“We’ll go to the training room. I’m sure someone will spar with you.”

He nodded. “Let’s do that.”

“You may wish to shower first.”

Vanni. Her smell was on him. He hesitated, not willing to lose that connection. It wasn’t rational though, he realized. “Okay.”

Fury studied him, worry evident.

“I’ll be fine.”

His friend nodded. “I know.”

Chapter Five

Vanni knew Beth hovered at the bathroom door of their shared apartment because she was worried. They’d been best friends since first grade. “I’m okay.”

“I don’t see how. I still can’t believe what you told me in the car.”

She looked at Beth. “I wish it was a lie but it’s all true. I need a shower.” She began to strip and shoved the skirt down. The engagement ring fell out of the pocket and bounced on the tile flooring. She stared at it, a reminder of her new reality.

“I can almost read your mind. You look so sad, Vanni. This wasn’t your fault. You were drugged.” Beth paused. “You don’t have to tell Carl. I might not like him but I know how much he matters to you. We could say you got a bad case of food poisoning and I came and got you from the hotel.”

She shook her head. “No. It’s over. He lied to me about why we went to the hotel in the first place and became a total jerk. You were right about him.”

“Which part? That he was a selfish son of a bitch or that he was a user?”

Vanni frowned.

“Come on. He asks you to marry him and immediately stops touching you? You haven’t had sex with him in four months.”

“He was afraid it would reflect badly on his reputation. I understood that. When our engagement was announced in the papers, they did a story about his dad too. It would have looked terrible to have a preacher’s son having a woman stay late at his house. The reporters suddenly became interested in him and his life.”

“That’s lame. I said that and I stand by it. There’s something off with Carl. You said the sex wasn’t even good and he rarely touched you. He probably has a boyfriend stashed somewhere. He got you to say yes and dried up the affection. It screams to me that he likes guys and he needed you as a front to hide it.”

Vanni wasn’t sure. “Either way, we won’t be getting married now.” She bent, picked up the ring and put it in the drawer so it wouldn’t get lost. “I’ll give that back to him when he returns to town.”

“Tell me more about this New Species. All you said was that you both were drugged and had sex together. Was that any good at least? I mean, you remember it, right?”

“I’ll never forget. I remember it all.” She turned on the water and let it warm then closed the toilet lid to sit so she could look at the bottom of her foot. She hoped it wasn’t cut. She gasped when she sat, aware of being tender.

“Are you okay?”

Vanni examined her sole. “It’s just a bruise. I don’t see any cuts or blood.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. Did he hurt you?”

Vanni looked up. “No, he didn’t hurt me.” She stood. “I’m just sore.”

“In a good or a bad way?”

“What does that mean?”

Beth arched her eyebrows and smiled. “Was he big? They look big. Is that why you flinched when you sat down?”

“Beth!” Vanni scowled. “Don’t be disgusting.”

“I’m being honest. You should see the way you were walking. It wasn’t just the limp but you’re a bit bowlegged. Was he like Justice North with those gorgeous kitty eyes?”

“No.”

“He’s like Fury? He’s canine and so hot. I envy Ellie. It was so damn sad but dreamy when they were shot at and he just swooped her up to get her to safety. Can you imagine any guy taking a few bullets to protect a woman? That’s loyalty to the extreme.”

Smiley’s face surfaced in her memory. “He wasn’t like either of them.”

“He was a primate?” Beth leaned against the wall. “What do they look like? I haven’t seen pictures of them that really show their features.”

“He had beautiful eyes.” She turned around and stepped into the shower.

“Shit!”

Beth scared her and Vanni spun, almost slipping in the wet tub. “What?”

“I thought you said he didn’t hurt you.”

“He didn’t.”

Beth stepped into the bathroom and grabbed their small makeup mirror off the vanity. She approached and offered it. “It’s a good thing you are calling it off with Carl or he’d know some other guy nailed you. Check out the bruises on your ass. He has big hands.”

Vanni grabbed the mirror and twisted, getting a look at her butt. Bruises were forming on both cheeks in the shape of handprints. “It doesn’t hurt.”

Her friend accepted the mirror back. “Let me guess. He nailed you standing up, grabbing your ass. That takes skill.”

A flashback struck her—Smiley pinning her against the SUV and his hands cupping her ass while he’d ground his pelvis against hers. “I just want to forget this night.”

Beth returned the mirror to the vanity and took a seat on the counter. “This was your first one-night stand.”

“Thanks for the reminder. Did you not hear me? I want to finish my shower, go to bed and just pretend none of this ever happened.”

“You won’t. I know you too well. You aren’t going to tell Carl about having sex with this other guy, are you?”

Vanni hesitated. “I owe him that much.”

“Bad idea. He’s a prick, hon. You were attracted to this Smiley, drugged or not. I listened to you really closely since I was in stun mode and couldn’t talk at first. You should be more upset.”

“I am.”

Beth was quiet while Vanni showered. She turned off the water and grabbed a towel to wrap her wet hair and another to dry her body.

“You like Smiley.”

Vanni paused and met her friend’s concerned gaze. “He was nice.”

“The sex was great, wasn’t it?”

“It was the drugs. You have no idea what they did to us.”

“Want to tell me?”

“Not really.”

“You’re not the casual-sex type. Something more happened than the two of you just getting it on. You felt something for him.”

“I felt a lot of things and most of them weren’t good. That drug is awful. I don’t think I ever want to have kids. I can imagine what labor feels like now. It was that bad.”

“He was that big? Are you sure he wasn’t a horse instead of a primate?”

“Shut up.” Vanni wrapped the towel around her middle and limped out of the bathroom to the bedroom they shared. “I’m talking about the pain I felt when we weren’t…you know.”

“Getting it on?” Beth followed her.

“Yes, if you want to use that crude term.” She tugged on a nightgown and climbed into bed. “I’m so tired and I don’t want to face tomorrow.”

Beth took a seat on the edge of the mattress. “You could just mail the ring back to Carl and avoid him completely. That’s what I suggest.”

“I wasn’t thinking about that but thanks. It just reminded me that we sent out wedding invitations. I’ll have to contact everyone to tell them it’s off.”

“It’s not a bad thing. Carl was a jerk, hon. I’m kind of glad this happened.”

Vanni gaped at her.

“I didn’t mean the drugging and having sex with a New Species. Carl wasn’t right for you. He just filled your ideal-husband checklist.”

“I didn’t know I had one.”

“He has a stable job and he wanted kids. He’s so damn boring that you know he wouldn’t be playing hide-the-brief with his office staff.” Beth smiled. “That was a lawyer joke. I’m trying to make you laugh.”

“There’s nothing funny about this. My life is destroyed.”

Beth shook her head. “It’s not. It’s just different now. You hated Carl’s father and everything his church stands for. We couldn’t even get through five minutes of his televised show. He was a blowhard. You’re not going to have to pretend to like him anymore when he shows up for visits or worry about Carl making you attend any of his sermons when you visit him.”