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Chapter 24
Skye
I shivered as the wind grew cold and blustery, checking my phone only to realise so much time had passed since Cole, Jasper and I had arrived at the beach in Finale Ligure that Saturday afternoon.
It had been two weeks since the incident where an intruder had invaded our apartment, molested me and assaulted Jasper. Three days after that, the police had arrested a suspect and I picked him out of a line-up. It was a relief to know he was finally caught although Cole still watched me like a hawk in order to make sure something like that never happened again.
I made sure I was always on high alert whenever I was entering or leaving the apartment and had even enrolled in a self-defense class upon my boyfriend's insistence. It was all good.
Olivia, my friend who owned the villa had invited me over for the weekend that morning. She already knew I was seeing somebody so had asked me to bring him along. I had tentatively asked her if his best friend could accompany us since we had made plans to hang out during the weekend, anyway and she was all for it, asking me if the friend was hot and stuff.
"Er...you're married, Olivia," I had pointed out over the phone, casting a surreptitious glance at Jasper, the 'best friend'. I was not ready to tell her the truth about my relationship; that Cole was also with another guy. Her curiosity and questions would have killed me, leading me to venture into topics I tried very hard to avoid.
"So? I can look, right?" Olivia had giggled into the phone and added, "Well, it'll be fun, I'm sure. I'll get to meet Cole and we'll catch up as well. See you soon."
She had definitely drooled over Jasper when we showed up at her place even though her husband, Richard, was standing right next to her. She would have drooled over Cole too had she not known he was taken.
'Lucky bitch,' Olivia had mouthed at me when the men started talking and I grinned. She showed us to our rooms and strangely, Jasper said nothing when he was given a separate one from mine and Cole's. Of course. He had heard me talking to Olivia over the phone and probably knew about the lie I had told her but it wasn't like him to simply cooperate.
He had been distant lately. He did not treat me badly or anything but I had started to like the fact that we had become friends. Sort of. Then the day after the attack at home, he just shut me out. Avoided me most of the time and left the house whenever Cole and I started getting too physical.
I didn't bring it up though. It was better this way. Less confusing. But...I missed him. It was the only way to describe it. I wanted him close. So much that I almost asked him to share the room with us but bit my tongue at the last minute.
Now we were at the beach, having come here after lunch at Olivia's and dusk had fallen during our swimming session. I was sitting on the sand, waiting for Cole to get out of the water so we could go back. Clouds were gathering in the sky and it looked as though it would rain heavily.
It was great to see Cole enjoying himself in the water though. He worked hard but when he took a break, the guy really knew how to have fun. His enthusiasm and joy was contagious.
I felt that familiar sensation of being watched and turned to see Jasper standing a few feet away from me, looking at me the way I had missed being looked at for two weeks now. He was drinking from a water bottle, dressed only in red swim trunks plastered to his body and revealing the shape of his junk. And his eyes were on me.
I said nothing as he slowly lowered the bottle and wiped his mouth.
"That...," he pointed to me, giving me a once-over, "brings back memories."
Looking down, I realised he was talking about my black bikini. The one I had been wearing the first time we had seen each other.
I cleared my throat. "Oh. Right. I wasn't thinking about that when I put it on," I told him, wondering why he was bothering to talk to me now when he had effectively ignored me for so long. I huddled into my towel as the wind picked up again.
A shrill whistle sounded through the air and I winced. It was Jasper's way of getting Cole's attention who paused in his swimming and turned his head towards us. Jasper gestured to him to get out of the water and I rolled my eyes.
"He's not a dog, you know," I said airily. "Try asking him if he wants to leave instead of expecting him to do it just because you want him to."
"Shut up, Madison."
Feeling irritated, I got up and walked over to Jasper to poke my finger in his chest.
"Don't talk to me like that," I snapped at him.
He growled and looked at me angrily. "There's no need to get all angsty. You want to go home too. You're shivering."
I backed up, looking at him uncertainly. Was that why he had signalled Cole? Because he noticed I was
