Survival Ties (The Outbreak Chronicles Book 1) (18 page)

“What happened here?” He asked
as he parked a cart that smelled like it was holding breakfast.

“Oh, she just royally pissed
off the princess.” Daisy told him.

“Princess?” Drew asked and
looked at Aaron for an answer.

“Your little red-head friend.”
Aaron explained and Drew’s eyes widened.

“How did you piss off Diamond?”
He asked me.

“I was busy with Daisy when she
tried to talk to me, she started acting all bossy bitch on me, and I blew her
off.” I told him.

“Yeah, that would do it she
doesn’t do well with stuff like that.” Drew said, “I brought breakfast for
everyone.”

“You know you don’t have to use meal
time just to come see Ashlyn.” Sawyer told Drew, “But we all do appreciate the
food.”

She was the first one grabbing
a plate and loading it up. She picked French toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, hash
browns, and syrup. Daisy crawled over me before standing to grab a plate for
herself.

Aaron laughed as he helped me
up and then followed me over to the line for food. Evan was standing with Axel;
he was laughing at whatever Axel had said to him. He looked like he was in
heaven when he got to the food and saw what was there. Drew smiled at me as I
walked up to him and Aaron walked around me to get his plate.

“So why did Diamond come to see
you again?” He asked.

“Yeah, she was in a hurry, I
didn’t really catch what she wanted. I was a little busy.” I told him as I
picked up a plate. I grabbed two pieces of French toast and saw there were
fruit toppings to add. So I grabbed strawberries and blueberries before moving
on to the bacon and sausage. By the time I added syrup, my plate was almost
overflowing.

“You know loading up your plate
like that is unattractive, right?” Diamond asked, she had returned without me
noticing and walked up to stand beside Drew.

She wrapped her arm around his
waist resting her hand on his left hip that was closest to me. I could see Drew
had frozen and lost his playful manner.

“What are you doing?” he asked
her as he removed her hand and arm.

“Oh, don’t be like that now
Drew. Not after last night.” Diamond practically purred at him as she gazed at
him through her lashes.

“Last night?” Drew asked her.
“I didn’t see you last night; I was here with Ashlyn till well after midnight.”

“You came to see me later. You
told me I rocked your world and how much you are in love with me.” She insisted
as she watched me for a reaction.

“Uh no, I went straight back to
my room with Denver when we left here, and I went to bed when I got there.” Drew
told her like he was explaining something complicated to a little kid. “Were
you drinking last night?”

“I had a few glasses of wine.”
She told him, “You were so hot last night.”

“I think you passed out and had
some weird lucid dream. You may have drunk more than you realized.” Drew told
her as he batted her hand away from his face.

“Then how did I get this?” she
asked as she pulled her hair away from her neck to reveal a hickey near the
bend leading to her shoulder. “Or this?” She added.

She pulled the already low
neckline of her shirt down further. Showing red marks right on the cleavage
above and disappearing under her black lacy bra. They looked like someone had
bit her in the heat of passion.

“Looks like you were playing
with someone who likes to bite.” Drew said.

“As I said, you were really hot
last night.” Diamond repeated.

“Diamond, think about this,
when did I ever bite you?” Drew asked her and she thought about it for a minute
before the color drained from her face.

“Then who came to my room last
night?” Diamond asked looking like her mind was grasping for an explanation.

“Were you drunk?” Drew asked,
sounding concerned.

“Yeah, but I know it was you
that came over.” She said again.

“Look Diamond, I don’t know how
you got the marks but you probably passed out and dreamed.” Drew told her. “Now
if you’ll excuse me I would like to eat some breakfast with everyone here and
show them to their rooms.”

Diamond stood there staring
after Drew as he grabbed a plate of food and led me to a place to sit. I felt
bad for her; she really did believe that Drew had gone to her last night. She
gave one last look to Drew before she hung her head and left the room.

“We get rooms?” I asked when
she was gone.

“Yes, I have them set up on the
floor where Denver and I live. I put Sam with Axel, Hunter with Hannah, and
Tone with Sydney in two bedroom suites. Aaron, Daisy, Micah, Evan, Sawyer, and
you all have one bedroom suites.” Drew explained to me.

“I can’t wait to see them!” I
told him and he smiled as Denver came into the room. He looked like he was
giddy and was smiling ear to ear.

“He looks happy.” Drew said as
he noticed him.

“Yeah he does.” I agreed and
Denver came over to sit with us. He grabbed a piece of bacon off my plate and
ate it.

“Hey bro.” he greeted Drew,
“Sorry I’m not good with names, what was yours?”

“Ashlyn.” I told him, “You seem
to be having a good morning.”

“Yes I am.” Denver said as he
turned to wave to Sam and I saw a hickey on the side of his neck. He got up and
went over to Sam who was waving him over.

“Hey, does Denver have a
girlfriend?” I asked Drew.

“I thought you liked me?” Drew
asked as he grabbed his heart and pouted at me.

“I might, but no—he has a
hickey on his neck.” I laughed and Drew smiled before his eyes darkened. “What?
What did I say?”

“Just thinking.” He responded.

“Thinking what?” I asked
worried I had offended him.

“Diamond was really convinced I
went over to her room last night.” He finally said.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“She was drunk and Denver looks
a lot like me. What if he went to check on her and she thought it was me in her
intoxicated state? I think my brother slept with her and he’s the one who left
the marks on her.” Drew told me. “Hey Denver, come here a minute.”

“What’s up?” Denver asked as he
came back to us.

“Did you go over to Diamond’s
last night after I went to bed?” Drew asked his brother.

