The Halo Series Boxed Set

by Kimberly Knight

  “Whatever you want to do, babe,” Nicole replied, kissing him again.

  Fucking hell.

  “Seriously, if you two don’t knock this shit off, I’m tying you to the bed in our cabin and avoiding Prince Charming so he can’t rescue you,” Brooke said.

  That’s my girl!

  Avery and Nicole finally stopping sucking face and we ate breakfast discussing what we wanted to do on the ship since we were at sea until the morning. After breakfast, Avery and Nicole left to the girl’s room and left Brooke and me by ourselves.

  I didn’t complain.

  Brooke suggested we go to the excursion desk and when we got there we picked a trip to an excluded island that offered lunch, complimentary alcoholic beverages, snorkeling, swimming with a sea lion named Cassandra and monkey petting. As we booked the adventure, I silently prayed that Brooke was a bikini chick and not a one-piece chick.

  “Do you need to reserve anything for Mazatlán or Cabo?” the woman behind the desk asked.

  “Oh, I didn’t even think of the other stops,” Brooke said to me. “We need to do something in Mazatlán, too. For Cabo, I’m meeting up with my sister.”

  The night before, Brooke had mentioned that her sister, Bailee, was in Cabo for spring break. Usually, knowing that there were going to be a bunch of hot drunk chicks in bikinis running around, I’d be excited. It’d be like a car dealership for me, but I didn’t want to test drive any of those chicks. I wanted the one standing next to me, and not just for one night.

  “What do you have for Mazatlán?”

  She handed us a binder for Mazatlán and we flipped through it, trying to choose between shopping trips, taking a bus tour, or going to a resort to swim in the ocean (mind you, no matter how hot it was on the West Coast, the Pacific ocean was constantly freezing). There was only one event that I thought would appeal to all of us.

  “How about the zip-lining?” I asked Brooke.

  Her big green eyes went wide. “I’m scared of heights.”

  “You’ll be strapped in and those cables are sturdy,” I assured her.

  “I … I don’t know …”

  “I would never let anything happen to you.” I meant that.

  “You might need to get me liquored up first.” She laughed.

  God, I loved her laugh and smile. “We could do that.” I winked.

  “All right, let’s do it.”

  After we’d booked, I went with Brooke to the Internet Café on the ninth deck so she could email her sister and figure out what the plan for Cabo was.

  “You and Avery should come with Nicole and me to have lunch with my sister,” Brooke said mid-email.

  “I would like that. I’m sure Avery will too since he can’t keep his hands off Nicole for more than thirty-seconds.” Already meeting the fam. My plan was working.

  “I don’t know if I should be grossed out or jealous. I mean, I didn’t expect her to leave me the whole trip.”

  “I’m jealous.”

  “You know that I’ll be fine if you want to go find chicks to fuck, right? I could just go to the gy—”

  “I don’t want to do that.” She was not getting rid of me because I knew she didn’t want to be left alone and I didn’t want to leave her. “We can go to the gym together if you want.”

  “I would like to do that, but getting my workout clothes—might be a challenge.”

  “Challenge accepted,” I smirked. Avery was going to kick my ass, but that fucker deserved it.

  After Brooke finished her email and we waited a few minutes for her sister to respond—she didn’t—we made our way to Brooke’s room.

  “This is going to be so embarrassing.” She laughed.

  “Not as embarrassed as they’re gonna be.” I laughed back.

  We passed a few girls and guys who were drunk off their asses and it was barely noon. Most of the women were in bikinis and trying too hard to flirt with the men, but the guys were eating it up, enjoying the half-naked girls. Spring break plus a singles cruise where you didn’t need to drive anywhere equaled paradise.

  We maneuvered through all the people, finally making it down the stairs to Brooke’s room. As we walked past doors, we heard several people getting laid. Brooke used her key to open the door, not bothering to knock so we could catch them fucking and have a good laugh.

  But they weren’t fucking.

  Avery and Nicole were spooning in the middle of the two twin beds that were pushed together. Avery quietly snored in Nicole’s ear and Brooke looked over at me, trying to suppress a laugh, but we both couldn’t hold it in.

