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“Whose place is this? We crashing?” Gucci sat on the end of the chaise beside mine, a big glob of sunscreen in his hand as he covered every inch of his bulky body.
“Nah, it belongs to a friend of Panther’s who’s overseas.”
“Huh.” Gucci lowered his sunglasses and looked at me. “You been here before?"
“No.”
“Then how do you know this is his friend’s place?”
“I overheard him telling Whiplash when she got here.” I reached over to the side to grab my beer, but when I picked it up, it was empty. “Go get me a beer.”
Gucci wiped the rest of the sunscreen off on his board shorts and snorted. “What do I look like? Your bitch?”
“You played the part well enough when I had you eating my dust the other day.”
“Oh fuck you,” he grumbled as he got to his feet. “That was a lucky break.”
“No luck about it. I’m just that good.” I grinned at him, my eat-shit smile clearly getting under his skin from the way he began to curse.
“Am I interrupting something?” Panther said, casting a shadow over me and giving temporary relief from the sun. He looked between us before settling his gaze on me. “What’d you do now?”
My mouth fell open. “Me? Why’s it always my fault?”
“Because you’re trouble.” When Panther smirked, Gucci nodded.
“Don’t act so innocent. Even Panther gets it, and God knows he’s had a front-row seat dealing with your shit.”
“Oh, go roll around in some more fucking Coppertone, ass.” When Gucci laughed and walked away, Panther took up the spot on the chaise beside me and handed me a fresh beer. “I don’t know how we’re friends, I swear.”
“Because he calls you out on your shit, and you respect that.”
I hmphed and sucked down a long swallow of the ice-cold brew. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gucci raiding the massive cooler, and when he saw the full beer in my hand, he pointed at Panther and mouthed, “Who’s your bitch now?”
Flipping him off, I sat up on the lounge and drank some more as Panther remained quiet and pensive beside me, though more relaxed than he’d been in a while. The week had started out rough, but after our tandem flying adventure, he seemed to have come back into his own. Like he remembered the sheer thrill of what we did and focused on that rather than the past. At least, I hoped that was it. The last few days he’d gone up on his own for the hops, and I hadn’t witnessed any anxiety. Not saying he was cured, because did you ever really forget? I sure as hell never did, and it was what pushed me every time I went up.
“Another?” Panther said, his voice cutting into my thoughts, and when I looked down, I realized I’d finished off the beer.
“Damn. Guess I was thirsty.” I set the empty bottle down beside my chair and noticed the way the sun glistened off Panther’s skin, making me want to lick every inch of him. Not that I could see all that I wanted to; he wore a tank with his board shorts to cover the remaining bruises, which, while faded, were still there to serve as a reminder he didn’t want.
“I’m thirsty too,” he said, and when I looked down at the still-full beer in his hands, he shook his head. “Not for this.”
Hel-lo. My cock woke up in an instant, and I had to scoot forward and put my elbows on my knees to cover the lust those words had ignited in me.
As if he knew exactly what he’d done, Panther chuckled. “The house is mine anytime I want it. Nights…weekends…”
“And you’re just telling me this now?”
“He only left Wednesday.”
“He only left… Just who is this guy?”
“A friend from high school.”
“Mhmm.” I reached for my beer again and cursed when I came up empty. “Was this a friend with benefits? An ex-turned-friend? A friend who wants to fuck you and asks you to sleep in his bed under the guise of ‘housesitting’ friend?”
Panther laughed as if it was a ridiculous notion—which it was not, because had he looked in the mirror? There had to be a trail of broken hearts from high school to every place he’d ever been in his life.
“I don’t know why you’re laughing.”
“Because this jealous side of you isn’t one I’m familiar with. I like it.”
“You still haven’t answered the question.”
“There’s nothing to answer. I’m, uh, not exactly his type, and he’s definitely not mine.”
“Oh?” My ears perked up. “So what is your type?”
Panther shook his head and looked over to Phantom and Utah setting up a volleyball net across the pool. Yeah, okay, fine. Not really the conversation to have with a bunch of nosy fuckers around.
Like that was going to stop me.
