And me handing the win to Benji hadnothingto do with Savannah.
I promise you, it didn't.
He did have the nerve to shake his head at me when he saw me looking at Savannah and Nerissa for the sixth time.When I found myself looking over again, I cursed and started moving to the shore.
“Pitiful, Cage, just pitiful,” he said, chuckling, his fingers wading the water.
“Kiss my ass, Won.”
I marched up to where Savannah was stretched out on a towel up the beach.Her hair was loose in the gentle breeze and her knee was bent with books fanning around her.Nerissa lounged beside her, soaking up the sun, laughing at something Jesse said while Ari lay dramatically face-down in the sand like a fallen soldier.
I didn’t even bother grabbing a towel.My feet had a mind of their own, like a compass pointing due north, and fuck me—she may as well have been the damn North Pole.
She noticed me only when my shadow fell across her pages.I leaned over her, coming dangerously close to her forehead.The sweet scent of cherries and vanilla engulfed me, filling my lungs and making me want to bury my head in her hair.
“Jaxon!”Savannah protested, lifting her head and pushing against my chest.“You’re going to get my books wet.”
“Good morning to you, too,” I said easily.
She opened her mouth to argue again, and I brushed a quick kiss to her cheek.Just a soft press, but the sound of that little gasp brought me back to last night.
“Hi, trouble.”I dipped closer, my mouth near her ear.The heat between us was a comfort against the remnants of water running down my skin.“Now, about that in-person thank you for the coffee…”
She shoved my shoulder.“Absolutely not.”
I laughed.“Worth a shot.”
My gaze dropped to the spread of color-coded tabs and neatly-highlighted pages.“You studying already?It’s barely eight.”
“I don’t expect to get much done this week,” she said, flipping a page.“I need to get as much done this weekend as possible.”
“I can help if you want.”
Her head snapped up.
“You?”she asked, incredulous.“Help me study?”
I tilted my head.“What, you think I'm only a pretty face?”
She huffed.“If the shoe fits.”
“I'd say sorry to disappoint, but your moaning last night says—”
Her palm slapped against my smirking lips, glancing to the left at my friends.I met her glare with a wink then ran my tongue across her hand, making her pull her hand away in disgust.
“We arenottalking about that.”
“Oh, we absolutely are.You taste good, trouble.Be lucky we aren't alone, otherwise I'd have you spread out across all these books you love so much and enjoy some breakfast on the beach.”
I was stirring in my boxers just thinking about it.
“Stop it.”She was fighting a blush as she wiped her palm across her pants, her eyes darting left again.“God, I can't believe I… whatever happened last night was a one-time thing.It isneverhappening again.”
I hummed thoughtfully, my gaze dipping to those full lips of hers.“Think so?”
“I know so.So whatever you're thinking, stop.”
“I'm thinking that I made you see the starstwice,and now I can't get the taste of you off my tongue.Believe me, it's happening again.”
