I laugh and bite his shoulder. “I can’t argue with that.”
“Bite me like that, and we’ll have to start this process all over again.”
“I have to work.” I slip from the shower and wrap a towel around myself, my skin humming from my second orgasm of the morning. “You keep yourself and your sexy ways away from me.”
He turns off the water and reaches for his own towel, watching me with happy eyes.
“Fine. Only because I don’t think I could survive round three.”
“Oh, you could,” I say with confidence. “We’ll try another day.”
He pulls me to him and kisses me deeply. Slowly. The tone changing from hot lust to sweet affection.
“It’s a date, sweetheart.”
Chapter Thirteen
~Noah~
“If you keep staring at her like that, people will think you’re a stalker,” Max says, mirroring my stance at the windows, our arms crossed over our chests. Fallon is down at the dock with the girls, sitting in the sun and laughing about something.
I can’t hear her, but it makes me smile. Damn, I love her laugh.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say. “I’m just watching the lake.”
“Bullshit,” Max says with a laugh. “You’re looking at the girls. And it better be Fallon, because if you’re ogling Willa, I’ll punch you out.”
“Same goes for Autumn,” Gray says, joining us.
“I think we’re all on board with that,” Christian adds as he and Brad join us, as well. Here we are, a line of men watching our girls. Hannah is the first to jump into the water, splashing and swimming, urging the others to join her.
“That’s my girl,” Brad murmurs.
“She seems to be doing better,” Max says, gesturing to Hannah. “She’s much less anxious compared to last summer.”
“She’s working through it,” Brad replies with a nod. “She never would have jumped into that water before.”
“Good for her,” I say, smiling as Fallon splashes Hannah with her foot.
“Looks like Fallon is fitting right in,” Christian says, clapping me on the shoulder. “I like her.”
“We all do,” Gray agrees. “I’m going to be brutally honest.”
“Oh, good,” I say, my voice dry. “I was worried that you’d sugarcoat it.”
“I didn’t know if you’d fall in love,” Gray continues, ignoring me. “Not because you aren’t a good guy, but because you can be…”
“I can be what?”
“Abrasive,” Brad finishes for him. “You’re honest and blunt, and sometimes that comes off as douchey.”
“I am douchey,” I agree with a nod. “But not on purpose, and she gets me. We are honest with each other, and I’m learning to choose my words more carefully. The last thing in the world I ever want to do is hurt her, so I’m still me, but with prettier words.”
“It’s working,” Max says. “She looks at you like you hung the moon.”
“Which is how it should be,” Brad adds.
“She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” I reply with a shrug, grinning when Fallon dives off the dock and surfaces with a big smile for her friends. “I never understood it before, you know? I watched you all fall, one by one, and I didn’t get it. Until her.”
“That’s how it should be, too,” Christian says. “Otherwise, we’d get married and divorced at every turn. You wait for the one that changes you. That changes everything.”
“Listen to us,” I say, laughing. “We sound so sappy.”
“Love does that to you, too,” Gray adds. “We’re mushy. I can live with it.”
“Me, too,” I say with a nod. “Are we taking the boats out or what?”
“You guys go,” Max says as he walks away. “I have to wait for the caterer. I ordered a taco bar to be set up, but they should be here anytime, and then I’ll join you.”
“I love days at Max’s house,” Brad says as we walk down to the lake. The girls have all climbed out of the water and onto the dock, where they’re chatting.
“Who wants to go water skiing?” Gray asks.
“Can’t we just go on the pontoon?” Jenna asks with a sigh. “I want to sit and watch the water and be lazy. I don’t ever get to be lazy.”
“That’s one vote for lazy,” Brad says. “Ladies?”
“I’m all for lazy,” Willa agrees.
“Lazy,” Hannah says with a sigh. “And safer.”
Brad laughs and kisses his wife on the shoulder. “Autumn? Fallon? Are you up for skiing?”
“I am,” Autumn says, surprising us. “I’m trying new things.”
“I can’t let her go alone,” Fallon says, looping her arm through Autumn’s. “So, it looks like we’ll go skiing. But I want to be lazy after.”
“Deal,” Gray says.
I pull Fallon to me and kiss her hard, in front of all the people that I love. “Don’t worry, you’ll be safe.”
“I know,” she says with a smile.
Christian and Brad join the other girls on the pontoon, while Gray and I take our women on the speedboat.
“Hey, wait for me,” Max calls out and runs onto the boat before we can pull away.