“He’s kind of hot, though.” I grab the phone from Andy to take a closer look. “More ripped than you are.”
“He boxes and lifts weights.” Andy snatches the phone back and glares at me.
“Is he joining Jonah’s team like you thought?”
“He’ll spend some time with his family in Chicago first, but yeah,” Andy confirms.
“That’s great.”
“It really is.” We sit cuddled in silence for a bit while Andy keeps texting with Jonah and Sawyer, and I take the time to examine the square lines of his jaw, decorated with bright day-old scruff, his full lips in a broad smile and his mesmerizing turquoise eyes twinkling with joy behind his glasses.
I bite my lower lip, heat starting to spread through my body at the thoughts filtering my mind.
“I can feel you staring at me,” Andy declares, and I giggle, planting a kiss on his neck before whispering in his ear.
“I’ve never had sex with a man in glasses before.”
“Is that so?” Andy tosses his phone aside and circles my hips with his other hand as well.
“True story,” I verify.
“Well, that can be easily fixed, Curls.” He gives me that sexy lopsided grin before tipping me back and kissing me senseless.
“Another first to our list,” I say, laughing when we come up for air.
“You better hand in a list of all the things you haven’t tried yet, Curls, ‘cause I’m the only man you’ll ever get to do any of it with.” His eyes are blazing, and his arms tighten around me as if he’s afraid I’ll run if he doesn’t hold on to me.
“No argument there.” I place my hand on his cheek. “No one else, ever again.”
Andy
Caving into Phoebe’s need to leave the cabin for reasons other than work, we decide to go celebrate Sawyer’s announcement by having dinner at the bar.
When we walk in holding hands, the entire place erupts into cheers. I feel my cheeks heat, but Phoebe just rolls her eyes and pulls me to the table where my mom is having an animated discussion with Nona, Jonah’s mom, and Gabe is entertaining Bodie while Leanne chats with Jonah, who’s mainly just listening with a smile and occasional nod.
“You’re back.” I lean down to give my mom and Nona a peck on the cheek, surprised Mom hadn’t called to tell me they had returned.
“And you two finally came up for air,” Gabe observes with a quiet whisper when I take a seat next to him.
“Not willingly on my part,” I inform him, causing Gabe to chuckle, before turning his gaze to the approaching waitress.
“Oh, looks like a plate with fish sticks and totally dry pasta is coming this way,” Gabe declares. “I’m so hungry, I’m going to eat it all!”
“That’s kiddie food!” Bodie explains to Gabe with laughter. “It’s mine.”
“Are you sure?” Gabe puts on his best confused face.
“Yes,” Bodie exclaims, rolling with laughter. “You so silly, Uncle Gabe.”
“Well, if you’re sure.” Gabe shrugs with a wink to Leanne, placing the plastic plate in front of Bodie, who starts munching away happily.
“Bo seems to have really connected with Gabe,” Phoebe observes with a bright smile, and Leanne nods, her eyes shining bright as she watches Bodie offer Gabe a fish stick dunked in ketchup.
“We’ve only been here a few weeks and look how happy he is,” Leanne places a hand over her heart. “I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to thank you.”
“Did you order food?” Phoebe looks at Leanne with hope. “Because if you did, we can call it square, I’m starving.”
“I bet you are, sugar,” Leanne titters with a shake of her head. “And I did, yes.”
I wait for Lola to join us with everyone’s food and drinks before clinking on my glass to get their attention.
“I have an announcement to make,” I start. “I talked to Jasper Deloise last week about joining the Grove Gazette, and this morning he offered me a position as junior editor.”
“That’s amazing!” My mom jumps up and runs to hug me, tears in her eyes. “I’m so happy you decided to pursue that dream, honey, it always suited you.”
“To Andy and his new job,” Gabe toasts, and everyone, including Bodie with his Ninja Turtle cup, raises their glasses. “To new friends and more family than we ever knew we could have, to building partnerships, professional and otherwise, and to leading our best life.”
“Amen!” Leanne concludes, and we all cheer.
Phoebe leans close to my ear. “I love you,” she whispers. “And I’m proud of you.”
“Couldn’t have done it without you, Curls.”
“Like I said, Surfer Boy, we always win when we do it together.”
“Which is why I’m going to ask you again.” I gaze into her soft gray eyes with grave seriousness. “Do you want me to go back to the city with you on Sunday?”
“No, babe. I need you to stay here and house hunt for us.” Her announcement takes me by surprise, her eyes twinkling at me.
“That so?” I ask, my voice gruff with emotion as I pull her to me.
“Yeah, and make sure it has a lot of extra rooms,” she instructs, and I chuckle.
“Not a one-room, barely separate bathroom, apartment?”
“Never again!” she declares with laughter, catching my face between her palms and planting a kiss on my lips before pulling back and caressing my cheek. “I don’t care where we live, as long as you’re there.”
“Same, Curls, same.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Andy
“Harder! Oh, God, yes, Andy! Just like that!” Phoebe never shied away from letting me know exactly what made her feel good when it came to sex, but even for her, this was a new level of frenzy.
She was getting ready to go to the airport. I took a few extra minutes in the shower, and when I came out of the bedroom, she was sitting on the vanity chair, debating with herself which earrings to wear. She was dressed in the same lilac set she had been wearing the day I watched her cry from her office closet, and something inside me snapped.
The next thing I know, I’m fucking her hard, the panties lying torn on the floor as her heels dig into my ass as deep as her fingernails dig into my shoulders. Her head’s thrown back and her body arches, giving me a perfect view of her tits bouncing in her bra as I continue my relentless thrusts, both of us oblivious to the cosmetics and toiletries now scattered on the floor around us or to the chipping color of the wall as it’s repeatedly banged by the vanity.
Her orgasm hits fast and hard, sending wave after wave of pleasure, which she rides in ecstasy.
“Fuuh-uuck!” I match her with a loud shout of my own as I come hard, continuing to grind into her until I feel her climax again. I slow my thrusts to a stop only when she starts coming down from her second orgasm.
We stay in that position for a while, gasping for air, slowly untangling the hands clutching each other. My shoulders sting when the wounds from Phoebe’s nails meet my sweat, and I see she has my handprints on her thighs from where I gripped her.