  “What the fuck?” Avery shouted, throwing a pillow at me.

  “You didn’t come on a cruise to sleep did you?” I asked, throwing the pillow back at him.

  “No, we came here to meet the one. And now that we have, we plan to fuck and sleep.” He pulled Nicole closer and she giggled, wiggling her backside into him.

  “Fuck no. This is my birthday present, Nicole!” Brooke said, her hands on her hips.

  “She’s right.” Nicole looked back at Avery, then to Brooke. “Fine, just give us a minute to get dressed.”

  “Fine.” Brooke turned on her heels and walked out the door. I followed behind. “I really want to get a massage for my shoulder. Want to walk with me to the spa to book it?”

  “Sure. What’s wrong with your shoulder? You’ve never said.”

  “I don’t know. I woke up about three months ago with it hurting. The doctor said that I probably pulled a muscle, but I haven’t been doing any strenuous exercises since and I think it’s getting worse.”

  “The medication doesn’t help?”

  “Nope. The muscle relaxers knock me out so that technically helps with me not being in pain, but only when I’m asleep.”

  “You should go back to the doctor. Something doesn’t sound right,” I said as we stepped off the elevator onto the eleventh deck.

  “I know,” she said with worry in her eyes.

  I hated to be in pain. When I played baseball, I always ended up pulling, spraining or breaking something during the seasons. I couldn’t imagine being in pain for three months straight.

  After Brooke had booked a massage for the day after we’d depart from Cabo, we went back to her room to find Avery and Nicole dressed and ready to socialize with us. We played mini-golf (I won), ate lunch in the Aqua Room and then watched a Dating Game live show with people from the cruise.

  Avery and Nicole were still hanging all over each other, making Brooke and me jealous—or at least me. It was only day two and I didn’t know if there was much more I could take before I’d devour the lips that I stared at all day.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked Brooke. She had been sitting beside me on the bus to the zip-lining excursion. As we neared, her right leg beside me bounced up and down.

  “Nothing,” she murmured.

  “Doesn’t look like nothing. Are you scared?”

  “Yeah, I’m kinda freaking out here,” she said, taking a deep breath.

  I smiled. She was so fucking cute and even cuter when she was freaking out. “Come here.” I pulled her shoulders so that she leaned against me.

  Her hair smelled like flowers as I nuzzled it and then kissed the back of her head. It felt good having her in my arms and I never wanted to let her go, but she was still trying to find women for me to hook up with on the cruise and only wanted to be friends.

  “What if the cable breaks?”

  “They won’t.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Well, I don’t know for sure, but the cables are made of steel and you’re strapped onto them with a harness.”

  “But I’ll be high in the air.”

  “Not that high.” I really didn’t know how high we would be because I’d never been zip-lining, but I was trying to convince Brooke that it would be fun.

  “Trees are high like buildings.”

  “Yeah, but just think about flying in the air, the wind in your hair or some shit. It
’s going to be fun, not scary. I promise.”

  The bus pulled into the parking lot and after a safety speech from a tour guide who had a strong Hispanic accent, a group that consisted of the four of us and a few other people, followed behind him. Brooke watched each person go, but I could tell she was freaking out.

  “Do you want to go first?” I asked her.

  “Hurry the fuck up!” Nicole shouted from the bottom of the platform.

  Without saying a word, Brooke turned to climb down the ladder. Her eyes were the size of silver dollars, but I couldn’t let her pass up this opportunity. I knew she would regret it eventually. Over the last few days, we’d talked about how she always put people before her and how she doesn’t normally do stuff for herself. I placed my hands on both of her shoulders, spun her towards me and looked her in the eye.

  “From what you’ve told me these last few days, and from what I’ve seen, you’re the strongest woman I know. If you can raise a six-year-old when you’re only thirteen—which is scary as hell—you can’t let a little trip on strong cables hold you back. Now get out there, Superwoman, and fly.”

  An instructor waved for her to come to him. “Senorita, it’s your turn.”

