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“What is? This trip?” Simon questioned him.
“Well, yes, but I’m referring to this, right now. Being out here, fishing and relaxing,” he clarified.
Colt let out a laugh and said, “I have to agree. It’s been a long couple of days.”
Zac looked in Colt’s direction. “It’s been too much, hasn’t it?” he asked.
Shaking his head, Colt insisted, “No, man. This is the week leading up to your wedding. Thea and I are happy to be here with you, Talia, and everyone else. We’re having a great time, and it’s been a lot of fun.”
“That sounds like the kind of answer you’d give if Thea was sitting beside you listening to every word coming out of your mouth,” Zac noted. “You can be honest. I feel like it’s been a lot.”
Colt shrugged, but it was Simon who spoke. “I’ll admit it. A place like this? I’d be content to get up every morning and come and do this for hours. Margot would have a whole other set of plans for us that I’d probably end up going along with and enjoying, but it wouldn’t change the fact that, if given the choice, I’d rather be doing this.”
All the guys laughed. I did, partly because it was funny, but mostly because I didn’t want to be uptight about the whole situation. The truth was, if we’d done this a year ago, I might have been on the same page with his line of thinking. Now, I saw it all differently.
“I don’t know,” Gage chimed in. “I’m kind of enjoying each day as it comes.”
All of us shot him a curious look, and I decided it was time to join the conversation. “You’re not going through each day hoping for a small break from the constant need to be on the go?”
Gage shook his head. “No.”
“You just have a lot of energy?” Zac asked.
“Maybe all of these activities have been on his bucket list,” Colt reasoned, the teasing evident in his tone.
Gage laughed along with the rest of us, but ultimately insisted, “It’s not any of that. But I can see how me being present and fully immersing myself in whatever we’re doing is paying off in a big way for me.”
My brows pulled together. “What does that mean?”
He rolled his eyes at me. “Like you don’t know. Out of all of us, you probably get it better than anyone else.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I replied, feeling genuinely confused by his words.
“It’s probably because this is how it always is for you and Kiera,” he started. His eyes shifted through to the rest of the guys before he declared, “I don’t know how it’s been for the rest of you with your women, but Saylor has been insatiable on this trip.”
A round of nods ensued. “Oh, yeah. Talia’s been the same way, but I assumed it was the upcoming wedding. I figured after the honeymoon, it would all change.”
“You’re right, Gage.” That came from Simon. When we all turned our attention to him, he continued, “Margot and I have always had a healthy sex life, but it’s been amplified by at least a thousand since we got here.”
“Thea’s been initiating, which isn’t common,” Colt added. “It never really bothered me, because with the kids, I realize how tough it is for her at home, sometimes. But being here, knowing the boys are having a great time at home with Thea’s parents, has brought about a huge change. After spending the entire day out doing whatever is planned for the day, I assumed Thea might be exhausted. It’s had the complete opposite effect. I didn’t want to jinx it, but maybe since you’re all experiencing something similar, it’s okay to admit it.”
“Well, it’s happening to all of us except for Johnny,” Zac noted.
“What?”
I had to admit that came out sounding a little more horrified than I had intended. How was it possible that Zac knew what was or, more specifically, what wasn’t happening between Kiera and me? Had she said something to Talia? Did everyone already know?
Zac eased my fears when he reasoned, “You and Kiera have always been so affectionate with one another. Other than not having to worry about work and getting to have some fun with the rest of us, every day on this trip has probably just been like living another day in your personal lives.”
Assumptions.
I let out a sigh of relief, knowing that neither Zac nor the rest of the guys were privy to what was happening between Kiera and me.
The problem was that I didn’t exactly know how to respond to him. I wasn’t interested in lying any more than I was already, but I certainly couldn’t come out and tell him the truth.
Each of these guys had been living some of the best days of their married lives, probably having far more sex and physical intimacy with their wives—or fiancée, in Zac’s case—than they ever dreamed was possible. Hearing them talk about it, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy.
Despite that, I hoped that my friends all managed to experience what they were in their marriages right now for the rest of their lives. Part of me was feeling particularly compelled to tell them all to savor it, to cherish it, and to nurture it, because it could all go away one day if they weren’t careful.
