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The lock clicks, and Chase chuckles when I jump from the sound.
And then I jump again when the paddles are tossed at our feet, Mason’s body pushing itself in front of us, so he can begin sliding them into their posts.
Chase backs away and does the same, so I slip away, headed up the dock.
As I reach the platform, my eyes glide their way once more and, what do you know, Chase’s are on me.
I pinch my lips to the side and continue into the house, where my smile breaks free.
As I cut an apple and scoop some peanut butter into a small bowl, I can’t help but remember the words spoken in the dark only a few nights ago.
Nothing forces a man to face his feelings for a woman than the interest of another man.
I’m not sure if that’s what’s happening here but bless you Noah Riley for your man knowledge.
You might be the very reason I get everything I’ve ever wanted.
Chapter 8
Arianna
* * *
We came down to Lolli’s today for breakfast, and after eating, moved out to the patio for a couple games of Cornhole, but us girls didn’t last long, so everyone decided to take a walk down the beach to the coffee shop.
Mason, Chase, and Brady all hover over Payton as she climbs up the small set of stairs to sit beside us on an abandoned lifeguard’s post, the only place on the beach that offers any shade if you don’t pop up a canopy.
So protective, our crew. We may have only met Payton earlier this summer, but she’s Parker’s sister, and Parker is like family to Lolli, making her important to all of us. At least that’s how it started, but that was just the start. It didn’t take long for each of us to eagerly welcome her into the fold. She comes from a shitty situation. Her mom, while richer than dirt, was cruel and controlling. Outside of Deaton, Payton didn’t really have any true friends, so sometimes I catch her sitting back, watching the rest of us, kind of like I’m doing now with the boys.
It’s an unnecessary reminder of Mason’s massive inability to find his chill.
I imagine Chase being the leader on the board of stay the fuck away from my sister, but he hasn’t been so good at upholding his title.
Sure, he pulls back and cuts me off at the ankles with his ‘no, hell no’ speech, but he’s slowly coming around. We hadn’t drunk a drop when he kissed me in my room, that was all him. At this point, I just want to feel his lips on me again.
Anywhere.
Everywhere.
“Girl, stop,” Cameron’s chuckled whisper pulls my eyes to hers, and her grin deepens. “Your face is straight flushed right now.”
“Shut up!” I whisper back. “For real?”
“Oh, yeah.” She nods, and I recognize the mischievous glint in her eye and my own narrows.
“Cam, don’t—”
“Hey Chase, toss Ari that drink, will you?” She bites back a laugh, nodding at Mason’s half-drunken bottle. “Our girl’s thirsty.”
Chase looks from her to me, a knowing smirk pulling at his lips as he grabs it, Mason’s glare moving among the three of us before pointing back to the other blonde not twenty feet away.
But Chase doesn’t toss it.
He does me one better and saunters over, but instead of placing it in my outstretched hand, he leans closer and sets it beside me, his bare chest brushing along my shoulder. His eyes meet mine as he moves away, but he doesn’t say a word, moving back to where he stood with my brother.
Only once he’s out of earshot, do the three of us let our chuckles free.
Lolli makes a gagging sound, and we look over to find her pretending to suck a dick, her brows wagging, so I toss the chair pillow at her head, moving my eyes to Chase once more.
I let out a tortured sigh, but sensing my brother’s attention on me, I look his way. I’m met with a frown, but what’s new? He’s never been one to hold back his displeasure when it came to one-on-one attention from anyone with a dick, especially one his best friends.
Jerk.
Trudging up the back deck, Cameron groans. “Why did I agree to walking to the coffee shop. My body aches.”
“Same.” I yawn, using the railing to help me make it up the last few steps. “How can I be so tired when we were lying in bed by six last night?”
“That’s exactly why you’re tired.” Chase grins.
“That… or the two hours you spent paddling against the tide.” Mason shakes his head. “If you learned how to take instruction in the gym, you wouldn’t feel the need to work your muscles out there so much.”
“You mean she wouldn’t feel like she was dying for days after?” Cameron teases.
“I don’t feel like I’m dying days after, one for sure, but not more.” I laugh. “Besides, I like how water exercise doesn’t feel like exercise, that’s why I do it. And not taking instructions would mean I don’t do as you say, but I do. The problem is, I am physically incapable of the shit you give me.”