  “Okay,” she said, turning and going to the instructor.

  I grabbed her wrist to stop her. Without any words, we stared into each other’s eyes as I clipped her straps together on her helmet. Breaking our eye contact, I slapped the top of her helmet and smacked her ass as she turned to walk toward the instructor. They hooked her harness to the cable and she turned to me.

  “Thank you,” she mouthed before sliding down the cables.

  My heart clenched in my chest, a foreign feeling for me. I didn’t know what it meant, but I loved it.

  The past four days and five nights had been some of the best ones of my life. Hanging with Easton was as good as hanging with Nicole—since she was still all over Avery. I was extremely comfortable with him; it was like we had been friends forever. I was surprised that he did everything with me and didn’t wander off to flirt or sleep with an available woman.

  I’d bet neither one of us had expected to find a friendship like the one we’d found on the cruise. He made me forget about my worries with Jared, forget about my mother, my stressful job and also helped me to keep my mind off my shoulder pain.

  He’d offered to rub my shoulder a few times, but I turned him down. It wasn’t that I didn’t want him touching me—I did. I wanted him to caress my back, rubbing the knot I assumed was in my shoulder, and then slip his hands to the front to cup my breasts—among other things. I wanted his masculine hands all over me. But I turned down his offer because I was scared of how bad it would hurt when he rubbed my throbbing shoulder.

  I wasn’t one to complain about pain, even though my shoulder bothered me constantly. I didn’t want any of them to know how badly it hurt, but it was getting worse and it really made no sense at all. The only strenuous action I’d used my shoulder for was when I’d raised my hands in the air while dancing the last few nights, and if dancing was causing my shoulder to become worse, then something was seriously wrong and I needed to find a doctor who would actually touch me. I needed to go see Dr. Sam, stat!

  Our second night of the cruise, Nicole had pulled me aside and promised me the stars and the moon if I would switch rooms with Avery. She thought it was okay for me to share a room with a stranger since there were two beds, and I hadn’t had a chance to talk to her about the feelings I was fighting towards Easton. I knew the only reason I was fighting them was because I had Jared at home, probably surrounded by stacks of pizza boxes and a terrible stench from not showering for five days.

  “Brooke, I’ve never met anyone like Avery.”

  “Brooke, I think I’m in love.”

  “Brooke, please just let me have these days with Avery before we go back to Boston and he goes back to New York.”

  “Brooke, switch rooms and I will love you forever.”

  Nicole wasn’t against begging when she really wanted something. If I hated Easton and didn’t want to have anything to do with him, I would have stood my ground, but he made me feel things I hadn’t felt in a long time. He made me feel wanted. He made me feel desired.

  He made me happy.

  I watched Easton’s chest rise up and down as soft snores escaped his nose. He was so fucking hot and the more I thought about his man hands, the more I envisioned stripping off his T-shirt and boxers that I was wearing and crawling into his bed, straddling him while I placed kisses down his silky smooth chest. I thought about his cock growing hard against my ass as he started to wake up.

  The way he would look down at my lips before capturing them with his, causing me to moan as he cupped one of my breasts in his hand and lightly pinched my nipple before kneading the heavy globes …

  The way I would break our lips apart and kiss his chest again, not stopping until I had his boxers off and his dick in my mouth … The way his free hand would reach down between my legs, running a finger between my folds and discovering how wet he made me as I licked the tip of his cock, tasting his warm, salty pre-cum …

  The way his fingers would massage my clit, making me moan again, on the verge of coming from just him touching me …

  “Mornin’, Superwoman,” Easton said, bringing my eyes back up to his. He was smiling that damn smile that made me want him even more.

  I felt my face flush from being caught in my daydream. “Morning. I, uh … I need to take a shower,” I said, jumping out of bed and bolting into the bathroom.

  Way to not be obvious!

  I quickly showered—even though I had showered the night before. Every night I slept in Easton’s Halo T-shirt and solid black boxers that he let me borrow the first night. The second night, I had done it without thinking, but now I did it to see him smile as I exited the bathroom each night. I pretended I didn’t see the way he looked at me in them. Deep down, it was my way of telling him that if he just gave me time to end things with Jared, I would act on the feelings we were trying to suppress.

