Some Kind of Normal

We both rolled out of the truck and followed Hailey, Link, and Brent up the stairs with our bags. The guys went back a few more times for the coolers that were stuffed with food, beer, and—

“Who the hell packed two club packs of Popsicles?” I eyed Brent, but he shrugged.

“Not me.”

“I did,” Hailey said, grabbing them from me and heading to the kitchen with them. “They’re, like, my Kryptonite.”

I made a weird face, and Everly tried like hell not to laugh.

“So, they’ll kill you?” I asked, following her into the kitchen. She was stuffing them into the freezer.

“Huh?”

“Kryptonite. It was the one thing that made Superman weak.”

She grabbed a cherry Popsicle but didn’t bother to offer me one. “Superman?” she asked, tearing off the wrapper. “What does Superman have to do with me?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but Link was already there, biting off a huge piece of her Popsicle. “Mmm,” he said, moving in for a kiss. “Cherry is my new favorite flavor.”

He pushed her back against the kitchen cabinets, and the two of them started to make out like porn stars. Time for me to leave. I glanced at Everly, but she was already moving back toward the family room that overlooked the river.

“Our bedroom is this way.” I grabbed her bag and she followed me down the hall. The cottage wasn’t big, but the bedrooms were a good size. Link was taking his parents’ room, which overlooked the water and had an exit to the hot tub. The guest room had a view of the shed and not much else, because it was tiny. I was okay with that because the bed was a huge king-sized monstrosity that took up most of the space, and we had our own private bathroom.

Win.

“Wow,” Everly said softly, eyes on the red and white plaid blanket. “It’s…big.”

I tossed my bag. “And squeaky. The springs are shot.”

“What?”

I tried to keep a straight face but lost it when she took a step toward me. “Kidding,” I said, hands up in surrender.

“That’s not funny.” She tried to punch me in the shoulder, but I ducked and grabbed her around the waist.

We both fell onto the bed. Again, win.

And she ended up on top of me. Double win.

I was laughing, and she was trying not to laugh. And my hands were on her hips and then she was leaning over me, her hair tickling my nose. She was bare legs, exposed stomach, and summer sweet smell.

God, she felt great.

Our laughter slowly died and I couldn’t tear my eyes away. I exhaled and tried to get my head screwed on straight, but it was damn hard. The air was different. It was thick and heavy, with a need that I didn’t think we were ready for. At least, not yet.

I tucked that piece of hair that teased me behind her ear, shifted a bit because, well, she was on top of me, and cracked a smile.

“See? No squeaks.”

I sat up, Everly still straddling me, and wrapped my arms around her. What was it about this girl that had me all fuzzy and warm, acting like a damn teddy bear?

“I should unpack,” she said.

“Yeah,” I said slowly, pressing one last kiss on a mouth that was pretty much perfect. Her breath hitched, and that did all sorts of crazy stuff to me. More than a little unsteady (when had a girl ever made me this freaking crazy?), I pulled away.

“We’ve got all weekend.”

/>