from me pressuring you.”
“Two years.” I stared at him. “That’s a long fucking break. Especially—”
“You didn’t make any effort either, Poppy.” Jace raised a dark-blond eyebrow, the dimples in his cheeks popped when he smirked.
“This isn’t funny, Jace. I’ve made all of the effort with you. First, I basically begged you to take my virginity. Then I chased you across the world. Our relationship consisted of six months of flying into cities so I could fuck you in a hotel room.” I seethed. “It began to get humiliating.”
“I never knew you felt that way. It wasn’t until Italy that I realized you had serious doubts. I thought we were having the best time together.” Jace furrowed his brow and slumped against the side of the elevator too. “Then when we got home, you—”
“Ran away back to Europe.” I finished. “Which was what you wanted me to do.”
“That’s not fucking
