by Huss, JA
I mean, does it take a genius to figure out that answer?
So I’m not excited about that. But Tori is. She says it’s not any different than us moving to Colorado. And I guess she’s got a point there. We all live there now. All except Five.
Tori and I sold our house six months ago and bought a place in Fort Collins. It’s not down the street from Ariel’s milkshake mansion on Mountain Avenue, but it’s still too close if you ask me. They are together all the time.
I’m still headhunting, and Tori is my partner now. So she works too. We bought a small jet to fly in and out of Fort Collins airport with the leftover money from the sale of the house. It was a huge gamble after I lost pretty much everything last year. But we’ve been steadily making it back, so yeah. That’s worked out better than expected.
Plus, I kinda like seeing everyone. It’s funny—I see Nolan more than I do Pax or Oliver, even though they both live in the same town. Nolan lives down near Denver by Mac’s house. But I see a lot of clients down in the tech center, so I stop by their house all the time.
If you’d have asked me last year if Nolan would be my best friend I’d have laughed.
“What are you laughing about?” Tori asks.
“Nothing,” I say, stifling my smile.
“Are we almost there?”
“About ten minutes maybe. I think that’s it.” I point off in the distance to a barely perceptible island on the horizon. “See it?”
Tori squints then nods. “I’m gonna go wake Ethan up and get him ready.” She stands up from her chair, leans in to kiss me on the back of the neck—which drives me crazy—then disappears down to the cabins.
I’m ready for this wedding. There was no talking the girls out of a group wedding after things settled down last winter. We’ve been waiting on Nolan and Ivy to set the date because she refused to walk down the aisle pregnant. She is, after all, a pastor’s daughter and they did, after all, elope and not tell anyone.
So we’ve been shacking up this past year. But Ethan deserves a set of married parents. He’s had enough instability in his life. And I like the idea of marriage. A lot.
It means Mrs. Corporate can’t get away from me again.
Well, not easily.
I laugh again.
Fucking Victoria. I gave up on us a while back, but last year changed everything for me. And if there’s one good thing about coming back to the Caribbean, it’s that I am reminded of the time we spent out here on Pax’s islands.
It was fucked up, but Jesus, it was fun too. And it got things moving, ya know?
Before that little adventure we were enemies. And after… we were teammates.
Having Five strand us on that island was the best thing that ever happened to me. It was the first time I ever thought about telling the truth. To anyone, but most importantly, to Victoria. How did I ever expect her to trust me when my life was nothing but secrets?
Of course, what followed—all the revelations and finding out my parents were the ones responsible for just about every bad thing that ever happened to me—that sucked.
But you can’t move on until you confront all the old demons. I know that better than anyone.
The guidance system on the boat begins beeping, letting me know our destination is approaching.
I take control and steer the forty-foot Sea Ray Sundancer towards the marina and lose track of the past as I concentrate on the future.
Five is there on the dock with Mac and Nolan. They walk up and Five takes over, jumping aboard to get us moored. I step down into the main parlor just as Tori appears from the lower deck with Ethan, his hair all mussed and his eyes still filled with sleep. We’ve been on the water for the past week—swimming, snorkeling, and diving so I could show him the best place to catch lobsters—so he’s understandably tired. But he won’t be tired for long. That’s not the kind of kid he is.
It was Five’s idea for us to buy the boat in North Carolina, dock it there for a few months, then schedule a family vacation to Florida this week. So we motored down the coast and we’ve been island-hopping all week.
It’s overkill. I think we all agree that it’s overkill.
But overkill isn’t necessarily a bad thing after all we’ve been through.
I step outside into the tropical heat and sun with my family and Five greets us with a huge smile.
“Victoria,” he says, nodding his head at her.
“Aston,” she shoots back. Tori is a champion grudge-holder. And she still hasn’t gotten over the fact that Five was sneaky. But she’s amicable. For Tori.
“Hey, Ethan,” Five says to my son.
Ethan runs past him and jumps onto the dock, then takes off running like he’s been here a million times, the sleepiness forgotten.
