The lock clicks, and Chase chuckles when I jump from the sound.
And then I jump again when the paddles are tossed at our feet, Mason’s body pushing itself in front of us, so he can begin sliding them into their posts.
Chase backs away and does the same, so I slip away, headed up the dock.
As I reach the platform, my eyes glide their way once more and, what do you know, Chase’s are on me.
I pinch my lips to the side and continue into the house, where my smile breaks free.
As I cut an apple and scoop some peanut butter into a small bowl, I can’t help but remember the words spoken in the dark only a few nights ago.
Nothing forces a man to face his feelings for a woman than the interest of another man.
I’m not sure if that’s what’s happening here but bless you Noah Riley for your man knowledge.
You might be the very reason I get everything I’ve ever wanted.
Chapter 8
Arianna
* * *
We came down to Lolli’s today for breakfast, and after eating, moved out to the patio for a couple games of Cornhole, but us girls didn’t last long, so everyone decided to take a walk down the beach to the coffee shop.
Mason, Chase, and Brady all hover over Payton as she climbs up the small set of stairs to sit beside us on an abandoned lifeguard’s post, the only place on the beach that offers any shade if you don’t pop up a canopy.
So protective, our crew. We may have only met Payton earlier this summer, but she’s Parker’s sister, and Parker is like family to Lolli, making her important to all of us. At least that’s how it started, but that was just the start. It didn’t take long for each of us to eagerly welcome her into the fold. She comes from a shitty situation. Her mom, while richer than dirt, was cruel and controlling. Outside of Deaton, Payton didn’t really have any true friends, so sometimes I catch her sitting back, watching the rest of us, kind of like I’m doing now with the boys.
It’s an unnecessary reminder of Mason’s massive inability to find his chill.
I imagine Chase being the leader on the board of stay the fuck away from my sister, but he hasn’t been so good at upholding his title.
Sure, he pulls back and cuts me off at the ankles with his ‘no, hell no’ speech, but he’s slowly coming around. We hadn’t drunk a drop when he kissed me in my room, that was all him. At this point, I just want to feel his lips on me again.
Anywhere.
Everywhere.
“Girl, stop,” Cameron’s chuckled whisper pulls my eyes to hers, and her grin deepens. “Your face is straight flushed right now.”
“Shut up!” I whisper back. “For real?”
“Oh, yeah.” She nods, and I recognize the mischievous glint in her eye and my own narrows.
“Cam, don’t—”
“Hey Chase, toss Ari that drink, will you?” She bites back a laugh, nodding at Mason’s half-drunken bottle. “Our girl’s thirsty.”
Chase looks from her to me, a knowing smirk pulling at his lips as he grabs it, Mason’s glare moving among the three of us before pointing back to the other blonde not twenty feet away.
But Chase doesn’t toss it.
He does me one better and saunters over, but instead of placing it in my outstretched hand, he leans closer and sets it beside me, his bare chest brushing along my shoulder. His eyes meet mine as he moves away, but he doesn’t say a word, moving back to where he stood with my brother.
Only once he’s out of earshot, do the three of us let our chuckles free.
Lolli makes a gagging sound, and we look over to find her pretending to suck a dick, her brows wagging, so I toss the chair pillow at her head, moving my eyes to Chase once more.
I let out a tortured sigh, but sensing my brother’s attention on me, I look his way. I’m met with a frown, but what’s new? He’s never been one to hold back his displeasure when it came to one-on-one attention from anyone with a dick, especially one his best friends.
Jerk.
Trudging up the back deck, Cameron groans. “Why did I agree to walking to the coffee shop. My body aches.”
“Same.” I yawn, using the railing to help me make it up the last few steps. “How can I be so tired when we were lying in bed by six last night?”
“That’s exactly why you’re tired.” Chase grins.
“That… or the two hours you spent paddling against the tide.” Mason shakes his head. “If you learned how to take instruction in the gym, you wouldn’t feel the need to work your muscles out there so much.”
