Encore (Stereo Hearts Book 2) (16 page)

Yoshi shrugged. “Haven’t really thought about it.”

“Well, after that performance on Marissa Ball, you will be. Every girl in the country just fell in love with you this morning.” Carmen winked. “I have a feeling you’ll see what I mean when we touch down in Asia.” She slapped her hands on her knees, and then her eyes caught sight of the stack of magazines on the other side of Aria. She yelped and leaned over the seats, using Aria’s leg as leverage as she snatched a magazine from the top of the pile, wiggling her full ass in Yoshi’s face.

Yoshi and Aria shared a horrified look between the seats, just before Carmen plopped back down.

“I’m invisible,” she said, waving a hand in the air in front of her face, as if that made it so, before leaning back and flipping open the magazine.

Aria let those words sink in, but somehow, they didn’t make her feel better.

Carmen had been promising to be
invisible
since the moment they’d met.

But she had yet to follow through.

--

Aria couldn’t enjoy the unrivaled views of Palm Island and the Burg Al Arab when their plane landed in Dubai. She couldn’t enjoy the pastel-hued skyscrapers packed tight on the island of Male, the capital of the Maldives. She couldn’t even enjoy the scenic boat ride to The Jumeirah Dhevanafushi, the island resort where she and Yoshi would spend the next two days.

Correction—where she, Yoshi, and
Carmen
would be spending the next two days.

She couldn’t help the resentment burning in her stomach. It was a hell of a view, but she couldn’t enjoy it. She knew the crystal-clear turquoise waters—so untarnished by the hands of man one could see straight to the white sand at the bottom—the lush palm trees, and the private hut villas that awaited them in the distance were a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She knew the sky would never be as clear again as it was right then, nor the air as crisp. She knew she should breathe it in now, before they made it back to the poisonous air of Los Angeles, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t breathe at all.

Every ounce of self-control she had, including the control it took to inhale and exhale normally, had been focused squarely on stopping herself from blowing up on Carmen.

Or Yoshi.

She couldn’t decide. It changed every two seconds.

Aria shot Carmen a look across the old ferry carrying them to their destination, a line of adorable villas connected in the shape of an oval, calling out to them from the distance.

In the seat directly across from Aria, leaning in to Yoshi with a hand slung on his shoulder, Carmen crossed her toned legs, holding her wide-brimmed sunhat on her head while pointing at something in the water.

Yoshi followed Carmen’s finger, shooting her a smile after he caught sight of the reef shark she’d been pointing to. His eyes crossed the boat to Aria, as if he were excited to clue her in, but the smile disappeared from his face the moment he got a look at her.

He shrugged his shoulder with an exasperated look. He’d assured her that, by the time their first flight landed in Dubai, Carmen would surely ease up. Who the hell would recognize Yoshi in Dubai anyway?

Turns out, everyone.

Everyone
had recognized Yoshi in Dubai.

Carmen
had
warned him that he was bigger in Asia than America, but it hadn’t computed for either of them until Yoshi had stepped into the terminal of Dubai International Airport and was almost immediately accosted by a handful of screaming fans. They’d huddled around him in seconds, their excitement spawning more curious stares and recognition until Yoshi had been so ensconced in admirers clawing for autographs and photos that airport security had eventually been forced to step in.

They’d spent the remainder of their layover in a private waiting room just outside the main gates. Carmen, of course, had latched onto his arm with leech-like suction, mugging for every pair of amazed eyes and every camera lens directed at Yoshi, giving a little extra hip action to every strut she made.

Aria had lagged behind, barely able to swallow back her irritation. On their way into the private room, one of the airport security guards had actually blocked Aria’s way inside, insisting it was a private area. By the time Yoshi had stepped in, correcting the security guard’s mistake as graciously as he could, Aria’s blood had come to a boil.

And Adam’s words were back in her head like a rocket, making the four-hour flight to Male, and the twenty-minute boat ride she endured right then, seem like nothing short of torture.

Thankfully, the two other couples who were sharing the ferry with them to the resort
hadn’t
recognized Yoshi. Nor had the driver of the boat, or any of the people who’d been in Male’s small airport.

Still, Carmen had insisted she and Yoshi stay booed up until they made it to the island.

Just to be safe.

