30. East

THIRTY

east

I CAN'T STAND the rain.

It's so inconvenient.

It messes with my clothes, my hair, and most importantly, my good time.

Here I was on a private island with two of the most gorgeous men alive with only a handful of days left to enjoy it, and what had it done for the last however many hours? Rained . And not a little sprinkle here and there, but the loud, thunder-clapping, wake-you-up, pouring-down kind of rain.

I stretched my arms above my head, narrowing my eyes as they followed the fat droplets of rain sliding down the glass pane.

Jesus, was it ever going to stop? It had started sometime early this morning and hadn't let up.

With a sigh, I grabbed the plush robe from my en suite and slipped it on. The soft material felt good on my naked skin, and I figured there was no point in actually putting anything else on right now. It wasn't like we were going anywhere.

I splashed some water over my face and stared at my reflection, noticing the way my skin had turned a warm olive under the island sun. I looked good . Real good. Relaxed, satisfied, and sun-kissed. I still had a few faint tan lines that I was hoping to be rid of by the end of this trip, but that would be dependent on whether or not this monsoon decided to let up anytime soon.

My stomach growled as I ran a hand through my hair, and I decided it might be important to eat if I wanted to pass the next however many rain-filled hours doing something—or someone. Had to refuel the body.

I walked out of my room, not knowing if Zac or King were awake, but as I headed toward the stocked kitchen, I heard someone clear their throat from the corner of the main room.

My feet froze in place, and I turned to see King lounging back in a recliner, dressed in a pair of black silk lounge pants and a robe that hung open, revealing his built chest. He'd opened up the floor-to-ceiling doors that joined the inside and out, and with the balcony protected by a wide awning, all that drifted inside was the cool air and fresh scent of rain.

"Storm rolled in early this morning." King's voice vibrated through the room like the thunder outside. "Did it wake you?"

"Well, it didn't exactly lull me to sleep, that's for sure."

"Huh, I've always found it soothing," he said, watching as the wind picked up and whipped through the greenery outside. "It's one of the reasons I designed the place as I did. So I can open up all the doors and really enjoy it. Become one with the elements."

Was he insane? "And the hurricanes? I suppose you enjoy those too?"

King smirked. "Obviously not. We take precautions for those. But this kind of weather? The wicked, rumbly kind? I love it."

"Maybe for five minutes. When I'm somewhere safe like?—"

"A high-rise building in Manhattan? Hardly the safest place in a storm. Plus, sometimes you don't even know it's raining in one of those when you're up above the clouds."

"Exactly. I'd be oblivious to anything dire happening. But this? I've been sending up prayers all night."

"Funny, I wouldn't have pegged you as the religious type."

"Not religious, per se, but I am business minded. So I made a deal with the big guy upstairs. I'll confess my sins in the final hours of my life, if he can prove he's up there."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then I won't be around to know it, will I?"

"I can't fault your logic there."

A loud crack of thunder ripped through the sky, making me jump, and King chuckled.

"Sure you don't want to start confessing?"

"Just tell me this is going to be over soon."

"Sorry, no can do. Forecast says it won't let up until tomorrow morning sometime."

You have got to be kidding me…

What the hell were we going to do cooped up in here for the next twenty-four hours? There was no cable, no internet—we'd already established that ridiculous fact—and now we were stuck inside with no foreseeable escape?

This was not good. And I was getting hangry.

I marched into the kitchen and yanked open the fridge a little harder than necessary, and when the condiments clattered on the shelf, I cursed.

"You need some help in there?" King called out as I scanned the contents in front of me. What I was looking for was anyone's guess. I didn't know how to cook. I knew how to order room service.

"I need a menu, a phone, and a restaurant to order from. You got any of those on hand?"

"No." King startled me with how quietly he'd moved into the kitchen behind me. He was super stealthy for someone so imposing. "But I have two of these." He held up his hands and took my place in front of the fridge, perusing the contents inside. "What do you feel like? Eggs? Pancakes? Bacon? All of the above?"

Now this was more like it. I took a spot on one of the island stools and went back to doing what I did best—being waited on by a sexy man. "What kind of eggs?"

King looked back at me, a brow arched. "Nothing too fancy."

"Poached?"

"How about scrambled?"

"Anyone can make scrambled."

"Then what are you doing sitting over there?"

"Scrambled is fine, and so is toast. I don't want you spending all day in the kitchen. Not when I can think of better things you could be doing for me."

King snorted and took out a carton of eggs. "Anyone ever tell you you're pretentious as hell?"

"Daily. Sound familiar, Mr. Hardass?"

"Yes. But personality is born out of necessity. Leadership requires a strict hand. Especially with the kind of men I surround myself with."

