I nudged him with my shoulder. “Well, aren’t you a surprise.”
“Hey. I can be a fart smella when I wanna be.” He was a smart fella all right. “Here,” he said, passing the journal. “Your turn.”
“Go away,” I said, shooing him with my hand.
Colt glared at me. “You read mine.”
Shrugging, I gave him a little shove. “You let me.”
“Do I get to read it when you’re done?”
I thought for a brief moment on how long would be a reasonable amount of time for us to figure things out. “Nope...six months.” By then if we hadn’t got our shit together, we were never going to.
Colt stood, dusting off his butt, right into my face. “Fine,” he said, laughing as I wiped dirt from my face. He walked around to sit on a rock on the opposite side of the tree, facing out over the hills. “Don’t take too long. You don’t wanna miss this.”
After packing the journal back into the metal lockbox, I crept over to where Colt sat. “Rahh!” I shouted, clawing his sides with both hands from behind.
“What the fu—” He shot a foot up into the air and immediately I realized what a bad idea that was. Visions of Colton tumbling to his death flashed in my mind.
“Sorry,” I screeched, grabbing the back of his shirt. He was in no danger of falling. Thank God, he jumped up rather than forward.
“Damnit, woman. You tryin’ to kill me?” he teased, pulling me around to sit beside him, with his arm wrapped around my shoulders.
I shrugged, snuggling into his chest. We were both quiet for a few minutes, taking in the scenery, when my body began to tremble with laughter.
“You okay, Allie?” Colt asked, moving to see my face. “Are you laughing or crying? I can’t tell.”
“You sh-should have seen your face,” I choked out between guffaws. “I got you so good.”
The next thing I knew, I was being lifted into Colton’s lap, and his lips were on mine, properly silencing me. My body was a livewire any time we touched, and this time was no exception. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to the intensity, or that I even wanted to.
Long minutes passed before Colton pulled his lips from mine. “Look, Al,” he whispered, pointing toward the horizon where the sun was just beginning to peek over. Orange beams kissed the treetops, and instantly a chorus of birds started to sing. Nature’s alarm clock was truly majestic.
“Wow. It’s so beautiful, Colt.”
Colt’s lips pressed a kiss to the bend of my neck, and his arms tightened around my middle. “You are beautiful. I love you, Alexis Mack...”
COLTON
SO, YOU AND ALEXIS have been acting like an old married couple lately,” Blex mused, depositing a huge bowl of Coco Puffs on the table and pulling out the chair across from mine. “You two official yet?” my nosy friend asked before shoveling a bite of cereal into his mouth.
“We haven’t put a label on it or anything. We’re having a good time. Taking things slow.” I couldn’t help but smile at the mention of Alex as I stared down into my cup of coffee. The past few days had been almost too good to be true. We were slowly becoming more comfortable with the physical side of our relationship, and I couldn’t get enough of her.
Blex eyed me as he took his next bite and started humming the tune to that Beyoncé put a ring on it song. Boy, was he being subtle this morning or what?
“Oh, I love that song,” Al said, seeming to have materialized out of nowhere. “Alexa, play ‘Single Ladies’ by Beyoncé.”
“Morning, Allie,” I greeted with a nervous smile over my shoulder. Why’d it feel like I’d just been busted? I had no qualms about marrying Alexis. In fact, there was nothing I wanted more, but it was way too soon to be talking about marriage. Especially after the way she reacted to Dean. No thank you. Slow and steady is what it would take to win the race, and I was damn tired of fouling out where she was concerned. “You’re up early. It’s not even two.” I blocked my head with my hands and ducked, anticipating the blow, but she was too busy gyrating in the kitchen to that stupid song to come after me.
“Uh oh, oh oh oh oh, uh oh oh oh oh.” Damn. My girl could move. She was sexy as hell in her tank top and my boxers rolled at least five times at the waist. Her hair. Well, I didn’t even know what to think about that disaster. I was just glad not to be the one to have to tame that mess. How it went from that to the silky strands I loved running my fingers through was one of life’s great mysteries.
Blex sang the chorus, holding his hand out and rubbing his ring finger in full Beyoncé fashion. He raised his brows, a not so subtle hint as to our earlier conversation, before joining my girl in the middle of the kitchen for a dance off.
“What the fuck?” Finn said, scrubbing at his eyes with his fists. “There’s no partying without Finn.” His eyes darted around the room, glaring at each of us individually. “Alexa, play ‘Call Me Maybe.’”
I was beginning to think I’d somehow woken up in some alternate universe where I lived with a bunch of drag queens before the lyrics started, and I got where he was going with his song choice.
Finn lip sang, all dramatic. The very first line about the party not starting ‘til she walks in.
“Come dance with me,” Allie pouted, grabbing my hands and pulling just as the beginning chords to “Pour Some Sugar on Me” drifted through the speaker. I felt a little ridiculous dancing sober in the kitchen with my roommates around, but there was no way I’d ever pass on having Allie rubbing up against me.
It didn’t take long to get over my hesitation. Alex was insanely hot, and my dick was giving her a standing ovation. We’d yet to get past second base, and I found myself in a constant state of...hard. Still, I was reluctant to go any further. The last thing I wanted was her to feel cheated out of the whole dating phase just because we’d known each other forever. All jokes aside, Alex was not and would never be a forgone conclusion. I wouldn’t cheapen her by treating her that way. I didn’t want to take it. I wanted to deserve it.
Alex was busy using my body as a pole—such a hard life—and I was on the verge of nutting in my shorts when I felt something wet on my face. Then Allie started to squeal, and I turned to find Finn and Blex shaking bottles of beer and spraying it into the air.
Never. A. Dull. Moment.
“So, Remy’s having a pool party at his parents’ house tonight. You two coming or veggin’...again?”
Alex turned her head, which had been resting in my lap, up toward my face, awaiting my answer. I laced my fingers with hers and squeezed. “Nah, man. You and Blex have a good time. We’re gonna stick around here.”
“Dude...you haven’t hung out with us for almost two weeks. Are we breaking up?” Finn was apparently still channeling his inner Beyoncé from this morning.
“I’m just not in th—”