That didn’t stop Yoshi from raising his eyes at Aria across the boat. “How beautiful is this, Bo? So fucking excited.”

Carmen, still holding her hat to her head, smiled at Aria. “Why does he call you Bo?”

“It’s an inside joke from when we were kids. It’s short for Anne Boleyn,” Aria explained, before responding to the vacant pout on Carmen’s perfectly pink lips. “King Henry’s second wife?”

Carmen’s lips poked out further. She shook her head.

“That movie with Scarlett Johansen and Natalie Portman,” Yoshi said.

Clearly, Yoshi spoke ‘Carmen’, because her green eyes lit up. “Oh, shit! I remember that one. With the two sisters, fighting over the king? That movie was good as hell!”

Then it hit Aria like a rocket.

She really
was
Anne Boleyn.

Just like Anne Boleyn, she was ensconced in a threesome she didn’t want to be in. And she knew, just as it had for Anne Boleyn, this story couldn’t end any other way but tragically.

Off with her head.

10

An hour later, their private villa went dead silent, save for the calm lap of ocean waves that permeated through the double doors, open and inviting in the calm evening breeze.

As promised, Carmen had gone ‘Casper’ the moment their ferry docked at The Jumeirah Dhevanafushi resort.

But her absence hadn’t calmed Aria’s nerves.

Nor did the charming bellman who’d helped carry hers and Yoshi’s bags to their private water villa, perched above the luminous waters of the Indian Ocean.

Her nerves didn’t calm when she drank in the seductive interior of their spacious one-bedroom sanctuary, the panoramic ocean views, or even the enchanting canopy bed, draped with sheer white curtains on all four sides. Her nerves were still in overdrive even as the promises that bed made seemed to cry out into the night.

Those seductive possibilities did nothing to ease her mind or her heart, and she found herself yanking clothes out of the suitcase she’d opened on top of the bed, slamming them down onto the white duvet with a new huff each time. Each article of clothing was brand new, from the many shopping sprees Yoshi had taken her on since he’d gotten big.

Across the room, Yoshi also emptied his suitcase, but with a much gentler hand. Vaulted ceilings cast a soft light, making the suite’s natural colors work their magic, meant to ease stress and calm nerves. But there wasn’t enough mood lighting in the world to ease the animal between them right then.

He watched her across the room as he placed his clothes into the espresso oak dresser in the far corner. Behind him, the private infinity pool connected to their suite glimmered, the platform catching the stars in the sky and illuminating them right back, as if allowing God to see the beauty He so kindly bestowed on the world every night.

Yoshi made it halfway through his suitcase before he broke, dropping a T-shirt he’d just picked up right back in. “Come on, Bo. This is the only vacation we’ll have for God knows how long. After all that bullshit back home, I’d really just like to relax and enjoy the weekend with my girlfriend.”

“Oh…” Aria stopped unpacking—or rather,
snatching
her clothes out of her suitcase and
slamming
them down on the bed—stood tall, placed her hands on her hips, and met Yoshi’s eyes. “Oh, you want to relax with your girlfriend? Well, she’s just down the hall, Yosh.” She pointed to the far wall of the room. “Room 505. Answers to the name Carmen?”

Yoshi’s shoulders collapsed. “Can you stop, please?
Please?
How many different ways can I say it, baby? That girl doesn’t mean shit to me. She’s a professional. It’s business. It’s not like she’s going over the top with it.”

“She has had her hands
all
over you…
All
day.”

“Her hand stayed on my shoulder. Literally, on my shoulder, for the entire fourteen-hour flight.”

“I had no idea you were paying such close attention. Would you have preferred her hand somewhere else?”

“Now you’re just being ridiculous. I was paying attention to where her hands were because I could see it was bothering you. I could feel it. I can feel it now, moving across this room and encasing me in hatred. I’m on the verge of death with that look you’re shooting me right now.”

“There was no reason for her to be touching you as much as she was.” She resumed snatching her clothes from her suitcase. “It’s just
overkill
. Buckling her seatbelt—hand on your shoulder. Looking for a movie on the inflight TV—hand on your shoulder. Walking through the airport—hand on your shoulder. Ordering a drink from the flight attendant—hand on your shoulder. Like the flight attendant gives a
shit
whether or not her hand is on your shoulder.”

