AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh my God, is that who I think it is?” Lexi asks when she waddles out the back door. Linkin is there, guiding her down the step and to the lounger he bought just for the day so she could come out and enjoy the party without having to lift a finger and be off her feet.
My heart is suddenly in my throat with excitement and nerves. Mostly nerves. Or maybe anticipation.
Sawyer stops and talks to Dean, Nick, and Ryan, and as soon as Levi and Linkin see him, they head over too. They’re all chatting and laughing like old friends, which makes me wonder how in the hell the new guy in town is suddenly buddy-buddy with my family.
“My word, that man is so much hotter in person than spread across the glossy pages of all those magazines,” Grandma says, startling us with her sudden presence.
“Grandma,” Abby chastises. “It’s your anniversary,” she reminds.
“I’m aware, Abs. And your grandpa is in a very good place right now. See that smile?” she asks, pointing to the grin my grandpa wears as he walks over to the guys. “That’s the look of a very sated man who spent the afternoon harpooning the salty longshoreman.”
“What?” Jaime asks.
“Which part did you not understand, Jaimers? The part about your grandfather being very well sated or the euphemism I used to describe the sex? That’s why we’re late, you know. When Orvie takes one of his pills, well, he turns into a ravenous madman, hell-bent on jamming the clam with his fishing pole.”
“Jesus,” I groan, looking to extract myself from this conversation.
Quickly.
“Oh, don’t be a stick in the mud. I promised Grandpa oral for our sixtieth. That’s much better than the traditional diamond gift we should give.”
“Oral. The gift that keeps on giving,” Lexi giggles, holding her massive stomach while it shakes.
“You better watch it, Lexi, or you’re gonna pee your pants,” I retort, making my sister stop laughing immediately.
“Shit, you’re right,” she grumbles.
“Seriously, ladies, check out the ass on that man. Do you think he’d give us a private replay of that naked photo shoot?” Grandma asks, fanning her flushed face.
“Us, probably not, but AJ? I’d say the chances of that happening are looking pretty good,” Meghan says, taking her eyes off the celebrity long enough to glance my way.
“I agree with Meggy. He keeps glancing over here with that I want to fuck you against the side of the house look, and I’m pretty sure it’s only directed at one of us,” Jaime adds, giving me a wink and a smile.
“He probably just wants to finish what he started before the puking,” Lexi chimes in, reminding us all of the reason I didn’t sleep with him the first time.
“You should be lucky he’s even still interested, AJ. Puking usually makes men run the other direction,” Jaime says.
“How do you know he’s interested?” I ask, glancing back at the guys and finding those blue eyes still on me.
“He’s interested,” they all say in unison.
* * *
“Hey.” His deep, husky voice sends shivers down my spine.
“Hi,” I reply with a squeak, turning my attention away from the food and toward the tall drink of water standing beside me.
“Beautiful day,” he says, reaching forward and grabbing a handful of pretzel sticks.
“It is.” I feel his eyes on me as I keep stirring the pasta salad that doesn’t need to be stirred. The silence stretches on for one minute, then two, and starts to unnerve me. “So…” I start, and let the word trail off.
“So…” he mimics, giving me a cocky smile.
“So, what are you doing here?” I finally blurt out.
“I was invited,” he says, popping another pretzel stick into his mouth with a smile.
“Invited?” I ask, trying to recall if I ever talked about my grandparents’ anniversary celebration while at school. I know I talked about it with Brandy while we ate lunch earlier in the week, but I don’t think any of the other teachers paid us any attention, and I don’t recall Sawyer being in the lounge at the time.
