His knee cracked when he hopped down. His back ached, forcing him to stretch it out before he headed for the house, but those minor symptoms of his maturity weren’t going to stop him from playing his part when he rejoined his friends. The more years they spent together, the better they got at taking care of each other, whatever that required.
It might have been selfish, but Joe was looking forward to letting go of responsibility and allowing them to settle him. He took the stairs to the porch two at a time, then entered without knocking, shutting the door quickly behind him to avoid letting in a brisk early spring breeze.
As eight faces turned in his direction, all with wide, glad smiles, he felt his muscles begin to relax. Especially when he caught sight of Morgan, who was lounging on the deep, shaggy rug in front of the fire with a glass of wine in her hand while wearing a silk robe. He licked his lips as he took in her shapely legs and the cleavage on display between her lapels.
“Damn, that looks good.” Joe briefly eyed the buffet piled with food and then the group of naked people beyond it for far longer. “Is it all for me?”
“Guess we missed you. Lucky bastard.” Mike’s mouth tipped up on one side in his characteristic wry grin as he spread his arms. “What are you hungry for first?”
“No offense, Kate, but it isn’t your world-famous mac and cheese.” Joe could ignore the rumbling of his stomach, but all of a sudden he couldn’t dismiss his need to be part of this group. To ground himself and remind himself where he truly belonged and to whom.
“Damn it. I told you guys he wouldn’t care if I ate without him.” Dave pouted. “Those buffalo wings were calling my name.”
“Just think, now you can work up an appetite and have room for more of them after you’re done.” Kayla distracted him with a brush of her hand across his mammoth pecs. His nipples were tight around the studs through them. After so many years together, Kayla’s penchant for piercings and tattoos—not to mention strolling around in the nude—had rubbed off on her husband.
“Yeah, we were saving you from yourself,” Neil teased, making Joe wince, since he needed them to do the same for him. “You wouldn’t want to be full of greasy chicken or in a food coma when it came to the good stuff. Isn’t there some kind of saying like that? No eating thirty minutes before an orgy?”
“I think they were talking about swimming.” Mike laughed, his stare growing a lot more serious and steamier as he looked at his wife, Kate. Even all these years later, any time they talked about a pool party, every one of the crew flashed back to the fateful summer day they’d first bonded with Kate and made her one of their own. That moment had changed the course of their lives, steering them in the direction that had made each of them unbelievably happy. Joe should be ashamed of his greed. “But I’m sure someone would be willing to take care of Kayla for you if you’d rather pig out.”
Dave practically purred as he stroked her hair. “You know, it might be worth it to watch her getting off on that. But I’m selfish. And starving. It’s been too long.”
He stared pointedly at Joe.
“Sorry,” he muttered, and they knew it wasn’t because he’d stayed longer than he’d intended in Middletown that day. It was more than that. Lately his head hadn’t been in the game and he’d passed up a few other opportunities for a good time that he otherwise would have jumped on.
He was hurting his friends, his lovers, and he didn’t intend to do that again that night. He planned to give them all of himself. As much as they would take.
“It’s fine.” Morgan was quick to shoot Dave a warning glare as she rose and passed him in order to cross to Joe. Her hair bounced, curling over her shoulders when she swiveled her head toward him again. The last thing Joe wanted was to come between the people he loved most. So he distracted her by opening his arms and wrapping her up in them.
“I missed you,” he whispered, drawing a deep breath and letting the scent of her shampoo and light perfume fill his lungs. She was right there with him, her arms going around him equally as tight until they made one complete unit standing there together.
Though the night would certainly become more involved, a simple hug was exactly what he craved from her then.
What he had, what he’d found, was so damn special that the fact that he couldn’t seem to appreciate it lately was making him feel like the shittiest partner in the world. He’d heard once that guilt was a useless emotion. Ironically, it didn’t seem benign. It felt paralyzing.
As if she could hear the struggle in his heart—with her cheek mashed to his chest—Morgan grabbed his wrist, guiding his hand into the V of her robe. He felt her breath hitch, and looked down in time to spot her lick her lower lip. Desire, simple and familiar, swelled inside him, pushing aside everything else.
Joe cupped Morgan’s face in his hands, hoping she didn’t notice his fingers trembling as he tipped it up. He lowered his head and sealed their mouths, drawing strength from her even as he fed her his own pent-up frustration, released by their mutual desire.
It was always like this. She had the power to transform even the most ragged of his emotions into something beautiful and sweet for them both to gorge on. Joe nudged her robe aside until her chest was fully bared to him, then froze. The delicate gold chain draped around her neck and between her breasts made her skin look even more flawless than it was. He traced the fine metal down to the setting that dangled from it, swirling around a rock. Not a diamond, but a simple pebble.
From the date that had started it all for them.
The one he’d taken from the pumpkin patch the night he’d known without a doubt that they were made for each other. Had he gotten so used to being incredibly fortunate—with a successful business, a loving family, a spicy sex life, and the best friends a guy could hope for, that he was willing to sacrifice it all for one tiny thing he couldn’t have otherwise?
What the hell was wrong with him? Welcome to your midlife crisis, dumbass.
“You okay?” Morgan murmured against his cheek when he paused. “We can go home if you’d rather.”
“You were right. This is home.” He rested his forehead on hers for a moment before lifting his head and staring at their friends, gathered around them, their expressions ranging from curious to downright concerned.
“Sorry, guys. Sorry.” He scrunched his eyes closed, then stared at Mike, hoping the other man would understand what he craved when he said, “Be my foreman tonight.”
“You sure?” Mike arched one brow. He crossed his arms and spread his feet. There was a reason the man had been the unofficial leader of their crew for decades. This was who he was and what he did best. Tonight, Joe wasn’t ashamed to admit he needed that.
Joe nodded.
Morgan smiled softly, then kissed him. As she preoccupied him, Mike stepped up behind them. He put his hands on Joe’s shoulders. Compared to his wife’s, Mike’s fingers felt huge and solid. As strong but without the finesse and grace of Morgan’s touch.
It was raw and perfect.
Mike held him, steadied him, as Joe poured his feelings into the kiss he shared with Morgan. Heat enveloped Joe from behind and in front. His hands began to wander, filling with the supple flesh he knew as well as his own. Morgan sighed. Was she relieved? Had she assumed he would back out or fail her?