Yoshi let her finish, the smile on his face growing with each word she said.

“I’m about to slap that smirk clear off your face,” Aria whispered.

“You’re jealous,” he said. “It’s cute. Cute as
fuck,
actually. I’ve never seen you this way.”

Aria planted her feet when he moved closer, arms crossed even when he got close enough to curl his arms around her waist and bury his head in her neck.

“I’m not jealous,” she grumbled into his big shoulder. Against all her will, her eyes fluttered and she took in his woodsy scent.

“You are, and I can’t blame you.” He sighed when she relented, encircling his shoulders with her arms.

He drew her in the rest of the way, exhaling into her hair. Her embrace was limp, halfhearted, but every muscle in his body still relaxed. He cupped her waist from where his arms surrounded her, squeezing. “I’ll be honest. If it were the other way around? Some guy with his paws all over you? I don’t think I could do it. I’d have killed him before we even landed in Dubai.”

She stepped out of his arms, albeit with a bit of fight when he hesitated to release her, and grabbed a few pairs of shoes from her suitcase before crossing the room.

“Yeah, well, it’s
not
you, Yosh. You don’t have to deal with this, at all. You just float around, being a pop star, getting worshipped and fawned over while I’m treated like the ugly stepsister pulling up the rear.”

He titled his head at her from across the room. “You’re really mad?”

Aria threw her shoes down, and the force made them fly in opposite directions. “Yes, I’m really mad, Yosh. I’m…” She motioned to her heart with both hands, but couldn’t finish.

“I told you I loved you today.”

Her eyes softened. “Yeah, so? I told you I loved you too.”

They held each other’s eyes, silence falling and staying for a while.

Yoshi broke it first. “When I kissed you for the first time, that night in Miami? I’ve never been so terrified in my life. I knew the moment I did that I was either going to lose my best friend, or things were going to change in a way that I could only ever see in my dreams. I was nearly…
incinerated
by the fear, Aria. I don’t think you have any idea. But you kissed me back. You leaned in when I leaned in. The transition from my best friend to my girl was so smooth I swear to God I sometimes wonder if I dreamt it.”

Aria crossed her arms, swallowing thickly as her eyes fell. She didn’t look up, but felt his voice moving closer.

“Now,” he whispered, his voice inches away, “all I can think about is the next time I’m kissing you. Holding you. The thought of making love with you turns my soul inside out. You held me down every step of this crazy journey. All the way to the Maldives.
You
are my girl. I love
you.
I want
you.
I dreamt about
you
every night in that fucking house in Brooklyn. That album that just went platinum is infused with
you
on every track. Every record it breaks is from a heart that yearns for
you
. I wrote that album for
you
. Not Carmen.” He cringed. “Who the
fuck
is Carmen. Carmen who?”

Aria lifted her eyes to his, and then rolled them. She felt the moisture in them moving as she did, smirking from the corner of her lips.

“After The Marissa Ball Show? After seeing that video?” He paused, licking his lips and looking out of the floor-to-ceiling windows of their villa, taking a moment.

Aria sobered, her voice lowering. “Yosh….”

“That video—” he pointed towards the windows “—brought so many things back. Things I’d give anything to forget. That perpetual unease, always in the pit of my stomach, even when I was three years old. That feeling that if I could just sing better, dance better,
be
better… then maybe, just maybe, he’d look at me and see a kid worth keeping.” He crossed his hands over his stomach. “But even then, I knew what I felt. I knew he would leave. I felt his retreat. But you—” he motioned to her “—I’ve never felt that from you. Ever. It was the only thing that got me through that video without breaking down on camera. Knowing you would never make me feel that withdrawal. You’ve never made me feel that. Until right now.” He pointed down at the carpeted floor with one hand still over his heaving stomach. “I feel it, right now, from the one person I never believed I’d feel that from. Aria, please. Please, don’t…” He couldn’t finish.

“Yoshi, I’m not going anywhere. You know that. We’re going to argue sometimes, but just because we argue doesn’t mean I go anywhere, you dumbass.” She smiled gently. “I’m keeping you. I’m keeping you
forever
.”

