Page 145 of Say It Isn't So

“Are we going to start playing sometime today or what?” Perla asked from where she was perched on Frankie’s lap on a beach chair. Frankie whispered something in her ear and her face went from cream-white to blush within seconds. “Come on, we don’t have all day,” Perla shouted, walking to our side of the net finally.

Maria tossed the ball at me and I did not catch it.Big surprise!Instead it landed right at my feet. “Perla’s right. This game has to start soon. Isabella’s going to be calling me when she gets home from camp and I don’t want to miss her.”

Dom placed a hand on her arm. “Let me know when she does. She promised to tell me all about John.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Dom Deluca, who is John?” I asked. What, we were all curious, I was sure it wasn’t just me.Admit it, you are, too.

“John who lost his tooth,” he explained and waved me off. “It’s a whole thing. Just tell me when she calls, okay? Please?”

Maria gave him a sweet smile. As if she’d ever deny him anything he asked for.

If we continued watching those two we wouldn’t need anyone to cook because we’d all lose our appetites.

Knox crossed to our side again and came up behind me, wrapping his arms around me and nuzzling my neck. “I have to tell you, your competitiveness is a turn on.”

I shot him an annoyed look over my shoulder, but he continued giving my neck the attention it deserved. “I don’t like to lose, okay? I’m not competitive.”

“Whatever you say,” he said, smiling against my neck, the very ticklish spot on my neck.

I giggled and turned in his arms. But before we could do anything I wanted to do—ahem, kiss—Allie yelled, “On your side, Rhodes!”

I rolled my eyes and Knox walked back around, returning, “Then let’s start the damn game.”

Squaring my shoulders, I went into a squat, bending at my knees and keeping my eye on the ball as Maria served it over the net and Brady volleyed it right back to us.Shit!They were playing. And they weren’t half bad.

Okay, maybe I wouldn’t have to work too hard at this whole volleyball thing. Maybe Maria would carry us to victory. Even Allie was getting in on it, hitting it over the net. Yeah, I definitely wasn’t needed, so I sidestepped to the edge of the play area and just watched.

Yeah, I’m cool like that.

Chapter Forty-Five

Knox

I’d never experienceda Fourth of July like this in my life. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I’d ever experienced any holiday like this in my life. And I meant that in a good way. The best way.

Being here with Bianca and her family was so much fun. I actually felt lucky.

Until I heard Angelo had arrived.

Then my heart leapt into my throat. I really feared we’d have a fireworks display long before nightfall once he saw me, but we hadn’t run into each other yet.

Bianca hopped up on the kitchen counter while I went to the fridge in search of water bottles. When I found them, I tossed one to Bianca and undid the cap on mine. I leaned against the stove, but she wagged a finger for me to come closer.

I wet my lips. She should only know how badly I wanted to follow that finger and stand in the middle of her legs. “Sweetness, if I come over there, we both know what’s going to happen. And if we were anywhere but here, in a house filled with your family—including your father and a minor, I might add—I’d say abso-fucking-lutely, but no way!”

I didn’t like denying Bianca, but she wasn’t kidding when she said she had a mad sex drive. I believed her exact words had beenI’m like a man in that way, I prefer to lead a healthy sex life. There was nothing manly about her, but I understood what she meant, just the same. Fortunately, I had no problem keeping up with her.

She turned her bottom lip downward in an adorable pout and proceeded to give me the biggest eyes in the world—puppy dog eyes. “Please. I promise not to bite.”

I don’t make the same promise.I came closer like she wanted. “Fine, but you better be on your best behavior.”

“Absolutely.” She saluted me. “Scout’s honor.”Not really what scouts do, but okay.

Leaning my hand on the counter she was sitting on, I faced her. “You were never a girl scout were you?”

She gave me a weak smile and proceeded to chuckle. “Nope, but it’s the best I’ve got besides a pinky promise.” She held out her pinky and it took everything in me not to take it in my mouth and suck on it like it was the last lollipop in the world and sucking on it would give me eternal youth or something. “Isabella says they’re the real deal. What do you say?” She pushed her pinky finger toward me.

I wrapped my pinky around hers and shook it. Then I brought it to my lips and kissed it to really seal the deal. “Now it’s the real deal.”

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