Kids. They just adapt.
I know that better than anyone.
“Where’s Ivy and Ellie?” Tori asks, as soon as we’re on the dock with Mac and Nolan.
“Over at the main house,” Nolan says, pointing.
“I can’t wait to see that adorable baby!” Tori winks at him. She has fallen in love with Bronte. We’ve seen her at least once a week since she’s been born. Tori is obsessed. “And…” Tori says, looking up at me with a smile.
I smile back, because I know what she’s gonna say. We’ve been dying to tell everyone.
“We have news to tell.” Tori sings that sentence out like she’s a giddy little girl.
God, I love her.
“Wait,” Mac says, eyeing me. “What kind of news?”
“We’re pregnant!” Tori bursts out. “Yup!” she says, holding her hand over her heart. “I’ve been holding that in for two months!”
“Congrats!” Nolan says, clapping me on the back.
“That’s great!” Five says, shaking my hand.
“Thanks,” I say. But I’m looking at Mac. Because he’s frowning. “What’s wrong?” I ask him.
“Ellie doesn’t know this,” he says. Not like a question, either.
“Nope!” Tori says. “It’s news for everyone. I think this is the perfect weekend to celebrate, don’t you?”
“Well,” Mac says, rubbing his hand down his face. “The thing is…”
“Shit,” Tori says, changing her tone. “Don’t tell me you guys have been trying and haven’t—”
She doesn’t have to finish. Mac nods his confirmation. “She’s devastated today. And I sorta used you guys as an example of how we didn’t need biological children. How great it would be to adopt.”
“Shit,” Tori says again. This time she looks up at me. “We can’t say anything. Not this weekend, West. It will just make her sad.”
“Hey,” I say. “I’m cool with that. No one deserves to be sad on their wedding day. It can wait.”
I’d really like to brag about this baby this weekend, but not because I want to make people feel bad. Just to, you know, be a fucking dude proud of his boys getting the job done.
“You’re the best,” she says, leaning up to kiss me on the cheek. “I’d better go find our wild son before he disappears into the jungle.”
She laughs as she says it, but there’s truth in that. Ethan is all fucking boy. From top to bottom, that kid does nothing but jump, and run, and everything you can do with a ball. Throw it, kick it, hit it… he does it all.
I watch her walk off, her round hips swaying underneath her lilac wrap, her back tanned golden brown from being in the sun this past week.
“Shit, man,” Nolan says. “I didn’t know it was like… a thing. Does Ivy know?”
“No,” Mac says. “And don’t say anything. I don’t want Ellie dwelling on it this week. I just want her to have a good time.”
“Is she gonna be sad to see Bronte?” Nolan asks.
Mac just shrugs. “I wish I could say no, but… dude, I don’t know. She’s just fucking sad about this kid stuff.”
“But you can adopt,” I say. “I bet Tori can help you guys find a great kid who would love to grow up with you as his
rich bastard father.”
I grab his shoulder so he knows I’m just fucking with him. Mac will be a great father. Probably the best ever.
“Thanks,” Mac says. “We really should look into that. I don’t want her to be so preoccupied with this. Besides, we’ve only been trying for ten months. How long did you and Tori try?”
I wince, then shrug. “Does it really matter?”
“I’ll take that as you weren’t even trying,” Mac says, sighing. Then he jacks his thumb in the direction of Nolan. “Neither was this asshole.”
“Don’t worry,” Five says. “We won’t say anything, right, guys?”
We all nod.
“We’ll make sure Ellie has the best wedding ever,” I say.
Because we’re still the Misters. So if Perfect has a problem, we all have a problem.
Chapter Five - PAX
“Miss Cookie,” I say, my hand on Cindy’s breast.
“Yes, Detective Mysterious?” she purrs back, her ass grinding into my dick as I press her against the wall of our little island hut.
“I wanna fuck you.”
“I know you do,” she coos, turning to place her cool hand on my cheek. She pouts her lips at me, movie-star style. “But we’re due at the dock in seventeen minutes.”