That sounded as dirty as it did intriguing, and since he clearly wasn't referring to Astor, he must've meant his hooded friends.

Were they part of a sex cult after all?

I was just about to ask when Zac walked into the main room in a pair of shorts and a polo shirt, his hair perfectly styled back from his face. His glasses were perched high on his nose, and under his arm was a stack of… school books.

What the hell?

"In case you missed the memo"—I swiveled on my barstool and leaned back against the island—"it's spring break. No work allowed."

"With the rain, I just figured it'd be a good time to catch up on some things."

"It's the perfect day for that," King said as he put several items on the kitchen island. "As long as you don't need the internet."

"I don't." Zac smiled. "It's just a research paper I'm working on. I thought I'd get a few notes down."

My jaw practically hit the floor. Was he kidding with that shit?"You brought homework on a sex trip with King ?"

Zac shrugged, as I tried to understand how someone as hot as him was so damn nerdy."Well, he is my professor."

King's deep laugh had me turning to him."Oh, you think that's funny? Don't think for a second I'm going to do anything scholastic on this trip."

"You did Zac last night." King winked at me, and my cock jerked under my robe. "That's scholastic enough for me."

It was still one hell of a mind fuck to know that our tough-as-nails professor had such a dirty side. I'd always suspected it. But to have witnessed it? To have made that ironclad control snap? It was the best kind of high I'd ever had—and I'd had many.

"How'd you sleep?" King asked as Zac took the barstool beside me.

"On and off. This storm is insane."

"Annoying is more like it," I grumbled, and eyed the pool that would be off-limits this morning with the lightning.

"Maybe it's a good chance for you to relax a little," Zac said. "You know, sit still for a moment?"

"That'll be no problem when I die from boredom."

"You're so dramatic."

"And you're such a kiss-ass. I still can't believe you brought homework on spring break."

"I brought work too," King said as he poured the eggs into the pan.

"You don't count. You're a teacher."

"Good to know. But in all seriousness, there's a bookshelf in the other room. I'm sure you could find something in there to amuse yourself with while we work."

"You want me to read a book? What part of I'm not going to do anything scholastic did you not hear?"

King grabbed several slices of bread and popped them into the toaster. "Reading can be fun. You just have to find something good."

"Oh God." I rolled my eyes. "The next thing you're going to say is you want to teach me how to cook."

"That's an option too."

"That's a no. But dodging lightning in the pool is sounding really good about now."

Zac snorted. "Moron."

I shrugged and fell silent, once again cursing Mother Nature for ruining my fun as King served up three plates of fluffy scrambled eggs and toast, along with a carafe of chilled OJ that his chef had freshly squeezed the night before.

It wasn't too bad for someone who didn't do "fancy," and once our stomachs were full, we moved back to the comfort of the main room. Or should I say, they got comfortable working. I got busy being bored.

Ten minutes passed.

Then twenty.

When it hit thirty I got up from my spot out on the covered balcony and headed back inside.

It wasn't that I always needed to be entertained but?—

Oh, who am I kidding?

"Sooo, while you two sit in here like the world's most depressing episode of Spring Break Gone Nerdtastic , what am I supposed to do?"

King looked up from his laptop, where he was no doubt working on some kind of final torture test for his students. "Whatever you like. You have free rein of the house. Entertain yourself."

Zac chuckled from the corner of the couch, where he sat with his feet tucked up under him and the books he'd brought splayed out on the cushion beside him. "I'm not sure he knows how to do that."

"Yes I do." I mean, I'd never had to, but I was sure I could—if I wanted to.

"Oh yeah?" Zac pulled the cap off a red pen, and I eyed it with disdain. He'd marked up plenty of my papers with that sucker. "Then what are you going to do?"

Good question. A swim was out. So was a walk. And these two were being all quiet and studious, so that left what? Twiddling my thumbs? Reading a book, like King had suggested? I didn't fucking think so.

"I'm going to talk." I looked down at King. "Isn't that what you always tell me I should do more of?"

Whether it was to humor me, or he was genuinely interested, King closed his laptop and slid it onto the side table by his recliner. "Definitely. Did you have something in mind?"

I did, actually. Zac had said something to me yesterday about King and a significant other, and it had been niggling at the back of my mind ever since. Not because I was jealous, like Zac suggested, but because no matter how much I wanted to deny it, I was curious about King. I was usually the one who knew everything and anything, but it seemed with him, I'd finally met my match.

"Oh, you know, just a little adult conversation."

King's lips curved as he spread his arms wide across his lap and his robe fell open. "Want to come over here and have it?"

Fuck yes I did, but I knew the second I got on his lap all talking would cease, and I really did want to have this conversation.

