I’m shaking and panting as he finds his own climax, shuddering above me, muscles going taut as rocks before he relaxes suddenly and collapses on top of me.

We stay there like that for several minutes before Creed groans and rolls off, sliding off the bed to dispose of the condom before he joins me again.

I’m basically paralyzed, lying there on my back and staring up at the ceiling. In the distance, I can hear the faint cry of a police siren.

Creed lies down on his side, pillowing his head on his hands and watching me. He’s still breathing hard, and I shiver as he runs his tongue across his lower lip. Honestly … I could probably do the whole thing all over again. Maybe a hundred times more. A thousand.

“Are you going to tell the others?” he asks, and I glance his direction. “About the sex, I mean.”

“I …” That’s a very good question. Didn’t I just get on them all for lying by omission?

“I mean, I know you’re not going to pick me just yet.”

“Just yet,” I whisper, and he sits up, scooting closer to me and sweeping some hair off my sweaty forehead.

“No. I don’t expect you to pick me yet. Not until I’ve proven myself.” He leans down and kisses me on the mouth, hard, possessive. My toes quite literally curl into the sheets. “And I will, Marnye. Mark my words, I fucking will.”

The next morning, I wake up feeling a bit sore but wholly satisfied in a way I didn’t expect. I’m grinning like an idiot as I sit up and swipe my hands down my face, glancing over to find Creed naked and angelic in slumber, his lower half just barely covered with a sheet.

“Hey,” I whisper, pushing at his shoulder. He grumbles and one, beautiful blue eye opens. “We have to get up. I think we’re—”

The doorknob jiggles, and then as I gape in shock, the whole thing swings open.

“Shouldn’t leave your key lying around if—” Miranda starts, and then pauses. I’m sitting up, totally bare on top with her naked twin beside me. Oh shit. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. “Oh my god,” Miranda chokes out, dropping the key card on the floor and slapping both hands over her mouth. “You didn’t. Tell me you didn’t.”

“Miranda,” Creed says, sitting up and making sure the sheet’s covering all of his, um, bits. “Wait.”

But my bestie’s already turning and making a run for it, the door to the suite slamming as she disappears. I’m beyond mortified, and I feel slightly sad, too. I know Miranda has a crush on me. I know she does. And I love her beyond words, but just … not in that way. I can’t choose my sexuality anymore than she can choose hers. If I could, she’d be my first pick in the whole world.

“Goddamn it,” Creed growls, standing up and then turning, the sheet still bunched around his hips. “I don’t regret this. I’d do it all over again. I just …”

“Go get your sister,” I say, and he nods, disappearing into the main part of the suite.

Even though I get dressed as fast as humanly possible, Creed beats me to it, striding out of the room in jeans and a tight white shirt. I throw on a yellow sundress, some flats, and head into the hall, bumping right into Zack’s broad, muscular chest.

“Are you okay?” he asks, and I bite my lip.

Crap.

I’m a bit sore, and totally lost in la-la land. My head is definitely in the clouds.

“Miranda just took off. I’m … I’m looking for her,” I say as Tristan, Zayd, and Windsor appear from around the counter, juggling items from the breakfast buffet. Zayd grins and tosses me an apple that I somehow miraculously catch.

“What’s wrong with Miranda?” Zayd asks, but I swear, both Wind and Tristan are looking at me like they know.

“She …” I start, and I have to lean my back against the hotel room door to keep my balance. “She saw something she didn’t like.”

Zack cocks a dark brow and puts a palm on the door above my head, leaning in and giving me one his narrow-eyed looks. He’s so tall and wide, and he smells like grapefruit … My body shivers, and I realize I’m working with a full truckload of hormones today.

“You fucked Creed, huh?” Tristan asks, and he seriously sounds bored out of his mind. I can’t quite see him around Zack’s big frame, so I can’t tell if it’s a fa?ade or not.

“Fucked wouldn’t be the word I’d use,” I whisper as Zayd frowns, and Zack goes completely stiff from head-to-toe. “But we had sex, yes.”

