Page 41 of Scandalous

“Didn’t check your phone this morning?” I sneer, knowing the answer.

Santi shuts his phone off every night before bed and doesn’t turn it back on until after he’s done with his morning workout and getting ready for the day.

He raises a brow and waits me out.

“Liam tagged us in photos,” I say, handing over my phone.

Santi steps forward and takes my phone. He scrolls through the photos and studies each of them.

“It looks like they’re having a good time at least. She looks like she’s into both of them.” He hums.

I hate that he’s right. My biggest fear is that she would pick one of us, but what if she picks two? Those two. This swirl of emotions inside of me makes me feel like I’m going to lose it. Instead of focusing on them, I focus back on the photos.

“They took her skydiving,” I say, scrunching my nose. “That sounds like a horrible date.”

“Judging by their smiles, I would say it was the exact opposite. Did you read any of the comments?” he asks, moving to wipe his face with a towel.

I shake my head. “Of course not. You know I don’t read that trash.”

He chuckles as he turns on his phone. He waits for all the notifications to stop before he pulls up the post.

“‘Oh my god, three of my favorite creators.’ ‘Where are Santiago and Ezra?’ ‘Hey Aurora, is it true those two like to share?’ ‘Does this mean Aurora will be partying with you guys this summer?’” he reads off several comments.

I shake my head and run a hand through my hair.

“Want to know what I think?” Santi pockets his phone.

“Even if I say no, you’re still going to tell me,” I deadpan.

Santi ignores my sarcasm. “We have to invite her now. The only question is, how are we going to do it?”

“What do you mean?”

A smile slowly starts to spread over his face. “We can send her the invitation like we normally do, or we could deliver it… in person.”

“You mean now? No, if anything, we should call them and demand that they come home right now.”

I’m not ready to face her. I don’t know why, but it’s like talking to her flips my dick switch up to extreme. She might like Drake and Liam, but there’s no way she’s going to feel the same about me. I might not be able to protect the others, but I have to protect myself.

“Why not?” He shrugs. “Liam knowingly posted those when he knew we would see them when they were asleep. I bet if you tried calling any of them, their phones would go to voice mail.”

“You think he did it so we could easily interrupt their little lovefest?” I ask, a vulnerability in my voice that I wouldn’t show to anyone but my best friend.

Santi nods. “They want us there. They didn’t tell us beforehand because you’ve been such an ass, but trust me, they want us there. I think that she might too, if we get a chance. What do you say? Want to try and get a flight out tonight?”

“That’s a horrible idea,” I muse, but I don’t say no.

“Is it though?” Santi laughs, tossing his nasty towel at me.

I dodge it before running my hand over my mouth.

Do I really want to do this? If I don’t, Santi is going to go, leaving me here alone. FOMO is riding me hard. If there’s anything I hate more than change, it’s being left out. Blame my wonderful parents for that.

After a moment, I sigh, “I do have access to both of their emails and can easily find where they made reservations.”

Santi claps and smiles wickedly. “I’ll go pack.”

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