“Seventeen,” I growl, my hand paused mid-nipple squeeze as I consider if seventeen minutes is enough time to have a proper fuck, or if this will have to be a quickie.
“Quickie,” she says, reading my mind. “We can’t be late.”
“All right.” I sigh. “Fine,” I say, pulling her top down and taking both her breasts in my hands. “But we won’t have time to roleplay.”
“I think I’ll live, Detective,” she giggles back.
“Except…” I say, kissing her neck. She loves this, so she throws her head back, her long, golden hair falling with it. She’s like a goddamned goddess.
“Except what?” she whispers back.
“Except that report you turned in last week, Miss Cookie…”
“Yeah,” she says. “The one with my monthly expenses on it?”
“That’s the one,” I say, kissing her mouth.
“What about it?” she says, her words getting caught up in our kiss.
“It had a suspicious charge,” I say.
“Did it?” she breathes.
“Yeah.”
“What was suspicious about it?”
“You spent seventeen hundred dollars at a place called the Sugar Stop.”
“And?” she says, holding in her giggle as my hand wanders between her legs.
“I’m thinking…” She reaches down to grab my growing cock and I have to pause for a second so I can enjoy it. “I really like how you smell like sugar, Miss Cookie. But seventeen hundred dollars in sweets might be excessive.”
“Oh?” she asks in her fake starlet voice. “Well, you’re right. It is. But the Sugar Stop doesn’t sell sweets, Detective.”
“No?” I ask, dropping to my knees as I lift up her short skirt. She’s got a bikini on under her little dress. We almost never wear clothes when we’re out here on our island, but Oliver and Katja are here too, so…
“No,” she says, her fingertips mussing up my hair as I pull her bikini bottoms aside and lick her. She wiggles, leaning back against the wall, like she might need it to hold her up. “They sell sex toys.”
I laugh as I lick her. I can’t help it. Cinderella Shrike has the best imagination.
Best. Imagination.
“Would you like an itemized list, Detective Mysterious?”
“Why, yes,” I say. “Tell me exactly what you purchased, Miss Cookie. And explain how it’s pertinent to your job as my assistant.”
“Ohhh,” she moans as I start strumming her clit. “Well…” She loses her train of thought for a second, but I reach up and pinch her nipple and she squeaks out, “It’s a long list.”
God, I love her. “I have fifteen minutes, Miss Cookie. Begin.”
“Well,” she says, opening her legs to give me better access. I hold both her thighs as I press my tongue into her sweet spot and she grips my hair tighter. “The first thing was the I Rub My Duckie massager.”
I stop what I’m doing to look up at her. She’s biting her lip, trying not to smile. “What does it do?”
“It’s just a fun bath toy. I was gonna surprise you tonight.”
“OK,” I say, smiling. “What else?”
She pushes my head back between her legs and says, “Don’t interrupt me, Detective. I hate it when you lose your train of thought. It’s been proven that multitasking is inherently bad for working relationships.”
There’s no way she can’t feel my smile against her wet pussy.
“I just went in for that, but then I saw the Eiffel Tower dildo, and it reminded me of the trip you took me on for Valentine’s Day last year. So I had to have it.”
“Jesus,” I mumble. I back away, grab her hand, and push it between her legs so she can put on a little show for me. “What else did you buy?”
I’m watching her face, not her hand. Because I just love the way she chews on her lip when she masturbates.
“Cookie dough edible lubricant,” she says, her words coming out in halting gasps as her fingers get busy. “I can’t wait for you to lick it off my ass.”
I have my hand inside my pants after that. My fist wrapped around my cock.
“Then I saw the Princessa vibrator.”
“Princessa?” I ask, trying to figure out just what the fuck that might look like.
“It looks like a crown,” she purrs, reading my mind. “And it spins!”
“Is this shit all real?” I ask, getting a little excited about her imaginary trip to the Sugar Stop.
“Pax.” She laughs. “Don’t interrupt me. And don’t make me work so hard. This is my quickie, remember?”