“How was it?” Windsor asks, and I swear, if I could see more of him than just his red hair sticking up behind Zack, I might’ve slapped him.

“Seriously?” I choke out, trying and failing to push Zack out of the way. He just stands there, this immovable mountain of muscle and looks at me with a sort of sadness in his eyes that quickly gives way to … determination? He looks like he’s ready to kick Creed’s ass. “Please move, so I can find Miranda.”

“Are you choosing him?” Zack asks, but then I look up and into his brown eyes, and that ache inside of me just intensifies.

“I’m not choosing anyone. I told you all that. It’s your turn to realize that you don’t always get what you want, that sometimes you have to share, and that there are consequences to your actions. The rest of us learn it in kindergarten.” I start to push past him again when he grabs me by the wrists and pins my arms above my head, slanting his lips to mine in a kiss that defies the ages.

There’s so much written in the warmth of his lips: a promise to fight, a fire that burns, and a possessive claim that makes me shiver. He swirls his tongue over my lower lip and pulls away, leaving me to face a frowning Zayd.

He hands me a milk, and then grabs onto my hand with his inked fingers when I take it.

“She ran up the steps to the executive lounge, and Creed followed her.” Zayd acts like he’s going to let go and then tightens his grip again briefly, looking me dead in the face before he smirks. “Eh, I told you I’m not much for virgins anyway. Guess you’re fair game now, huh?”

“Don’t be crude,” I say as he finally lets go of me with a chuckle.

“I’m a rockstar, Charity, it’s what we do!” he calls out from behind me, and I have to hide a small smile as I race past Tristan and Windsor. Neither of them looks particularly bothered, but I can’t decide if that’s because sex really doesn’t mean anything to them, or if they’re just impossibly good actors.

Grabbing the banister, I race up the stairs and search the executive lounge. When I don’t find her there, I head up to the rooftop deck and see her slumped in a chair with Creed kneeling in front of her. She’s crying, her white-blond hair hanging like a shiny sheet on either side of her face as she swipes at her delicate little nose with a cloth napkin.

“Miranda,” I say, and she looks up at me with teary eyes. I sit down in the chair next to her and reach out to take her hand.

“I knew you weren’t interested in me like that,” she whispers as Creed and I exchange a look. “But I … at least I had hope before. Even if it was just a shred. But now that you guys have … god, eww. I’m sorry, but now that you’ve been together, I know it’s never happening. Not ever.”

“Mandy,” Creed whispers, and it’s so sweet and affectionate that I almost melt into a puddle. “Marnye and I both love you. We didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know,” she whispers, looking guiltily down at her lap. “It’s just … I want someone to look at me the way you two look at each other.” My cheeks flame red, and I stutter to come up with the right response. Do Creed and I really look at each other a special sort of way?

“Miranda, you’re seventeen,” he says with a small chuckle. “You have plenty of time to find a girl that cares about you. Don’t rush it.”

“Mom and Dad met in high school,” she says, sighing, sunshine slanting across her beautiful face. “You believe in young love, too. I know how you feel about Marnye.” Creed’s cheeks darken with color, but he lifts his chin in the most infuriatingly arrogant way possible.

“You will find someone who loves you more than the moon,” he says, and it’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard in my life … said in the most arrogant way possible. I’m not sure if I love him or hate him in that moment. Maybe a little bit of both? “And if you don’t, you always have me. I’m your fucking twin. We’re inseparable. You’re stuck with me for life. You know that, right?”

Miranda nods and sighs, glancing over at me and then attempting a miserable looking hair flip. Yep, she still sucks at it.

“At least I hope he treated you well,” she says, and I nod, feeling myself getting all teary, too. “I told him if he slept with you, and he blew his load as fast as he did in the hot tub, you’d never pick him and he’d be alone forever.”

Laughter escapes my through as Creed scowls and rolls his eyes.

“I’ll have you know, I made her come before I finished. I bet you’ve never made a girl orgasm.”