What the hell was that about?

"I don't think so. I don't cuddle."

"Right." King ran his eyes down over me, and my pulse skipped a couple beats. "That would be too intimate."

"Exactly, that's for couples. People in love." I looked to the empty end of the couch by Zac. "You think you could move your precious books?"

"You have hands."

I sighed and scooped up his textbooks, putting them on the coffee table, then I settled into the opposite corner of the couch and stared at the enigmatic man watching us from across the room.

"So," King said as he crossed one of his silk-clad legs over the other. "What's on your mind, James?"

Up until now, my curiosity had been laser focused on one thing—who was King, and how had he gotten the money to afford all the things he had? But now I found myself wanting to know about this other "someone" that he'd brought here.Another student? An ex-workmate?

"Who'd you used to bring down here before us?"

" East ."

"What?" I glanced at Zac, who looked like he wanted to strangle me. "Were you not supposed to tell me that?"

"I—"

"It's okay, Zac," King said. "It's not a secret."

"No?" I cocked my head. "Then why didn't I find anything about it online?"

"Because it's private. There's a difference."

"Meaning?"

" Meaning , that my relationship with him wouldn't have gotten me fired or him expelled."

"Unlike us."

King inclined his head. "Despite what you might think, I don't usually sleep with my students."

My lips quirked up at the edges. "You haven't exactly been sleeping with us, either."

"Touché."

"So, okay, he wasn't a student. Someone you worked with?"

"Why does it matter?" King steepled his hands over his ripped abs, and for a second I lost my train of thought. "James?"

"Because you're so…mysterious."

"That drives you crazy, doesn't it?"

"Yes."

King smirked, obviously enjoying holding information over my head.

But I was determined. If Zac wouldn't ask the hard questions, I would. He may call it nosy. I called it getting to know someone.

"How long were you with him?"

"Long enough that it hurt when it was over."

"So it ended badly?"

" East, " Zac said, and shook his head at King. "You don't have to answer that."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh come on, this is basic getting-to-know-you 101. And you know you're dying for him to spill his secrets."

Zac started to refute that, but then shrugged. "Maybe I am a little curious."

"See?" I turned back to King. "You've got your TA admitting he doesn't know shit about you. Does that make you feel guilty enough to give us the goods?"

King looked somewhat amused as he tapped one of his steepled fingers. "Have you ever considered law school? You're persistent. Tenacious. And a total pain in the ass. You'd be perfect for it."

"Stop trying to change the subject."

"And you keep the witness on task." King grinned. "Just think about it."

If he thought he was going to sidetrack me, he had another thing coming. "Did you cheat on him?"

"No."

"Did he cheat on you?"

"Absolutely not."

"Did it end badly?" I asked again.

"Yes."

Bam. He'd answered this time, and now I was more curious than ever.

"So what was it? You didn't trust him with all your secrets about your hooded friends?"

King snapped his mouth shut, and something clicked.

"Wait," I said, scooting to the edge of the couch. "Don't tell me. He is one of your hooded friends?"

He stared at us, his finger stilling, the silence deafening until a shrill ringing jolted the quiet. It shook King out of his thoughts as he looked over at the landline.

"Oh, would you look at that," I said. "Saved by the Bat-Signal."

King swung his legs over the chair, and as he headed to answer the phone, Zac smacked my arm.

"Seriously? You think an inquisition is the way to go about getting answers?"

"I don't see you doing any of the heavy lifting over here, so you don't get a say in my methods. You could just say thanks."

"You're ridiculous."

"That's not a thanks."

"No, it's a?—"

I clamped a hand over his mouth as King picked up the phone, his back to us, and barked out, "What is it?" He listened, his shoulders tense, and in the blink of an eye his entire body became as stiff as a board—much like it was back at Astor. "I told you I didn't want to be disturbed."

I glanced at Zac who was watching the exchange as intently as I was, and lowered my hand from his mouth. Whoever was on the other end was clearly someone King knew. He hadn't even bothered to ask who it was before he started in on them.

"I leave for one week…" King scrubbed a hand over his face. "No. I'm not going to do that." He shook his head. "Handle it. You don't need me for that."

My eyes bugged when he slammed down the phone, and as he stood there facing the kitchen, Zac's mouth hung open.I wouldn't want to be whoever was on the other end of that call either.

Finally, when King seemed to calm, he slowly turned back to where we sat, his dark eyes shifting between us before stopping on me.

"To answer your question, yes, he is one of my ‘hooded friends.' Any other questions?"

"Nope." I shook my head. "Just know you don't ever have to worry about me falling in love with you."

But as Zac remained suspiciously quiet, I thought, But he might.