AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m not afraid,” I said, puffing out my chest. My ego didn’t stop me from wondering what he meant though. “Fear of what?”
Mark laughed at my question. “That she might like me more than you.”
“She may like you, but she doesn’t love you.”
Quinn’s face snapped back in shock.“Love?”
Stupid arrogance on my part allowed for the unintentional slip. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I get it. I have a soft spot for brunettes too.” Mark’s eyes drifted back to where Charlie and Marisa were. “What I don’t get is why she likes you.”
I sighed in defeat. “I haven’t the foggiest idea.”
Soft laughter at my self-deprecation filled the air as Liam and Ben rejoined us.
Liam handed me a beer and said, “I overheard Marisa talking about you. They’re all over there raving about you. Especially Marisa.”
“Really?” I asked.
“What’s she saying?” Quinn asked.
“The gist”— Ben took a sip, then continued—“basically that you’re handsome. And successful. And funny.”
“Don’t forget tall,” Liam said with a grin. When I rolled my eyes, he said, “That’s what I heard. Something about you being tall and big.”
Quinn snorted a laugh. “Don’t think big meant tall, Liam.”
“Can’t see what all the hype’s about,” Jackson teased. “We’re all tall.”
“I don’t know, Sandman. I think you’re way out of your league with that one,” Mark joked.
“Like you are with Charlie?” Ben asked.
I clinked my bottle to his as we all laughed.
“Ya gotta admit”—his head swiveled to the group of women on the other side of the room—“that is one fine lookin’ group of ladies.”
“Keep your eyes off my wife, Twilight,” Ben said.
“You afraid? That she might want a little taste of the dark side?”
“No. I just don’t want her blinded by your pale ugly ass.”
“More like you don’t want her sullied by his inane obsession with the gym.”
“Or his occasional bouts of obnoxiousness,” Jackson added.
“Occasional?” I asked, grinning, clinking my bottle to Mark’s.
“When you’re with someone, when you can be with someone, and you don’t even have to talk . . . you just know what they’re thinking,” Jackson said. His words were profound and shut all of us up.
“That’s what we all have,” Mark said, his lighthearted attitude changed to thoughtful sincerity in a nanosecond. That was Mark, though. As asinine as he was when he was cracking jokes with us, at the root of him was a man who was intelligent, dedicated, and sensitive.
We all saluted him and his candor, knowing that we all were lucky to have one another as friends and the women across the room as our salvation.
Now that the conversation had morphed into something more serious, I brought up the upcoming retreat they’d all be assisting me with. We were scheduled for a four-day retreat at the beach with a group of veterans and active-duty service members, where we would work to build strategies and tools that focused on stress, injury, and pain of any kind. Our focus was to help customize plans for each individual that offered continued healing and growth through support and available resources. Camping, surfing, paddleboarding, swimming—even yoga and massages—were available during the retreat. I had wanted to get the guys out to see what we did and hoped they would want to come on board and help support the cause and possibly implement this kind of retreat into our company. The big idea was to design something similar or help expand the concept nationwide.
As we concluded our conversation and ironed out the details, laughter from our ladies caught all of our attention. It seemed I wasn’t the only one who was drawn by the ladies in our lives. Just like her siren’s voice did, Marisa’s throaty laugh beckoned to me. My feet moved of their own accord in her direction. I had a desperate need to be with her.
