“Like I have a choice!” he yelled right back, throwing his shoes into the sand and shrugging out of his pants with jerky movements that had me hypnotized.
I told myself I wouldn’t look.
But the champagne said it was an excellent idea as he dropped his briefs and gave me a scalding smirk that basically said: “Look your fill.”
And I was rewarded because, apparently, every inch of him was huge.
And there were a lot of…inches.
I licked my salty lips and waited for him to dive in.
I wondered how he tasted.
I wondered if he’d push me away or let me sink my mouth onto him with wild abandon.
And then I wondered how tipsy I really was for even thinking about asking him if I could put my mouth on every hot inch of his body.
“See, aren’t you so happy you agreed to skinny-dip?” I grinned once he broke the surface in typical Tank fashion—with a gorgeous scowl on his lips and intense eye contact that made me want to flick him on the nose and dive back under the water.
God, his stares were punishing.
Punish. Me.
My body pounded.
My pulse raced.
I ached.
He jerked me against him. “Sometimes, I think you have a death wish.” His green eyes flashed. “We’re both way beyond buzzed, in an ocean, with predators—”
“Meh, I only see one predator.”
Another wave crashed, sending me into his naked arms.
He was so big.
So warm.
I shivered and then wrapped my legs around his waist, feeling the steely rod of his length pressed against me.
His eyes briefly closed as his jaw flexed. “You trying to get me killed?”
“Oh, please, my dad can’t shoot this far in the dark.”
“Yes, let’s test that theory,” he ground out.
“Well, your ass was pretty white.” I nodded. “And your dick, well, I was a lady and didn’t look but—”
“Bullshit.” He laughed. “You were the opposite of good eye contact, more like, oh look, a penis, let’s stare at it and see if it grows.”
“Well, I mean…water makes everything grow…right?” I countered.
“Not cold water.” His smile was everything I craved, everything that made me forget that I was sad, a bit lost, and broken. His smile, just like tonight, was magic.
“Didn’t seem to matter to me.” I shrugged, wrapping my arms around his neck.
Our foreheads touched. “You hate me,” he whispered.
“Hate is such a strong word,” I said flippantly as our bodies rubbed together.
Another groan escaped his lips as the water lapped around our shoulders.
And then all chaos broke out as cousins came running toward the shore, stripping and jumping in.
Ash protectively shoved Annie behind him as she undressed, and then he carried her in.
Everyone else didn’t give a shit.
Which I kind of loved.
“We heard yelling!” Serena laughed, splashing in. “And then we saw two naked-ass bodies.”
“Guilty!” I called back. “He goes where I go. I get naked; he has no choice.”
“Yes.” King nodded his head. “Sounds like a good job if naked equals naked.”
Tank barked out a laugh. “Yes, well, in her case, naked could also equal death so…”
“Risk-taker.” King grinned knowingly. “I like your style.”
Tank slowly released me as the ocean became crowded with my cousins, with my friends, family. I loved that they were there.
Including us.
Me.
But I was upset that whatever had just transpired between us was gone as Tank moved over to Ash and started shoving him under the water.
Annie watched with a wistful smile on her face. I swam over to her and laughed when Ash threatened to kill Tank only for Tank to shove him back down.
“Boys,” I said.
“Men,” she countered. “Or have you not noticed?”
“My cousin? Hell, no. I mean…he’s pretty, everyone knows that, but I don’t look at his pee-pee.”
Annie giggled as water lapped around her pale skin. “I would hope not.”
“Pretty sure it’s illegal.”
“Not in Kentucky.” Maksim floated right on by on his back, dick in the air.
“EWWWW, MAKSIM!” I kicked his ass while Annie covered her face with one hand.
He just chuckled darkly and started singing row, row, row your boat, gently across the stream, life is but a penis dream…
“Something’s wrong with him,” I muttered.
I was about to shove him under the water when Izzy beat me to it. He gulped ocean water and then down he went.
She would kill him dead one day.
And he’d only have himself and his sad little penis song to blame.
“Hey!” a man yelled from the beach. Flashlights blinded us as more yelling ensued. “You can’t swim after nine!”
“Lameeeeee!” Junior yelled. “Where’s my gun?”
“I have a knife,” Valerian said helpfully while Violet sighed as if she were disappointed. “What? I do. How else can I protect you?”
“Your fists,” King said stoically. “GOD, STOP YELLING!” he roared toward shore. “It’s like they don’t understand that it’s been weeks since any of us have killed someone.”
Valerian snorted. “Speak for yourself.”
“Showoff,” Maksim muttered.
“Lots of blood?” Junior just had to ask while everyone leisurely made it toward the shore, ignoring the flashlights and yelling.