“I wanted to check on her.”
Denver answered as a blush turned his cheeks pink. “She was all over me as soon
as she opened the door. She kept saying she knew I would come to her, and dude
she answered the door naked.”

“Denver she was drunk and
thought you were me. Please tell me you did not have sex with her.” Drew said
as he rubbed his temples with his fingers.

“She did not think I was you.
She knew it was me and we didn’t have sex, we made love, it was amazing. I
always knew she would be my first and I can’t wait to see her today. I think
she loves me. She was wild last night.” Denver said. “Why can’t you be happy
that she loves me?”

I elbowed Drew in the ribs
before he could say anything else to Denver. After glaring darts at Drew,
Denver got up and walked over to Sam. Drew looked at me.

“What?” Drew asked me.

“Do you really want him to know
that Diamond thought it was you?” I asked him.

“He needs to know to stay away
from her. Can you imagine what she will do to him when she finds out? Did he
say she was his first?” Drew asked as some of what Denver had said caught up to
him.

“Yes he did. Would she really
do anything to Denver?” I responded.

“She’s known for years that Denver
has had a crush on her. She let him follow her around like a puppy but when it
comes down to love she doesn’t settle for puppy love.” Drew told me.

I tried to think about how I
would feel if I was in Diamond’s shoes. I couldn’t imagine how I would feel
finding out I had sex with my ex’s younger brother while I was drunk. Thinking
it was my ex coming back to me. Denver looked so happy it was heartbreaking to
know that his happiness was based on a lie.

“One thing at a time, when do
we get to see our rooms?” I asked, trying to change the subject and give Denver
a bit more time to believe.

“Soon as everyone’s done
eating.” Drew said as a smile finally found its way across his face.

Word spread around the room that we
were going to have our own rooms, everyone was excited. Seemed like they
couldn’t get their things together fast enough.

“Will we be able to stop by the
bus and grab our stuff from there?” Daisy asked and I knew she wanted to bring
her shoes to her new room.

“How about I show you guys to
your rooms so you’ll know where they are and then you can grab whatever you
want.” Drew answered, laughing a little at Daisy. I saw her smile and knew as
soon as she knew where her room was she was going to the bus.

We followed Drew as he led us
to a group of parked golf carts. He jumped into one of them, I followed him,
Sawyer and Micah followed me. Sam got behind the wheel of another one and was
followed by Axel, Daisy, and Evan. Tone drove the last cart with Aaron, Sydney,
and Hunter went with him. Drew led our little parade of golf carts.

He was intentionally going over
every speed bump fast to make Sawyer and me scream while Micah and he laughed.
I heard Daisy squeal and Axel laugh behind us, I looked back to see that Sam
had followed Drew’s lead. It was nice having fun like the world was still a
safe place.

“These carts are awesome.”
Sawyer was laughing as she held on ready for the next speed bump.

Drew seemed determined to keep
everyone laughing as we came up to the doors. They looked like the first ones
we had to come through to get into the bio dome. It looked like there was a
huge sprawling resort. Drew drove us up to the front doors that led to the
check-in desk.

“All the rooms I save for
family or friends are on this floor since this is where Denver and I call
home.” Drew told us, “So follow me and I will show you each your rooms.”

There was a lot of excitement
as we jumped out of our carts to follow Drew. Once we were inside, the first
room Drew showed us was for Sam and Axel. The room across the hall went to
Sydney and Tone. The next room went to Sawyer with Micah’s right across the
hall. Aaron’s room was next with Evan’s room across the way. Daisy was in the
next room and mine was across from her. Hunter and Hannah had the last room
down the hallway.

“The door there is to Denver’s
and my room” Drew said as he pointed across the hall.

“Where’s the princess’s room?”
Aaron asked.

“The other side of Sydney and
Tone’s room, there’s a door in that alcove. It’s kind of hidden and has its own
entrance to the spa.” Drew answered.

Drew passed out keys and
everyone dispersed to their rooms. Drew followed me into mine.

“Well you got your living room,
kitchen and dining room here. The bedroom is through that door, as is the
bathroom.” Drew told me as I spun around taking in everything.

There were forest scene
pictures on the walls; the main one had a waterfall. There was a forest green
couch with blue pillows and a matching chair sitting in front of a huge TV. The
kitchen was done in blues and greens to match the living room.

I went back to the bedroom to
find a king sized bed with dark blue blankets and light blue pillows. The walls
were all painted a light blue with the pictures all showing more abstract
images. The bathroom was also light blue with the two floor mats dark blue and
dark blue shower curtains.

“I love it!” I told Drew as I
jumped into his arms for a hug. He was laughing as he kissed me.

“So you gave her the room right
next to yours.” Diamond said from the open doorway where she stood with her hip
against the doorframe.

“It just worked out that way.”
Drew answered.

“Oh, I believe that it’s more
like you really wanted your plaything close. We both know you’ll get bored and
last night will repeat.” Diamond said as her fingers found the bite mark on her
cleavage.

“Diamond it wasn’t me you had
sex with, it was Denver. He went to check on you and you rocked his world.”
Drew snapped and realized what he had said.

“What?” Diamond asked, waiting
for Drew to take back what he had just said.

“I’m sorry that’s not how I
should have told you. I found out Denver went to check on you and apparently
with the wine you thought he was me.” Drew said more calmly watching her like
you would watch a cornered tiger.

“I had sex with Denny?” She
asked sounding like she was about to cry, “Oh God, I’m so sorry Drew.”

“I’m not the one you should be
apologizing to. Denver thinks you knew it was him and that you are into him.”
Drew said to her. Diamond nodded but she didn’t say anything as she turned and
left my room.