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He shakes his head. “No. I haven’t been working hard enough. I haven’t been putting in the time at the gym.”
“Because of me?”
“No, sweetheart. Because the world keeps trying to rip you away from me. And I’ll burn it all to the fucking ground before I let them anywhere close.”
His words make my insides do backflips. I scooch closer to him. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I don’t want to affect your career. I know how much it means to you.”
He strokes my hair away from my face and kisses the curve of my neck. “You mean more, Sloan,” he whispers into my ear. “You mean so much more.”
We lie together for a few minutes before he sighs gently and his breathing evens out. But even in the dead of sleep, he keeps me pinned close to his body.
I don’t mind one bit.
Beck sleeps late into the morning, but I get up early so Monroe, Cassie, and I can get ready for the party. I send texts to the team and invite everyone over while the girls order for delivery from the liquor store.
Beck finally comes down from the bedroom around noon and slides onto a barstool in front of the spread of brownies and cookies, a cheesecake, and some pies that we spent a lot of last night making.
“Did you invite Betty Crocker over while I was gone, too?” He picks up a cupcake and takes a bite. “And if you did, can she move in?”
I laugh. “I made those. The icing is an old family recipe. Er, I mean, itwillbe an old family recipe when I get old.”
“Mmm.” He grins with icing smeared all over his lips. “I could eat a vat of this stuff.”
“Careful—the sugar crash will get you.” I smile and pounce over to lick icing off the corner of his mouth.
It’s sweet.
He’s sweeter.
Before long, the team and their various plus-ones start trickling in. By mid-afternoon, the grill is roaring and the house is full. Beck mans the burgers and chats with Dix and Colin, while Adrian tosses a ball around with a couple of Nico’s kids and Amar chats with Coach Walker and his wife.
Cassie and Monroe are standing at the patio watching their chosen male targets like hawks while trying to pretend that they’re innocent little lambs. I spy them spying the boys, so I give a vicious grin and saunter over to the grill.
“Hey, Dix, would you mind watching the grill while I have a chat with Beck? My friend Cassie will help.” I wave her over, then snare Beck by the elbow and drag him away with me.
“What are you doing?” he hisses out of the corner of his mouth.
“Giving Cassie a minute with Dix.” I rap on the patio window from inside to get Monroe’s attention, then jerk my thumb to tell her to go feral on Colin while he’s alone.
“Uh, okay. Andnow, what are you doing?”
“I’m trying to get Monroe’s attention so she can take Colin away from them and everybody gets what they want.”
I sense his grin bloom out of the corner of my eye. Then I feel his hands wrap around my waist and tug me flush against him. “How about you try to getBeck’sattention?” he suggests in an X-rated voice.
Well, when he asks like that, how can I refuse? He’s been gone for almost three days and I should’ve rethought this party, maybe scheduled it for next week so Beck and I could have some alone time first to, y’know… catch up on things.
I place my hands flat on his huge chest and smile up at him. “You’ve got me riveted, Mr. Daniels. Is there something you’d like to discuss?”
He winks, then scoops me up in one rapid motion that makes me shriek. Laughing, he runs through the hall and ducks inside the nearest door.
“Um, excuse me, sir, this is a guest bathroom. What are you doing?”
“You.”
He unfastens the button on his pants and the button on mine in the same motion. There’s no preamble, no foreplay. He just consumes my mouth in a kiss as he yanks my jeans down.
He sets me on the vanity, then pulls me forward to the edge and pushes his cock inside of me. “I hate being away from you.”
