“If you kiss me right now,” he breathes, his face as hard as granite. “There isn’t a chance in hell we’ll make it to that f**king beach today.”
I say nothing as he slides his hand from my panty-line and sits back in the driver’s seat. He takes my hand again and starts the car, pausing only to ghost his lips across each of my knuckles. I let him slide the gear stick between our hands; our fingers stuck together, and rest my head back to look out of the window.
What the hell was all that? I can’t even… Just what?
~
Luce folds her arms across her chest, staring at the windbreak. “I am not hitting it into the sand!”
“Why? Are you scared you’ll break a nail?” Adam mocks, grabbing it and knocking the wooden pole in with a rock.
“If I break a nail, Adam, it’ll be because it’s got itself embedded in your cheek after I bitch-slap you.” She grabs her towel from the sand next to him and sets it down a few feet away. His eyes follow her as she pulls her dress over her head and lies back, looking out at the sea. I chew the inside of my cheek, fighting my grin, and Adam looks at me.
“What?”
“Nothin’.” I release my cheek from between my teeth and let the grin take over.
“She on her period? She’s been a moody bitch ever since she got in my damn car,” Adam grumbles.
“Brothers,” I explain.
“What was it this time?” Reese pulls his shirt off, and my eyes wander the muscles that stretch across his stomach. The muscles my fingers swept across just days before. “Kia?”
“Hm?” I look up, ignoring his smug smirk. “Oh, her ass.”
“What about it?” Adam throws the rock aside.
“Somethin’ about it growing. Damn, I dunno, Ad. I tune those three out half the time.”
“Nothin’ wrong with her ass,” he grumbles. “Looks all right to me.”
“Just all right?” Luce looks up and over at him. “Not amazing? Not even a “great ass?” Just “all right?””
“Did I say it wasn’t great?”
“No, but you didn’t exactly say it was, either.”
“I-”
Reese slaps a hand against his shoulder and chuckles. “Give it up, man. She’ll just keep going until you give her what she wants – and even then she won’t be satisfied.”
My eyes narrow at him, my lips thinning. He couldn’t have added another meaning into that sentence if he’d tried. I wish he’d just come right out and say it.
“It’s true. No matter what we do, it’s always wrong.”
“That’s not true,” I throw back at him, sliding my dress over my head and shoving it in my bag. I scoop the volleyball up and look over my shoulder as I walk toward the net they set up. “You get some things right, but it’s so damn funny watching you get it wrong that we can’t bear to tell you.”
Reese’s eyes glide up body, and he might as well be burning my bikini away with them they’re so hot. “Yeah?” Our eyes meet, and in his I see pure fire of both the angry and sexy kind. “Pretty sure I know exactly what I get right with you.”
Adam makes a half-laugh, half-cough noise and clears his throat. I ignore him, keeping my eyes trained on Reese’s.
“Then you have no excuse to get it wrong, do you?”
He approaches me and grabs the ball, glancing at my chest. “Why don’t we find out?”
“We could… But if I’m honest, I like it when you do get it wrong.”
“Why’s that?” His lips quirk upwards.
“Because you hate being wrong, so I know you’ll try again, and as long as you keep trying to get it right, it means you care.” I take the ball back from him and kick Luce’s foot as I walk past her. She grumbles but gets up and follows me.
We take our positions on our side of the net and wait for the guys to join us. They both saunter over but, as usual, Adam pales in comparison to his best friend. At least he does in my eyes. I serve the ball, and we hit it backward and forward a few times until a smart drop shot from Adam draws me close to the net. I jump forward and spike it back over, scoring the point for us.
“Kia?” Reese mutters, stepping up to the net.
“What?”
“As long as you let me care, I’m gonna try. Even when you piss me the hell off.”
I smile a little and glance down at the sand. “You just wanna get in my pants again, Reese Pembleton.”
“Maybe I do,” he acquiesces. “But as much as I like being inside your pants, I like seeing you smile even more. Even when I’m pissed at you.”
“All right, you’re pissed at me. I get it,” I grumble.
He sighs.
I look at him. “Can I tell you something?”
“What?”
I hook one of my fingers through the net. “You got it right that time.”
“I thought you weren’t gonna tell me when I got it right.”
“I wasn’t.” I watch as the volleyball sails over his head and lands on the sand next to him and beam. “But it distracted you long enough for Luce to score us a second point.”
I laugh and turn, skipping away from the net. Luce puts her hand up, and I slap it in a high five.
“That was dirty, Kia James,” Reese calls.
“Oh, you know me.” I spin and put a hand on my hip, my amused grin matching his. “I like to play dirty. Besides, you’re not playing right unless you’re playing dirty.”
Luce laughs loudly, smacking the ball back to a chuckling Adam. Reese smirks, stepping backward slowly. He stretches his arms up, flexing his biceps just as Adam hits the ball to me. I do a double-take, moving for the ball but missing it by a mile. Reese drops his arms with a smug quirk of his lips, raising his eyebrows in challenge.
“You bastard,” I mutter, knowing he’s just played me the same way I played him a few minutes ago. The way we can switch from a serious conversation to sexual banter without batting an eye amazes me.
“Am I playin’ right now?” He laughs.
“No,” I call back.
He stops laughing and frowns. “No?”
I bend over and pick up the ball, tucking it under my arm as I flick my hair over my shoulder, shooting him my most innocent smile. “You’re still wearin’ your shorts, aren’t you?”
“Removal of them can be arranged, baby.” He rakes his eyes across my body again. “But that’s definitely a two-player game only.”