She pushes my face between her legs again. But fuck this. I grab both her wrists, hike them over her head, press her against the wall, and push my hard dick up against her belly.
“I think, Miss Cookie,” I say, staring down into her blue eyes, “such an excessive sex toy bill means you’re planning on trying to seduce me.”
She says, “Fuck me, Pax. Right now.” She tears at my jeans, popping the button open and unzipping me.
“Doesn’t it?” I ask, ripping open her shirt and tearing it down the middle.
“Fuck me,” she repeats, grabbing hold of my cock and squeezing it with her tiny hand.
I reach for her little bikini bottoms and drag them down her legs, then grab her, right behind both knees, and hike her legs up so I can slide right up inside her.
“Yes,” she says. “It’s excessive, Detective. Punish me. Right now!”
I thrust inside her and she squeals again. Her hands are all over my hair, her fingertips grabbing onto it, harder and harder as I slap her ass against the wall each time I enter her.
“Fuck me,” she whispers. “Don’t stop. Ever. Just—”
I kiss her. Hard. Punishing her that way too. I nip her lip as I fuck her against the wall. “I want to see all those toys, Miss Cookie. And I want you to show me how to use them.”
“Even,” she pants, “even the Eiffel Tower dildo?”
“Especially the Eiffel Tower dildo,” I say. I’m fucking her so hard now, her ass is making thumping noises each time she hits the wall.
“Hey!” Oliver calls from the hallway. “What the fuck?”
Cindy and I cup a hand over each other’s mouths, stifling the laughs. “Shhh,” she says from the other side of my palm.
“Get the fuck out here!” Oliver yells. “We’re leaving in five minutes!”
I take my hand away and Cindy calls out, “Be right there, Ollie! I just gotta grab my curling iron. Go find Pax. I think he’s down at the beach already.”
“Fuck you. Ya liars. I know he’s in there!” Oliver pounds on the door again. “Get your ass out here, Mysterious! Or I’m gonna—”
But then we hea
r Katja. “Oliver! Stop it! Leave them alone!”
We laugh as Oliver is dragged away, still threatening me.
“Hurry,” Cindy whispers. “I’m not letting you go until we come. So hurry.”
Oliver is gonna kill me. But hell, Oliver always wants to kill me when we’re all together these days. So fuck it. I pick Cindy up, walk her over to the bed, throw her down, and say, “Turn over, Miss Cookie. I’m gonna punish you now.”
I spank her ass red and she squeals with delight for every single slap.
And then I grab her hips, push my rock-hard dick inside her again, and fuck her hard until we both come and collapse into the bed covers.
I love this girl. We’re getting married in two days and she’s gonna be mine forever.
So fuck Oliver. He’s just gonna have to get used to it.
Chapter Six - OLLIE
Pax’s island was a goddamned mess after all that shit went down with West and Tori last year. The other island, which I can see from this beach, was also blown up. But he took it better than I expected. He hired a demolition crew to come out, take down whatever was left standing, and raze it to the ground. It took out a lot of trees too, but he filled it back up with sand
Pristine, white sand.
I think these two islands are worth more now with nothing but palapas and huts than they were with those two houses.
Katja and I just got here this morning, but Pax and Cindy have been here for about a week. Their hut is pretty nice. It’s got solar power and running water from a giant cistern. It’s even got a ceiling fan.
But the only thing I can think about is… he’s in that hut fucking my sister.
While I’m out here.
“What he’s doing breaks all the rules,” I snarl at Katja. She does one of those backward motions with her head. Taken aback, I think that’s called. “Sorry,” I say, trying to pull her close as she drags me down the beach. “It’s just… he knows this drives me crazy and he does it anyway. She’s my baby sister!”
“And in two days she’ll be his wife, Oliver. You need to let it go because he’s here to stay.”
“I know.” I sigh. “I know,” I say again. Like I’m trying to convince myself. “But I only have one baby sister. One. Why the fuck did he have to fall in love with her?”