Page 16 of Falling for the Unexpected

“I’m sorry you saw that,” she said, her back still to me.

“Don’t apologize,” I told her gently, using my hand on her shoulder to spin her around and pull her into a hug. Sometimes, something as simple as a hug could do wonders. For a brief second she tensed and I thought she would pull away. Instead, she wrapped her arms tightly around my waist, melding her front into mine, and started sobbing, her face buried in my chest.

I wrapped my arms around her back trying to provide her comfort. It touched something inside of me to see her so broken. In that moment I wanted to do anything I could to help her. I felt her shiver as my hand caressed her bare skin. I used one hand to massage the back of her neck and up into her hair, which seemed to help calm her.

“That feels good,” she murmured so quietly that I don’t think she meant for me to hear her. She rested her cheek over my heart, breathing slowly, breathing with me.

“Oh, shit… sorry…” a familiar voice interrupted from the other end of the hallway. I immediately felt Simone tense up again. Looking over Simone’s shoulder I met Erik’s ice-blue eyes that were looking at me questioningly. “I was just heading to the bathroom. Everything good here?” he asked gesturing between Simone and me.

I reluctantly pulled away from Simone. She stepped back but kept her eyes on the ground, still sniffling. I immediately felt the loss of her warmth and wished our—whatever this was—hadn’t been broken. “Yeah, Brad was just being Brad.” I hoped that explanation would be enough to keep Erik from asking any further questions, at least for now.

Erik nodded and entered the bathroom but not without a long, pointed look directed at me before he closed the door.

I ran my hands through my damp hair as Simone moved away. I knew Erik would ask me about this later, but privately. Thankfully, he wasn’t one to make a scene. Not that I had anything to hide or had any reason to feel guilty. I was just comforting a… friend? While Simone and I hadn’t really established a friendship before this, I couldn’t leave a woman, who was that upset, all alone. I was just being a nice guy.

Who liked the way her body fit into yours. That thought had me hyperaware of her body, and how I still felt the imprint of her on my skin.

Simone was now looking at her reflection in the mirror on the wall in the hallway, swiping under her eyes in an attempt to remove the evidence of her small breakdown. And probably forgetting all about our little moment a few seconds ago, which was for the best.

“Are you going to be okay?” I asked. It was a stupid question. I knew she wasn’t going to be okay. How many times had I seen my own mother in tears over the hurtful things her latest boyfriend had said? I also knew Simone was the only one who could decide when she would have enough of Brad’s behavior.

“Please don’t worry about me,” she said, her mask firmly back in place.

“Well, if you need a friend, I’m here.” I was surprised by my words, but I knew I wanted to help her. Just as a friend.

But if that was the case, I thought as we headed back toward the pool, why couldn’t I forget how wonderful it’d felt to hold her in my arms?