  After I’d showered, Easton slipped in to take one. Mexico was hot and I couldn’t imagine how hot it got during the summer. It was close to May and during the day, I was drenched with sweat unless we were in the pool or indoors, so I dressed in a purple cotton dress and black flip-flops.

  We’d learned that it took some time for the ship to dock and to unload everyone on board, but the ship couldn’t dock in Cabo, so we had to take boats to shore. There were only two boats chauffeuring people from the boat to land and back, and I didn’t know how long it would take us to get off the ship and to the restaurant where Bailee was meeting us. The ship was due to arrive in Cabo at seven a.m., so I’d agreed to meet her at the restaurant at nine-thirty. I was excited to see my sister. It had been almost five months since I had and I missed her every day. I couldn’t wait for her to graduate and move back home.

  After waiting at least thirty minutes for our turn, we finally sat on the twelve-passenger boat, the warm morning air blowing across my face. Nicole and Avery were sitting to my left in the seat next to me, holding hands, Easton on my right. All I wanted to do was slip my hand in his. I hadn’t had someone pay so much attention to me in a long time.

  I wanted a normal relationship.

  Was my relationship with Jared normal? Could Easton be different? Jared paid attention to me in the beginning. Maybe this was just how all long relationships were. Plus, was I ready to be a stepmom? Hell, Easton probably didn’t even want a relationship with me. Maybe I just needed to have a good fuck.

  Jared and I always had the same routine when we had sex. Lights out, he goes down on me (and doesn’t do it that well), then enters me until he’s satisfied. I’d never been satisfied, never had an orgasm during sex, and only finished myself off when he jumped in the shower to clean up after.

  I knew deep down that Easton would rock my world. He would show me what it was like to lose myself in sex; to experience the fireworks I needed
to clear the smoky haze from my eyes. To fuck me until I couldn’t talk, couldn’t move, couldn’t walk for days.

  “Excited?” Easton asked, nudging my shoulder with his and bringing me out of my daydream once again.

  “Yep,” I said, smiling at him.

  He smiled back, causing my stomach to clench like it did every time he smiled at me. He rested his arm around my shoulders; not in a romantic sense, but in a buddy hug. I didn’t care. I wanted him touching me.

  Things were going to suck when I got home. I needed to break up with Jared, but knew that it would be awkward for a few days since he’d have nowhere to go. He had his mom’s house, but he wasn’t the type to bring drama to her. I knew I was going to rip his heart out, but I needed to be happy again. I needed to find myself and take care of me for once.

  We arrived at the dock a little before nine-thirty. I saw Bailee standing with a friend. Even though Bailee and I had different fathers, we looked a lot alike and you could tell that we were sisters. The only difference was her eyes were rounder and a different shade of green. Our noses were slightly different too. I had our mother’s nose and I assumed she had her father’s.

  As we got closer, Bailee saw us and we ran to each other, hugging for dear life. “I’ve missed you so much!” I said, squeezing her tight against me.

  “Me too, but please don’t talk so loud.”

  I pulled back, looking into my baby sister’s eyes. “You’re hungover?”

  “Of course I am. I’m twenty-two, a senior in college, and I’m on spring break in Mexico.”

  It boggled my mind that my baby sister wasn’t a baby anymore. We had gone to Vegas for her twenty-first birthday, but I still wasn’t used to her drinking … at least with me knowing.

  “Of course you are.” I laughed.

  Nicole nudged me out of the way. “My turn.” They hugged and then Nicole pulled away, grabbing Avery’s hand. “Bai, this is my boyfriend, Avery.”

  I hadn’t realized that they had a title and it was that serious. I thought that they were just fucking and enjoying themselves. We lived at least four and a half hours away from each other and I’d never heard of a long distance relationship working out. If she was happy, then so was I. She hadn’t been in a real relationship in a long time and if anyone was determined to make a long distance relationship work, it was Nicole.