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Axel’s eyes light up with mischief as his arm moves behind me on the couch in a veryfirst date at the movieskind of way, and he plays with the ends of my hair.
“‘Baby momma’ just has such a nice ring to it though.” He kicks his feet up on the firepit. This guy does absolutely nothing for me, and if Cooper wasn’t here, Axel might actually creep me out a little. But I get the distinct impression he’s doing this to rile Cooper up. And I’m all for it.
“Hey, Trick,” Axel calls.
The tall brunette guy manning the grill turns to look at us. His golden skin glows against the bright orange Hawaiian-print board shorts hanging off his hips and the long-sleeved Salt Life t-shirt stretching across a broad chest. A big dog is sitting obediently at his feet. Watching.
“You met my future wife yet?” Axel’s fingers skim my bare shoulder, then dip just under the elastic band at the top of my shirt.
I pull away while Cooper simultaneously kicks Axel’s legs off the firepit.
Trick chuckles at Axe’s annoyed huff. “You mean your future alimony payment?” He scratches behind the dog’s ears and quietly says something that causes the big, scary, red furball to move faster than I’ve ever seen any dog move and promptly plant itself between Axel and me.
I look helplessly from the man next to me to the one manning the grill, and I hold as still as possible. “Um, am I...” I stutter and hold my hands up carefully in front of myself. “Am I allowed to touch him? Is he a military dog?”
Trick whistles and the dog goes from sitting up at attention to dropping its head down on my leg, completely relaxed. “Hername is Wanda, and you can touch her now.” He sips his beer and watches me tentatively run my hand over Wanda’s soft red hair.
“Oh my God. She’s a redhead.” I look over at Cooper and can’t hold back my smile. “Like Wanda Maximoff.”
Coop’s corresponding smile does insane things to my insides.
“Dude, Axe. You can fuck right off. Wanda likes her, and the girl knows her Marvel. She’s way too good for you.” Trick closes the lid of the grill and opens a cooler. “Want something to drink, Carys?” He reaches inside and grabs a beer, but Coop takes it from him before he can hand it to me.
“You driving, Carys?”
I look around the backyard to see if Emerson’s come back out yet. “Em drove us here, but I might be driving home.”
Coop digs back into the cooler and produces a bottle of sweet tea.
“You remembered.” My heart does a crazy little flip that he knows what I like to drink.
“Like I could ever forget.”
And there goes my heart.
* * *
The sun is setting by the time Emerson and Linc make their way back outside, slightly disheveled. The guys tease Linc until the tips of his ears turn red from embarrassment.
We’re already eating around the firepit.
“So, Carys. Tell us about yourself.” Trick turns the grill off and finally makes himself a plate, before coming to sit down in one of the chairs across from me.
It’s strange to think that these men, who remind me so much of my brother and his friends, are elite soldiers who’ve seen and done things I can’t even imagine. They seem like goofballs. Mouth-watering, elite, deadly goofballs.
I wipe my mouth and take a sip of sweet tea. “Hmm.” I look from Cooper to Trick, suddenly inexplicably nervous. “Well... I’m a student at SDU of A, studying fashion design and vocal performance.”
“Bor-ing,” Axel announces loudly. “So do you wanna be a rock star or pick out clothes for rock stars? Gotta say you sounded fucking killer last night. So my vote is rock star.”
“You don’t get a vote, asshole.” Cooper stands across from me and grabs my empty plate, then dumps them both in the trash, grumbling.
“Why can’t she do both?” Emerson asks from Linc’s lap, nursing her third beer. Looks like I’m driving tonight.
I just shake my head. “I don’t want to do both. Or either. My dreams of a career on the stage never included being a rock star. They included Broadway. And those days are long gone.”
Em looks at me with surprised eyes. “But you’re going to keep singing with Jack and Theo, right?”
Before I get a chance to answer, Axel stands, then lifts me from the couch, cradling me to him like he’s about to carry me over the threshold. I wish this was the guy who made my heart beat faster. I laugh, but it’s a little awkward the way he picks me up like he has a right.
