Page 65 of Nights at Seaside
“We figured,” Amy said. “That’s why we’re going after all the men are asleep. How long after you…you know…does he fall asleep?”
Sky giggled. “I don’t know. It’s not like I time him.”
“Jenna does,” Amy said with a smile. “She said Pete’s out in seven minutes or less.”
“Geez, really? Seven minutes?” Sky thought about Sawyer and wondered how long itdidtake him to fall asleep. “I just assumed he fell asleep at the same time as me. What about Leanna? Is she staying over and going, too? Oh gosh, and what about Theresa? She’s home tonight. I saw her car—and about a dozen pink boxes on her porch, thanks to you, Bella. She must be pissed.”
“I’m not sure if Leanna is going to stay or not, and I’ve been watching Theresa. She’s had her lights out by nine thirty every night so far this summer. We’ll be quiet. It’ll be fine.” Bella touched her belly. “Another kick,” she said with a smile. Then she said to Amy, “It’s not my fault Theresa likes adult toys.” She handed Sky a head of lettuce with a hint of a smile on her lips. “Can you chop?”
Amy smirked. “Like you’re not the one sending her the stuff? You run over to see her face with every delivery.”
“That’s because I want her to know thatwe all knowwhat she’s ordering.”
Amy washed two tomatoes and began slicing them for the salad. “I don’t know why you keep pranking her after the whole Bradley Cooper fiasco.”
Bella put condiments on a tray and settled one hand on her hip. “If I give up, she wins. You know me better than that.”
“Aha!” Amy laughed. “As if I didn’t know it was you sending the naughty paraphernalia.”
“You had your doubts.” Bella picked up the tray and looked at Sky again. “You’re in for chunky-dunking, right?”
“If he falls asleep, yes, but you may have to go without me. We’re—”
“Going at it like monkeys. We know,” Bella teased. “You’re in that honeymoon stage, where you can’t get enough of each other.” She smiled at Amy. “The rest of us are still in that stage, too, but weknowto wear our men out early on chunky-dunking nights. So we expect you to retire to your bedroom early so you can come out and play with us.”
“Oh, the pressure,” Sky teased. “What if I don’t want to leave him?”
Bella got as close to Sky as her belly would allow and narrowed her eyes. “You are not allowed to turn into one of those women who ignores her girlfriends for a guy. That hot hunk will still be in your bed after you come out and have fun with us, but who knows when the next time is that we’ll have a chance to skinny-dip without worrying about waking our babies.”
“Good point. My bad.” Sky secretly loved that Bella was so pushy. Growing up without sisters made her treasure her kinship with the Seaside girls even more.
“I’ll bring the cookie dough,” Amy sang out.
SAWYER SAT BY the bonfire with Tony, Pete, Caden, Grayson, Kurt, and Blue after dinner, watching Sky and her girlfriends giggling and whispering on the other side of the fire pit. Jenna’s head tipped back with a hearty, loud laugh, the kind of contagious laugh that made the others join in. Bella’s laugh was husky, and Leanna’s and Amy’s were nearly silent. But Sky’s laugh had a feminine ring to it. Sawyer tuned everything else out and listened to her laughter. It seemed to float from her lungs and radiate outward from her chest, ending in a quick inhalation. And her smile—her beautiful smile—did funny things to his stomach every time he saw it.
“Welcome to Seaside,” Pete said. “Are you surviving your indoctrination?”
Sawyer laughed. “Seems to me like you guys are really lucky to have each other. Thanks again for letting us use your boat overnight, Pete. I’m looking forward to being out on the water again. It’s been ages.”
“No problem,” Pete said. “I’m psyched that Sky’s dating a guy who enjoys boating. You’ll fit right in with the rest of us. I heard that you’re coming to Sky’s grand opening. You’ll finally get to meet our brother Matt.”
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. And I hope to meet your father, too.” Sawyer had heard so much about their father that he was looking forward to meeting the man who had built Sky her own art studio and had loved his wife so much that her death had sent his world off-kilter—and loved his family enough to right his ways.
“He wouldn’t miss Sky’s opening for the world,” Pete said, then took a swig of his beer.
Tony pointed to Amy and smiled. Each of the girls had a hand pressed to her stomach. “It doesn’t get much better than this. It’s gonna be a trip when all our babies are born. I think the girls will be sad when Sky moves up to Provincetown.”
“She’s pretty happy about the renovations almost being done, but we haven’t talked much about when she’s going to move.” Sawyer imagined she would go through a wide range of emotions when she moved, and he hoped he could help when she did. He turned to Blue. “Thanks for taking care of Sky’s renovations, Blue. I know she really appreciates all that you do for her.”
“No worries. She’s a good friend.” Blue took a swig of his beer. “And she seems happier than she’s ever been.”
“Thanks. That means a lot to me, knowing how much you two mean to each other.” Sawyer noticed Sky watching him and smiled. She blew him a kiss.
“Okay, enough sappy stuff,” Grayson interrupted. “Let’s get to the good stuff before my sister monopolizes you again.”
“Good stuff?” Sawyer asked.
“Your fighting,” Tony explained.
