He pulls the covers up around us tighter, cocooning us in, and I do, in fact, feel safe in his arms. Sleep though? That takes a while. I stare at the bedside clock, watching the minutes tick by agonizingly slowly. Mark’s palm slides soothingly up and downmy back, both of us wide awake, just lying there in the silence. After tossing and turning who knows how many times, my eyes finally feel heavy and flutter closed with the burning red three imprinted behind my lids.
31
Ava
Summer morning light filters in through my window, and I stretch, finding myself alone in bed. I roll over and see that it’s almost eight-thirty. I drag my tired butt from the bed, grab clothes from my dresser, and shuffle off to my bathroom to get decent.
In the living room, I find Sydney curled up with Amy on the couch, typing away on her computer.
“Morning,” I mumble, not fully awake. I’m not human til I have some coffee in me. I scratch Amy’s head as she patters over to me in greeting. Sydney reads my mind.
“Morning! There’s fresh coffee already in the pot.”
“You’re amazing, but you already knew that.”
“The guys should be back soon to start changing things. Colin texted about twenty minutes ago to check in. That means the rest of the crew will be here within the hour.”
“What are you working on?” I ask while doctoring my coffee the way I like it. I mosey over to the loveseat positioned in the sun next to the big front window.
“I’m writing a book.” Sydney gives a small, shy smile, peering up at me over the laptop. She reaches to grab her coffee mug from the little side table next to her.
“Holy crap! That’s awesome, Sydney! You’d mentioned a while ago that you’ve always dreamed of doing that. What is it going to be about?”
“I’m working on a rough outline now, but you know me.” She smirks at me.
“Smutty romance?” I question with a tilt of my lips.
“You know it,” she admits, and we both snicker.
“Can’t wait to read it,” I say, sipping on my hot coffee, savoring how the warm liquid coats and slides down my throat, warming me from the inside out. I lean my head back against the cushion, happy to just be still with one of the best people I know. The clickety clacking of the keyboard is surprisingly soothing.
“What if it sucks? What if nobody reads it?” Sydney wonders aloud as she types.
“It won’t suck. You have an amazing brain with oodles of creativity knocking around in there. It’ll mean something to all of us, and we’ll be damn proud of your accomplishment.”
“Thanks, Avy.”
I smile at her little nickname for me. I can’t imagine how I’ve gone all these years without her. A knock at the front door has me peeking out the window. It’s the girls. I climb up to unlock the door.
“I brought donuts!” Jane hollers as she pushes her way in on a mission. She and Holly bustle toward the kitchen with all the goodies. Sydney smiles and shuts down her laptop.
“Goody, more sweets for my butt,” Sydney mumbles on her way into the room, still intent on eating one despite her comment about her butt.
“Girl, your butt still looks amazeballs,” Holly titters, rolling her eyes at her best friend. “Besides, it’s a holiday. Eat the donut.”
“I’m sure as hell eating one before the guys come in and snag the good ones,” Jane announces. “I guarantee they’ll be ruthless with their choices. These are from Whitney’s.”
We all sigh, reaching in to pick what looks like it’ll make our hearts happy. I go for a chocolate covered one filled with custard. The first bite is heaven.
“What the heck is with all the moaning going on in here?” Trystan asks with his megawatt smile telling us he’s enjoying the show. “Oooh, are those from Whitney’s?” He leans in, snagging up a chocolate-iced, custard-filled long john. “Shit, I’m glad I got here before all the guys.”
“Told ya,” Jane smirks over at Holly.
Trystan walks over to the door and hollers out about the donuts around the mouthful he’s chewing, and all the guys come barreling in like a bunch of starving teenage boys. Holly’s eyes widen even more, and we all laugh as they argue over who gets what.
“Morning, Bella,” Mark mumbles with a mouthful of a caramel-iced long john before kissing my cheek. I hear the girls swoon at his use of the Italian pet name.
“Come on, guys, let’s get this done. I have a few other things that need to be tended to before we party tonight.” Mark tosses me a wink, and the guys collectively chuckle as a blush creeps across my cheeks. Garrett gives Jane a sweet peck on the lips before following after Mark and the other guys.
