Page 70 of Always Been You

MY MAN:Then maybe you’ll have one very pink ass tonight.

Liv:??

“You’re texting Josh, aren’t you?” Eliza asks as we make our way down the hallway toward the stairs to the upper deck.

“Yes,” I grin.

All three of them shake their heads despite the large smiles on their faces. “Let’s get upstairs so that I can fill you in on how our trip went last weekend.”

We find a spot and position ourselves so that we can see if the guys make their way up here. I don’t really want them to hear any of this. I tell the girls about the camping, the audiobook in the car, the new things Josh and I tried together, the scenery, me telling Josh I love him and him saying it back, and Josh asking me to stay, and finally about my breakdown in the closet on Monday.

The girls listen to everything intently and when I finish, Zoey says wistfully, “He’s your lobster.” She just finished a romance novel where the female main character kept talking about finding her lobster and she has adopted the phrase.

I nod my head, and she pulls me into a hug that turns into a group hug. “I’m happy for you,” Eliza says once we break apart. “I’m happy that you found someone who treats you the way you deserve. You’ve been so much happier since you moved into his place. He’s good for you.”

I tear up at her words. They are kind, but I’m not sure why they are causing this reaction from me. We continue talking for a bit before the announcement to return to ourcars comes over the loudspeaker. We make our way back downstairs, parting ways on the vehicle deck, and I make my way back to the car, where I find Josh already in the driver’s seat scrolling on his phone.

I open the door and he looks at me before finishing what he is doing and locking his phone. He leans over the centre console and gives me a quick kiss, which doesn’t seem to be enough for me right now. My hand moves to the back of his head and I grip his hair, holding him close to me as I lick the seam of his lips. He groans and opens for me and I deepen the kiss immensely.

The sound of cars turning on around us has us breaking apart. He reaches down and adjusts himself in his jeans before turning the car on. We drive off the ferry and we are on our way to the next. I fall asleep on the car ride with Josh’s hand on my thigh as I lean against the door. I stir when we make it to the next ferry and then again when we make it to the one after that.

I can feel Josh brushing my hair back from my face, and I hear him whispering, “Babe, we’re here. It’s time to wake up.” Just then, I start to fall out of my seat as someone pulls open the door, but I’m caught by several hands. The next thing I hear is a group of laughter and I look around and see that Zoey and Eliza are holding me as Hannah, Caleb, Matt, and Grayson stand behind them, laughing at the scene. I scramble back into my seat and undo the seatbelt before scrambling out of the car. I give Zoey and Hannah light slaps for one, scaring the shit out of me, and two, causing a scene in front of everyone.

Zoey whispers in my ear, “You two are lucky that the back windows are tinted. If we hadn’t of done that, the guys would have seen how sweet Josh was being with you. We saved your ass.”

“You still scared the shit out of me,” I whisper hiss before softening my tone. “But thank you.”

They nod and we all get to work setting up our campsite. By the time we are done, it’s lunchtime and the guys get to work on the barbecue. The girls and I set the table with everything we may need before settling down with some drinks. We tell each other about the books that we have read recently. Eliza is partway through her update when Caleb asks, “You guys actually read that stuff?” We all turn and look at him, waiting to gauge his reaction.

“It’s all we read,” Hannah says.

“Seriously?” Matt asks.

“Yup,” I say, popping the p sound.

“It’s basically porn,” Grayson says.

“It’s not, but if you really want to know what your girl wants, read her books. Find out if she highlights or tabs her books, then maybe you’ll be able to satisfy and keep a woman,” Zoey says with a saccharin smile.

“Oh, I have no problems pleasing a woman,” Grayson says, grinning and taking a sip of his beer.

“It’s the keeping them you struggle with,” Eliza says, which isn’t like her, but after what Hannah told us, I’m not entirely surprised. The girls and I all take a long sip of our drinks after Eliza’s statement while the guys have mixed looks of amusement and curiosity on their faces.

“Have any of you ever read a romance novel?” I ask, diverting the conversation.

Grayson, Caleb, and Matt all say, “No” while Josh remains quiet, although the guys don’t notice.

“Okay, how about this, pick a medium, e-book you can read on your phone, a physical book, or an audiobook, and then we will recommend a book for you guys to read. Youcan choose to all read the same book or we can select a book for each of you.”

The guys look at each other and then nod. “Okay, we will all read the same book.” Caleb says.

“Why don’t we do an audiobook so that we can listen to it together and get it over with,” Matt says.

I stand up and grab the girls and we walk away from the table; we discuss what book we should choose. We decide to stay away from dark romance, and decide that since the guys play hockey, we should have them listen to a hockey romance. I scroll through my reading tracking app; I find a book and show it to the girls and a grin spreads across their faces and they all nod before we make our way back to the table.

“Okay, we’ve taken some mercy on you guys. We didn’t pick a dark romance, and we stayed away from reverse harem books and mm romance, so you’ll be listening toThe Dealby Elle Kennedy. It’s a little to medium spice book, so it shouldn’t be too much for you guys,” I say.

Matt pulls his phone out and downloads the book while the rest of them finish up with lunch. We all sit at the picnic tables and eat our barbecue together and when we are all done, we clean up and the girls and I climb into our tent and change into our swimsuits.

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