Page 68 of The Best Kind of Bad

I reach down, snagging a beer for him from the cooler. He accepts it with a smile, but his attention is on my body. His fingers feather over my shoulder, brushing past the halter top tied at my neck. I’m wearing my light-yellow suit. It’s simple, no pattern, no frills, but it contrasts sharply against my dark skin.

He weaves his arm behind my back. His fingers slide under the edge of my bikini bottoms, hand curving possessively along my hip.

There was never any question of how to play our relationship for his friends. From the moment we arrived, he hasn’t let go of me. And thank God for that, because he’s the only reason I agreed to come. It would have been awfully lonely to keep my distance, acting like we’re just friends.

They’re a tough group to break into.

Andy and Erin sit in the back of the boat, heads bent together as they trade stories. I think they spend a lot of time together, thanks to the fact that the boys are always together. Erin’s husband, Josh, is currently being pulled behind the boat. He’s not as flashy as Dusty, but he still water-skis like a pro.

Reese is the only person, aside from me, who isn’t a regular in this little posse. She’s Josh’s sister, dark-haired and fair, just like him, and freshly graduated from college. But, unlike me, she seems completely at ease with the rest of the group. It’s clear she grew up around them.

Bo flips his hat around backwards, steering through the water in wide, easy turns. “I saw you east of town the other day.”

When Dusty glances down at me, I realize Bo’s talking to me. “East of town? What was I doing over there?”

Bo glances at me. Sunglasses hide his dark eyes, but he’s grinning. “Working your ass off from the looks of it.”

“Sounds about right.” I grin, looking up at Dusty, who’s got a silly, proud smile on his face.

Bo swings the boat in the other direction, looking over his shoulder to make sure Josh is still up and flying. “My grandpa was a few years ahead of your Uncle Gus in high school.”

And in the space of one sentence, I feel old again. I’m trying to do the math, trying to figure out how young Bo’s parents and grandparents might have been. Maybe if they all had kids at a young age… But still, it doesn’t seem like my uncle and his grandpa should be in the same category.

Not without making me feel ancient.

In my defense, my mom had me late in life. But the nine years between Dusty and me are not a small number. I can’t help but to think about the fact that I was getting my driver’s license when he was starting first grade. I was a freshman in college when he was nine.

Dusty must notice the way I go rigid in his arms. He pulls his hand away from my hip to grip my waist. Dipping his head down, he kisses my neck. Blowing soft breaths and nipping until I’m squirming in his arms and laughing.

He can distract me from the facts, and I appreciate that he’s trying, but that’s one decade we can’t laugh away.

44.

Dusty

We always fish for our supper.

Fishing is kind of Josh’s thing. There’s never any talk ofwhat do we eat if we don’t catch something? Because we always catch something. Josh wills it into reality.

When Skyler finally arrives, it’s our cue to move to the pontoon.

He’s the only one of us guys who has an office job. It’s a remote office job, but he still has to show up to virtual meetings and all that. He couldn’t get away during the middle of a Friday like the rest of us could. So, when he finally rolls up, we shift from water-skiing to fishing. I climb aboard the pontoon, because it’s tradition, but when the girls pull Marnie back to the beach, I almost dive back in the water to follow her.

Reese is the only female who joins us on the boat, but she’s as big of a fishing fanatic as her big brother. I sit with my fishing rod and nurse my beer, but Marine pulls my gaze to shore. I’m like a reverse lighthouse, constantly scanning the beach for her.

That yellow bikini glows like a beacon. All I want to do is get her into the tent so I can pull the top down, drag the bottoms to the side and fuck her while she’s still wearing it.

There’s a smattering of chuckles and I realize everyone is staring at me. Skyler recasts, his bob hitting the water with a littlebloop.

I glance at their expectant faces and shrug. “What’d I miss?”

“We’ve been talkingatyou for a while now.” Skyler laughs, shaking his head. “Where’s your head at, brother?”

“Back at the beach, is my guess.” Josh mutters, trading amused looks with his sister.

“You’ve got it bad, Dusty.” Bo laughs. “I didn’t know it was possible to capture the heart of Don Juan himself.”

I shrug. “When you look like that, anything is possible.”

---