“You mean she wouldn’t feel like she was dying for days after?” Cameron teases.
“I don’t feel like I’m dying days after, one for sure, but not more.” I laugh. “Besides, I like how water exercise doesn’t feel like exercise, that’s why I do it. And not taking instructions would mean I don’t do as you say, but I do. The problem is, I am physically incapable of the shit you give me.”
“I only ask you to try.”
“To try and bench an obscene amount of weight.”
“If you focused, you could do it, but you laugh the second your muscles strain.” Mason glares.
I laugh then and his quickly follows.
Mase drapes his arm around my shoulder and jerks me to him, kissing my head. “You’re a brat, that’s all.”
“Yeah, but my ‘big’ brother turned me into one.”
“I’ll own it.” He nods, unlocking the door and letting us inside.
“I’m taking a nap. Wake me before you put the pizzas in the oven.” Mason takes off down the hall, the rest of us plopping around the living room.
“I don’t know about you guys but I’m feeling him on this nap time shit.” Brady kicks out of the recliner and switches on the TV. “Any movie requests?”
I snag the blanket off the back of the barrel chair and curl up beside Cam. “Your call, big guy.”
Of course, he picks something he’s seen a hundred times, and knocks out in the first five minutes. Not ten minutes after that, Cam starts fidgeting.
“Go away if you’re going to keep twisting and turning.” I give her a teasing nudge.
“My body is in pain,” she whines, and then gasps. “Chase!” she practically shouts, looking to him. “You took that massage class on a dare last year.”
Chase tips his head back, grinning. “I did.”
“Don’t make me beg, Chaser, cause I will.”
He laughs, sitting up and onto his knees from his pot on the floor. “Come on then.”
“Yes!” she squeals, dropping onto the floor in front of him.
After a minute or two, Cam lets out a soft, sedated moan, followed by another, and Brady, of course, hears it in his sleep. He tosses a pillow at the back of Chase’s head.
“Dick.” He laughs.
Cam turns so she can see me and winks, and I roll my eyes playfully, letting my eyes close.
On the cusp of falling asleep, Cam’s hand falls on my arm and she gives me a little shake.
“Your turn, bestie,” she whispers with a smirk. “I’m going to bed.”
I glance to Chase, who sits back waiting for me with a small grin, and then peek at Brady, his face now buried in the crease of the cushions.
I take Cam’s place.
“Hang on,” Chase whispers, careful not to wake the others, I’m sure, and stretches to the right, snagging a blanket from the wicker basket by the fireplace.
He motions for me to lie down, so I follow Cameron’s lead, and pull my T-shirt up over my head, then lower onto the carpet.
I’m keenly aware of Chase’s every move, holding my breath as he climbs over me, positioning his hips right against the curve of my ass. I try, unsuccessfully, to suppress a chuckle.
“Something funny?” He moves my hair to one side, his open palms falling to my shoulders.
Well, since he asked…
“It’s just when I imagined us being in this position, it went quite a bit different.” I smile into the cro
ok of my arm.
He freezes, but after a moment, his throat clears, and he begins applying pressure to my muscles.
Chase starts high and works his hands down, rubbing and kneading with his knuckles. I’m not even sure how much time passes as I lie there completely relaxed, but right when I feel myself start to drift off to sleep, the change in Chase’s touch has my eyelids flying open.
It’s slower, almost forced, as if he has to remind himself of what to do… or dare I say, what not to do.
Chase’s next move has me leaning toward the latter.
Slowly, and with a slightly shaky touch, the pads of his fingers meet my skin as he takes the strings of my bikini top in his hand.
He waits a beat, as if I might protest, and then he tugs.
His hissed breath fans along my bare skin and I squeeze my fists tightly to keep myself from squirming beneath his touch.
I’ve gotten a massage before, from Brady and a few others, all in good, relax-seeking fun, but I never wanted any of them to strip me down. So yeah, totally different.