Yoshi stepped forward and cupped her cheek in one hand, stroking it with his thumb. “Please don’t let this ruin our one weekend. Because I’ve been dying to show you just how much I love you, in the best way I know how. Because words will never be enough. Let me prove to you, tonight, how little anyone else means to me. Will ever mean to me. Let me prove how deep my love for you really runs.” He cupped her chin under his fingers, his voice lowering. “Let me give you the parts of me she’ll never have. The parts that can only exist for my Bo. My day one.”

Aria slowly lifted her eyes to his, twisting a shoe she’d had every intention of launching at his head a few moments ago around her hands.

“I. Love. You,” he mouthed silently, raising his eyebrows high, tightening his hold on her chin.

“I love you,” she mouthed back.

He took her lips in a soft kiss.

Like it always did, it brought her straight to her toes. The sandal fell from her hand and clattered to the floor at her feet.

He pecked her lips at first, tasted her bottom lip before following it up with the top. A moan left him after each peck, then her, until they were gasping into the first sweep of their tongues, encircling each other in a desperate hold and tilting their heads for more.

Yoshi took the kiss, dipping his hand into her hair, and deepened it with a groan, biting her bottom lip gently before releasing it with a soft plop, his eyes hooded.

Their gazes searched one another’s, slow dancing, before Yoshi bent down and swept her off her feet.

Aria squealed, her legs flying high in the air before landing safely in the strong cocoon of his arms. His bicep flexed against her thigh as their lips met again, and he carried her across the room.

She found herself drowning in his kisses, engulfed in his scent, curling one leg over the other in his arms in an attempt to get closer. When one of his hands left her to yank her suitcase off the bed, she tightened her arms around his neck, holding herself up without breaking their kiss.

Yoshi laid her down and she wiggled against the bed, noting it was just as soft as it looked. He ran his hands up her jeans, from her ankles, to her calves, to her thighs, lighting fire to every part of her he touched before he was popping open the button and releasing the zipper. Aria’s heaving belly button came into view as he yanked them down her legs.

“Oh, my God,” he gasped, drinking in the red thong that awaited him, digging his fingers into her plush thighs, leaning down and placing his lips on her stomach.

Aria let her eyes slowly shut, savoring the warm feel of his lips and tongue on her skin. Every inch of her yearned for that love, those lips, and those callused fingers. She knew there was no way for him to be everywhere at once, for his lips and hands to cover every inch of skin that screamed for him, but she still found herself writhing for just that, a cry climbing up her throat and escaping as a moan at the torturous fact that it could never happen. Still, she clawed her hands through his hair, curling her fingers into it just as he looked up and his heated hazel eyes met hers.

The desire she saw in his hooded orbs made her stop breathing, and before she knew it her shirt was yanked over her head, her panties were down her legs, and her red bra clasp was snapped open with determined fingers, faster than even she could get it undone. And she was naked before him. He stood tall, running the beds of his fingers down her body as he did, until he was cupping her knees.

When he spread them apart, she waited for the embarrassment. The shyness.

It didn’t come.

Gazing up at him, she finished the job for him, opening her legs as wide as they would go, her toes curling into the duvet. Licking her lips, chest heaving, she reached up and took the patch off her eye, lifting her head from the bed long enough to remove it.

Then, there it was—the wave of shyness. Still, she barreled past it, looking up and meeting his gaze. Holding it. Letting him see everything she had inside her to give, even the parts she fought tooth and nail to hide from the rest of the world. When she saw his gaze move to her blue eye, she remembered the night he’d jumped in and defended her against the man who gave it to her. Her body hummed and surged with warmth and she spread her legs even more, wanting him to see just what the memory of him protecting her did to her heart and body.

“Jesus, Aria…” He shook his head and released her knees, his eyes running up and down her body as he ripped his tank top over his head and his trembling fingers undid his jeans. Naked in moments, he let his arms hang at his sides, allowing her to see him as fully as he had.

Aria’s eyes traveled his body, the long lines, the curves—deep with his strength—and the hardness that tented his boxers. She didn’t even realize she was reaching for him until he climbed onto the bed and into her arms, moving between her splayed thighs with the grace of a wild cat. His strong arms cradled on either side of her, still drinking in her eyes—both of them, one after the other—as if he couldn’t decide which one he loved more.