Page 11 of A Baby for the Firefighter
“No, I guess not...” Griff trailed off, his brow furrowed deep in thought. He always got this faraway look in his eyes when he was thinking, and I wondered where his mind wandered off to.
“I know it's not a long-term solution, but what if we took the kids out to do something fun? “
“The kids?”
“Yeah. Jake and Conner. Jake doesn't have too many friends, I'm sure he'd love to get together. And maybe some of his natural enthusiasm will rub off on Conner.”
Lord, I hoped it could work like that. “That might not be a bad idea.”
Griff beamed at me as if he'd just solved the world's most complex problem—and gotten a cookie for it too. “So let's do it!”
“Yeah, let’s.” I gave him a soft smile. “But do what, exactly?”
“I don't know.” Griff waved his hand as if he could grab the answer out of the air. “Something fun. What's fun to do? Oh, I know, it's supposed to be hot next week. We could take them to the lake.” His expression turned nostalgic. “Remember how we used to go to the lake as kids? That was fun.”
I only nodded, because I did remember. I remembered the whole thing getting kind of awkward as we became teenagers and I developed this stupid attraction to my friend. But I could hardly tell him that now. He wassoexcited about his lake idea.
“Is next weekend good for you?”
“Sure,” I said, hoping he didn't plan on skinny dipping or anything. He'd done that one time when we were younger and didn't have swim wear with us. I'd had the hardest time controlling my hormones around my naked friend, and I didn't want a repeat of that.
Or did I?
Maybe I wanted ita little, because I wasn't making any counter suggestions. Besides, it might be difficult to see Griff naked, or even half-naked, but I'd still be seeing him naked. I was sure the sight would more than make up for any difficulty I had to face.
God, I really was hopeless, wasn’t I?
4
Griffin
Why oh whyhad I ever thought going to the lake would be a good idea? Yeah, it was hot, and yeah, the kids were loving it—at least Jake was, Conner still seemed skeptical of all the wet stuff—but I was having the hardest time not staring at my friend and making a total idiot out of myself.
I'd noticed even when he was clothed that Dean had shaped up nicely since high school, but now that he stood in front of me in just some swim shorts?
Holy shit.
I used to laugh at people who used the words 'sex on legs' to talk about men, but I only had to take one look at Dean now to know he was the whole reason the phrase had been coined. Just to be able to describe him.
And if he went into that lake now and got himself wet I was gonna fucking lose it. I was sure of it.
Look at something else, Griff. Anything else but his abs. Good, good, watch Jake. You're a responsible, non-sex-obsessed uncle.
While I was doing my best not to pay attention to him, Dean spread a blanket out on the grass leading up to the lake and put the basket he'd brought on top of it.
“Griff?”
I nearly jumped when Dean tapped my shoulder from behind. “Yeah?” Jesus, his alpha-scent was strong today, mixing with the day's sweat. I drew in a breath, wondering if all omegas got funny thoughts in their head when they caught a whiff of a hot alpha and why I seemed to be the only one who had a problem with it.
I leaned away a bit, hoping he wouldn’t notice. He hadn’t said anything when I made Jake sit between us for movie night.
“Do you need sunscreen? I packed some. We should probably get the kids.”
“Yeah. Good thinking.” I rubbed my face with the heel of my hand.
Snap out of it and focus.
Barely looking at Dean, I took the tube of sun cream out of his hand and walked up to the edge of the lake. “Jake!”
