The face of innocence.

Tiffany had been asleep for almost an hour when she became aware of a repetitive buzzing sound coming from somewhere in the room. ‘Gross!’ she thought to herself. Her step-mom was using the vibrator she’d brought with her in her suitcase. She’d probably got all drunk and horny after flirting with that boxer guy. Tiffany scrunched her eyes tighter shut and tried to block out the noise so that she could fall back asleep. Before she could, though, the noise cut out and then started up again a minute later. That didn’t sound like someone using a toy on themselves; Tiffany would know. She had a little silver bullet vibe of her own hidden back at home.

Opening her eyes cautiously, Tiffany checked the room and saw that she was alone after all. She tapped the screen on her Apple Watch and saw that it was almost 1:30 in the morning. It was late. Her stepbrother Nathan had hung out in her room for a long while. He’d been his usual pervy self and had tried to be all over her. Tiffany had played along but ultimately knocked him back as she always did. Not without first setting him a risky sort of dare.

Fully awake now, Tiffany could tell that the sound was coming from the bedside table across the room next to her step-mom’s bed. Tiff climbed out of bed and over to where Leanne’s phone had been left charging. She punched in her step-mom’s passcode that she knew and saw immediately that there were 38 missed calls from her dad, Brian. That was bad. Especially as Tiffany knew that Leanne was likely together with Vinny. She should warn her step-mom that her husband had been trying to get hold of her a lot, and she needed to come up with some sort of a story.

Going to Leanne’s iPad, Tiffany logged out of her step-mom’s account and instead logged back into Leanne’s ex-husband’s family account. Tiffany was much more tech-savvy than the adults she knew and had no problem bypassing passwords and security codes. It was how she knew her Dad was having an affair with his secretary. It was also how she made her way from her Kyall’s system to his brother Daniel’s, the Groom, and over into Alexa’s, the bride. She’d discovered Alexa was blocking out big chunks of time leading up to the wedding but didn’t know what for. For now, she needed to access the wedding guest information file Alexa kept to see what room Vinny was staying in.

She quickly found the information she needed and left the room after putting some hotel slippers on. She would be quick, so hadn’t bothered putting anything on over the two-piece Cami she slept in. Out in the hallway, the air was much cooler, and Tiffany found her nipples hardening quickly. It was a small walk to Vinny’s room on another floor in any case, and she wasn’t going to turn back now.

A few minutes later she was walking down the hotel corridor on Vinny’s floor. She hadn’t even reached the right room when she noticed a door opening farther down. Vinny stepped out holding an ice bucket and stand and placed it outside his room. Tiffany recognised him immediately.

“Oh, hi.” Vinny looked surprised to see her, especially when Tiffany had walked straight up to him. His eyes did their very best not to drop straight down to the hard points sticking out of the teen girl's silk top.

“Hey.” She smiled politely. “Have you seen my mom?”

Vinny paused for half a second. It wasn't long enough for Tiffany to notice, but it was long enough for him to think carefully about his answer. “Your mom?”

“Leanne.”

“Yeah.”

Tiffany looked at the room behind him. “Is she here?”

Vinny nodded. “She is.”

Tiffany frowned. “Her husband, my Dad, has been trying to call her for ages. Why didn’t she come back to our room?”

Vinny glanced toward the room. “Probably because she's asleep.”

“Asleep?”

“Yeah.”

Tiffany looked confused. “My mom is asleep in your room?”

Vinny gave her an apologetic smile. “Apparently she was more tired than she realised.”

Tiffany looked past him again. “Can I see her?”

“Sure.”

He stepped aside, allowing her to look into the room. Sure enough, Leanne was there, lying face down on the bed asleep. Her top half was uncovered down to the curve of her bum, and Tiffany could see that she was completely naked. Her long black hair on the back of her head looked like it had been messed about considerably. Leanne was completely unaware of the conversation taking place in the doorway only a few metres away.

Tiffany shook her head. “She's unbelievable.”

Vinny smiled. “She had a long night.”

“So I noticed.”

“You want me to wake her up?” Vinny asked.

Tiffany hesitated. She realised this was the first time she was getting to talk to Vinny alone. “Just, ahh, tell her Brian’s been calling, and he’s going crazy.”

Vinny's expression changed. “Brian?”

“Her husband.”

“Oh, right. The man who made you,” Vinny smirked.

Tiffany blushed. “He's called about a dozen times.”

