AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I needed a break.”
I chuckled quietly at her answer and tapped the side of my water bottle. “Are you cool with us going out tonight?”
“A house to myself? Yes, please. Besides, there’s always someone here, really.” She pulled out her Apple pen. “I need to keep my grades up if I’m going to take over this place someday.”
“Riddle me this.” I grinned at her. “What’s ten, smart, and will make a badass boss someday?”
She smiled at me. “Thanks, Beckett.”
I rushed up the stairs and saw Ivy coming out of her room. She looked unbelievably good in her outfit. She seemed to have shaken off her earlier sadness as she grinned at me.
“Hey.” Her cheeks pinked. Interesting. I liked how her body reacted when I was near. I decided to let my own guard down and slowly circled her to drink in the view. Her white shorts hugged her bottom, and I could see if she so much as bent over her cheeks would show. Her shirt left nothing to the imagination, and with one flick of my finger, her breasts would spill out. My fingers twitched.
“Do you think you should change?”
“What?” Her hip popped out. “What’s wrong with this?” She craned her neck to see me.
“It’s too sexy.” I watched her from behind and studied the way her body moved under her clothes.
“No, it’s not.”
“It is,” I countered and hid my amusement, “and stop wearing silk.”
“I love silk.” She turned.
“So do I. That’s the problem.” Her eyes flared with interest, and she raised her chin and gave me a smirk. I could see the fire behind those eyes, and my body instantly reacted. “Here’s the deal.” I took a step toward her. “You are mine to keep an eye on tonight.” Her lips parted as she contemplated my words. “So, you can change and make my life easier, or you can wear that and have to deal with whatever comes your way.”
“Is that so?”
“It is.”
She waited a beat then twitched her brow, popped a button on her top to give me a better show, then headed for the stairs. I could hear her laugh as she went down the steps.
My smile grew as she disappeared. I walked to my room with a grin on my face.
I stood in front of the closet and eyed my unpacked bag. I shook my head to free any negative thoughts and focused on the fact I was about to go out and have fun. Normal fun. That seemed so odd.
I thumbed through the bag and tugged out some perfectly pressed jeans then decided on a darker pair and tossed them on the bed behind me. I found a gray t-shirt, white sneakers, and my beloved ball hat. I grabbed my watch, wallet, and phone, then headed downstairs where the guys waited.
“The girls are in the van impatiently waiting for Mark!” John called.
“It takes time to look gorgeous,” he called from somewhere, and the guys chuckled at his sense of humor.
“Come on.” Cole waved us out, and I spotted a glimpse of Ivy getting into the other van. I caught sight of her blonde hair and long, bare legs. Seriously? She might kill me tonight.
“This is us, unless you want to be in that one.” Mark slapped my shoulder. He was as bad as the girls.
Zack’s was as big as Cole promised. It had a restaurant on one side and a full-on bar on the other. He came up to us, and Cole introduced me and explained that Zack was like a second father to him.
“Order whatever you want and let me take care of the rest,” he said over the music. “It’s not like this on weekdays, but on the weekends, we like to open it up, so people have a place to let off some steam.”
“Sounds great to me.” I shook his hand then noticed Sloane, who waved me over to a seat next to her and conveniently directly across from Ivy. I went along with it and made a show of looking around when really that was something I always did every few minutes on the mark.
Pitchers of beer were placed in front of us, and I saw the ladies had either wine or fruity drinks. A line of about a dozen shots appeared, and Savannah waved to get our attention.
“This is the game of ‘where’s the penny.’” She spoke loudly to be heard over the music. “A penny is passed along through every hand. Everyone needs to make the action of passing the real penny or they can fake the pass. Whoever’s turn it is calls a stop when they want, then everyone slams their hands down on the table. You have to guess where that penny is. If you lose, you share your worst date. It’s a get to know you kind of game.”
Two rounds in, and I noticed it wasn’t about trying to guess where the penny was, but more about whose face slipped when the penny hit the table.