Shit, I don’t even want to breathe in fear he pulls a Chase and backpedals.
There’s no denying he’s grown more brazen, untying my top is proof of that, as is the way he pushes them to the side in the next breath.
He runs his open palms along my back with no barrier to break the contact of his skin from mine.
I pretty much play dead, dying for his next move, while telling myself his only purpose is to make it easier: a smooth surface to work on.
His hand leaves me, and he stretches, a blanket draping over us in the next second. All the way over us. My eyes fly open so fast, it takes a moment before I can see.
My hands are folded under my head, and Chase’s fingers curl over to meet my collarbone, gently sliding back down until his fingertips meet the highest point of my ribs. His palms flatten there, his touch light, and he glides them in a not-at-all massage-like motion.
It’s a touch of curiosity.
It’s him exploring the feeling of my skin against his.
It’s as thrilling as it is shocking.
His body lowers, the heat of him hovering over me, and I swallow.
I attempt shifting, a desperate need to face him washing over me, but he doesn’t allow it. His forehead meets my back in the space between my shoulder blades, and he gently shakes his head back and forth.
His hair tickles at the base of my neck, and I shiver beneath him. My lungs expand, starved, and I drag a choppy breath through my nostrils, one that’s forced right back out when warm, wet lips meet my spine.
My eyes flutter closed, and then another kiss falls.
“Chase,” I pretty much moan, gasping when his lips find my ear.
“Shh…” he croons, his nose gliding along my jaw. “Tell me to stop. I don’t know what I’m doing…”
“You’re doing great.”
His body shakes with a low chuckle, and then his hands are on my side, slowly gliding up until the edges of his fingers meet the edges of my breasts.
He twitches, and then his hands fly back, off of me completely.
I use that to my advantage, quickly flipping under him, my bare chest now hidden beneath his loose shirt.
He wasn’t expecting it, and his eyes snap wide.
Chase begins shaking his head, a flash of panic falling over him, so I offer a small smile.
Please don’t run…
His brows cave in as he contemplates how we got here, so I give him a gentle push disguised as a yield.
I drop my head back, this time straight to the carpet, leaving the pillow beside me, and stretch my chin the slightest bit to expose my neck, leaving it up to him to decide what to do with it, if anything.
His Adam’s apple bobs with a hard swallow, and after a moment’s hesitation, he drops his face into the crook of my neck.
For a moment, he doesn’t move, the heat of his breath working on its own and creating an ache between my legs, but then he pulls in a long breath.
I twitch when his tongue meets my skin, tasting as his lips press against my collarbone.
Quickly, before he has time to object, I push my palms under his shirt and my insides twist as my hands meet his abs.
I’ve stared at his muscles hundreds of times, imagined exploring them thousands, but I’m not sure I believed I’d ever get the chance to freely learn their cuts with my own touch.
Chase pulls back, just enough to meet my eyes, and wears the same tense expression as before.
Still, I smirk as if to say I dare you to follow my lead as it’s clear he’s battling himself on the inside, trying to decide what’s okay and what’s not. What’s right or wrong. What he bases his decisions on, I have no idea, but I help him out by taking one of his hands in mine and placing it at the curve of my left ribs, just below my breast. I leave it up to him to decide what he wants from there, while pleading with my eyes for him to touch me.
He drops his mouth to my ear, whispering, “You can’t look at me like that. I’m trying to—”
“Stop trying. Whatever it is, just… stop.”
He chuckles, but his frown comes back quickly, and at the speed of a snail, he glides his hand up the tiniest bit. My breathing speeds up, and I run my hands from his abs to his back, pulling him into me.
His thumb meets the swell of my breast and my lips part with a low whimper.
Unfortunately, the second the sound leaves me, Chase’s eyes grow wide, his hands fly from my body, and he quickly falls to the space beside me.