Vinny glanced toward Leanne. “Her phone isn't here?”

“No. She left it in our room.”

That was the first piece of information that genuinely relieved him. “Ah.”

Tiffany looked at him curiously. “You didn't know?”

“Nope.”

She smiled. “You're not very good at this, are you?”

“At what?”

“Being discreet.”

Vinny laughed softly. “I’m good at other things.” He nodded his head towards the sleeping form of Leanne on the bed.

Tiffany found the flush that had started on her cheeks spread to other parts of her body. There was something about Vinny's easy confidence that made conversation with him strangely effortless. He didn't behave like most of the older men she'd met around the wedding party. He seemed relaxed, amused by everything, and completely unbothered by the chaos surrounding him.

“So, ahh, you really were a boxer?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Professional?”

“Yep.”

“Were you any good?”

Vinny smiled. “I was all right.”

Tiffany gave him a sceptical look. “That's a very modest answer.”

“I had my moments.”

“How many fights?”

“Twenty-four.”

Her eyes widened.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“And you won most of them?”

“Eighteen.”

“Okay, that's actually impressive.”

Vinny shrugged. “I was younger then.”

Tiffany smiled, and Vinny thought he saw the signs of attraction there. “You don't look that old.”

Vinny laughed. “I'm taking that as a compliment.”

“It was.”

He grinned. “Thanks.”

Tiffany glanced into the room again. Her step-mom stirred but remained asleep still. “So tell me more about boxing.”

Vinny laughed. “You're actually interested?”

“A little.”

“Most people just ask whether I ever got knocked out.”

“Did you?”

“Once or twice.”

“Seriously?”

“It's boxing.”

She laughed. “Did you knock anyone out?”

“I knocked your Momma out an hour ago.” Vinny couldn't resist it, and his grin lit up his face.

Tiffany’s eyes went wide, as did her mouth. She formed her hand into a little fist and hammered the base onto Vinny’s chest. “You did not just make a yo momma joke about sleeping with my step-mom!”

The distance between them had somehow closed, and one of Vinny’s hands was resting on her hip. Tiffany’s heart was beginning to race, and her skin was coming alive to Vinny’s touch. She could feel just how strong he might be from just his hand alone, and it excited her. Tiffany couldn’t help but bite down on her lower lip. “It’s late. I should be going.” Her voice had a catch to it that she couldn’t control.

“We can let your mom sleep, and I'll walk you back,” he offered.

“You don't have to.”

“I know.” He stepped out into the corridor and pulled the door quietly shut behind him.

Tiffany smiled. “Thanks.”

They walked together toward the other end of the hotel floor. For a few moments neither of them said anything, the only sound being the muted music when they stepped into the elevator together.

“So,” Tiffany said eventually, “how did you end up being friends with Daniel?”

Vinny smiled. It was a rye one. “I’m actually closer with Alexa than Daniel. We’ve spent a lot of time together in the past.”

Those bunches of time blocked out in Alexa’s calendar suddenly entered Tiffany’s mind.

“What about you? Are you enjoying the wedding so far?” Vinny returned Tiffany’s small talk.

“It's okay. Weddings are weird.”

“How so?”

“Everyone's pretending everything is perfect, and there’s nothing going on.”

Vinny glanced sideways at her. “That sounds suspiciously philosophical for someone your age.”

“I'm eighteen, not twelve.”

“I didn't say you were.”

She smiled. “Good.”

They reached the door to Leanne's room. Tiffany pulled out her key card from the waistband of her nightie shorts and opened the door.

She stepped inside and immediately spotted the phone sitting on the bedside table.

“There it is. He’s calling again.” The display was lit, and it was rattling as the call went to voicemail again.

Vinny leaned against the doorframe. “What will you tell him?”

Tiffany thought for a moment before answering. “Probably nothing. It’s not as if he isn’t cheating on Leanne with his secretary already.”

“Wow. That’s intense,” Vinny breathed. He hadn’t been 100% sure if Tiffany was going to tell her dad about him and Leanne, but he had a good idea she wouldn’t. There’d been an inkling of something between them outside his room before Vinny had led her back here.

“I’m really good at keeping secrets,” Tiffany said as she fixed her eyes up into Vinny’s tellingly. Tiffany looked toward the hallway. “You can come in for a minute if you want.”

Vinny hesitated, but it was all an act now. “You sure?”

“Yeah. I'm not going to bite.”

He smiled and stepped inside. Tiffany closed the door behind him.