Unable to meet my gaze, he hands me my shirt, slowly removing himself from under the cover, but I get angry, and sit up, letting the thing fall around my waist.
Brady’s still facing the cushions, so I pretend I don’t give a shit if anyone comes in and slowly pull my shirt over my head.
I jump to my feet, my bare feet slapping against the hardwood on my way to the kitchen.
I yank water from the fridge and when I close it, Chase’s right there, frown in place.
“You’re mad.”
Does anyone since the existence of humanity enjoy whiplash?
I push past him, but he grips my arm, spinning me back around.
“Don’t be upset.”
“What if Brady woke up?” he speaks low. “What if Mason walked in?”
“What if you figure out what you want without worrying about other people?”
His mouth opens, but nothing comes out, and his eyes fall to the floor.
“Right.” I turn and head up the stairs, locking myself in my bedroom.
My head falls against the door, and I close my eyes, willing tears not to follow.
My hopes are officially up, and it’s my own fault.
Chase is being playful, pushing the boundaries a little, and I might as well be a damn bulldozer. I need to let him call the plays, and even if I’m frustrated in this moment, something tells me he will.
All I know is I’m ready when he’s ready.
No matter when. No matter what.
Chapter 9
Arianna
* * *
“Hole in one, baby!” Cam lifts her hands over her head in victory.
“That’s three in a row!” Brady shouts, crossing his arms in a pout. “You’re cheatin’.”
The rest of us laugh and Mason slaps the big guy’s shoulders.
“It’s the same shit every time, my man. Why do you think mini golf is always her idea?” He grins bowing when Cameron lifts her chin with a smile.
“It’s okay, Brady baby,” she teases. “We all know you’re the best athlete out of all of us.”
I chuckle, and warm breath meets my ear.
“Does that laugh mean you agree?”
I shift to look at Chase, but he’s already slipping away, his lips curved around his water bottle, and my nerves fire off.
He knows I’m still staring his way and—
“Payton,” Parker speaks slow, as slow as his body lifts off the bench beside me, as i
f he’s approaching a wounded animal and fears for them to run. “What’s wrong?”
All our heads jerk in her direction, the clubs falling from our boys’ hands as they quickly follow behind Parker.
She makes not a sound, but as her head lifts from the screen of her phone, tears fall like a waterfall, rapid and non-stop.
She doesn’t blink, and while she’s looking at her brother, I’m not so sure she sees him.
“Payton.” Lolli tries this time, stepping beside her, and gently curves Payton’s wrist, so she can see the screen. Her eyes scan over it a moment, and she glares, her head snapping toward Parker, anger bringing heat to her skin.
“He’s gone,” Payton says, voice scarily void of emotion.
“Who’s gone?” Mason says gently as he slowly approaches.
Payton brings her eyes to his, tension framing her features. She shakes her head, hands him her phone and takes off toward the exit.
“Fuck me.” Lolli tosses Nate her drink and chases after her, while Mason reaches down to pick up the phone.
He leans his body toward Parker, the two reading over the screen at the same time.
Mason shoves it into Parker’s hand, turning to stare in the direction Payton disappeared. “Lolli said it right.” He shakes his head. “Fuck me.”
“Talk, man.” Nate glares at Parker.
Parker’s shoulders fall in defeat, and he glances at the phone once more. “The funeral. They held it. They couldn’t be decent for one minute and allow the girl carrying his baby to be there.”
Oh my god.
“How do you know for sure?” Cameron chews on her fingernails.
“Mase…”
“His bitch of a mother sent her a picture from a funeral.” Mason turns to face us. “Casket is in the background and all.”
I gasp, my hand flying up to cover my mouth.
“Holy shit,” Cameron whispers, turning to me and wrapping her arms through mine.
“What do we do?” I ask Parker.
He shakes his head. “I don’t know. I don’t know what we can do. Lolli hired someone to look into it, but he was a minor, and his family must have paid a fuck lot to keep it all under wraps.”
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