Turning to Tate, I argue, “Umm, why, Tate, that doesn’t make sense. Let Nikoli sit up front, because we will all fit better in the back.”
“Come, Krasaaveetsa, get in the front.” Tate replies with a stern look and I just roll my eyes at him.
“No, Tate, I’m not jumping because you say so. This doesn’t make sense and I know I’m right. You need to give in on this one.”
This man is always making me feel like a teenager around him. I mean technically twenty is very young, but he makes me feel fifteen. I’m always angry, turned on, arguing or feeling like I’m falling head over heels for him. I thought this was what happened when you were young, not in college.
He grumbles, “I didn’t ask you to jump, I asked you to sit down.”
Tate must realize this is going to be a battle because before I can get a response out, he picks me up. Nikoli opens the front door and Tate shoves me in the front seat. Nikoli smiles really big at me and shuts the door quickly.
I’m so shocked it doesn’t even register what they just did for a few seconds. I feel my mouth gaping and physically reach up to cover it. The balls on these men are uncanny.
Tate gets in the SUV and gazes at me; I can only stare at him with my mouth open. I cannot believe that just happened. I don’t know whether to be pissed off or turned on right now.
Avery sits in the back giggling like it’s the greatest thing ever and London’s looking at Tate like he hung the moon. Freaks, damn freaks, I’m surrounded by crazies.
The next morning…
“Oh My God, my head! What time is it? What happened last night?”
Is that Avery’s scratchy-ass voice I hear pounding into my head? Why is she yelling?“Duuuude, shut up! And go back to sleep.” That sleepy voice is definitely London’s, so she really is here after all.
Avery chokes out, “Fuck, I’m going to be sick!” She runs to the bathroom but trips over me and goes flying onto another body under a comforter. I want to laugh at her because it was hilarious, but my head and stomach hurt too badly.
She mumbles, scrambling to get up, “Ooof. Shit! Sorry!” She takes off running again. I hear her slam the bathroom door and we all let out a collective groan.
Tate peeks his head up out of the blanket that Avery just tripped on and looks over at me. He looks absolutely adorable, like a sleepy puppy. Only hot, and male, with bed head, and wow, yep, no shirt on.
He leans up so the blanket falls to his stomach and I can’t look away from his gorgeous body. Tattoos cover his pecs and little barbells adorn each nipple. He is ripped, way more so than I had thought from dancing with him. He has a little happy trail of brown hair that leads over his six pack.
He has a freaking six pack! Of course he does.
Tate slowly leans toward me and kisses my forehead and whispers softly, “Morning, baby.” I melt a little inside when he says it so naturally, like it happens daily. I give him a small smile because he just made this horrible hangover a little better by being here when I first woke up.
“Good morning, Tate.”
I start to lean up also, but freak when the blanket falls down. I scramble to pull the blanket back over my chest swiftly. Damn it, Tate just got an eye full!
“Holy fuck! Why am I naked?”
Tate gives me his grin and the dimples come out to play. Oh no, here it comes.
“Well, last night all of you ladies decided to sleep naked.” Tate chuckles, gesturing to me, “You all decided it would be one less thing you had to worry about in the morning. I tried to get you to keep at least your panties and bra on, but you wouldn’t hear of it.” I feel my face start to burn and know it’s probably red as a cherry.
“I got you to lie down under the blanket, but you made me promise I’d stay right beside you or you would take the blanket off. You said something about being scared and needing me to protect you. I stayed because I swear if either one of these fuckers looked at you, I’d be throwing blows. I told you to relax, that I’ll always keep you safe. You kissed me pretty sloppily and told me you like me way too much. Then you snuggled into me and passed right out.” He finishes, flashing that adoring stare in my direction.
Good lord, I’m mortified at this moment. There is a reason I don’t drink. I tend to binge drink when I do, and then I can’t remember anything the next day.
“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry I put you through that. That’s just awful, I’m so embarrassed!”
Cameron starts chuckling and lifts his head up to look over at me.
Oh God, what now?
“Are you kidding, Emily? Tate was in heaven. You were naked, and you’re bangin’, by the way. Not only were you showing your boy the goods, but he got to take care of you and boss you around last night. I think you just fulfilled one of his secret fantasies!” Cam starts laughing some more at the face I make; I guess you can call it disgruntled. Yep, I’m disgruntled.
He groans, “Ow. Shit. My head is killing me.” Cameron winces and puts the blanket over his head again. Thank God, no more stories out of him!
“Good, that’s what you deserve for making Emily embarrassed.” Tate is looking over toward where Cam is lying like he wants to strangle him.
“Shhhhhh! Please, Boss!” That was Nikoli.
Geez, did everyone stay here last night? I guess so, if Tate is here, considering he was the one who drove everyone. I can’t believe I even had enough blankets. Looking around I see there are actually only three blankets out. Guess I’m not the only one who was snuggled up to someone last night. I see the spot is empty next to Nikoli, so that means Avery must have slept beside him.
She comes out of the bathroom sluggishly and looking a little green. Avery has a bright peach towel wrapped tightly around her.
I mutter, “Surprise! I see you discovered you’re naked also?!” I don’t say it too loudly because my head is pounding but I do say it full of sarcasm. I need to find my Excedrin at this point.
“Huh? Oh, yeah. No biggie, Nikoli is naked, too. We had fun being naked together.” She grins elatedly and crawls back under the blanket with Nikoli. Well that answers some of my questions for her.
Groaning, I lean over, “Ugh, this is why I don’t drink. I’m never drinking like that again.” I scoop up my shirt and lie back down. I know I can get it back on underneath the covers.
London huffs, “Yes, you are. We are going to the lake later and probably that river restaurant place y’all told me about.” She perks up a little and I just want to throw something at her. I look around and spot one of my flip flops.
“Ooof!” says a deep voice. Shit, that was Cam, not London. I pick up my other flip flop and chuck it a little harder.
“Fuck!” Yep, that’s London. Well that just put a smile on my face.
Tate pulls my back in close to his chest and wraps his arms around me tight. I feel his nose and lips close to my neck and his breaths tickle the back of my neck. My nipples get hard from it and I squeeze my legs together to try to relieve some of the ache he has put there. I swear I feel his teeth graze my neck and it turns me on like crazy.
Tate whispers “Sleep, my Krasaaveetsa, I have you.”
And I do, I sleep the best that I have in months.
I slowly start to wake up and look around the living room. Tate and Nikoli are missing. I see London and Cameron spooning on the couch watching a movie and I hear the shower going. I’m guessing Avery is in the shower since she brought clothes with her to stay the night.
I check out the clock and see it’s already noon. Wow. I can’t believe the girls are up and moving around already. I was expecting to have to drag them out of the blankets and yell loudly to get them awake.
I rasp, “Mornin’, where is everyone?” I ask the room in general.
Cameron pops his head up and looks at me. He’s so tall his feet hang over the arm of the couch. I can’t believe they can both fit on that couch together, with his size and London’s butt. He has the cute lazy look going on. His hair has a bad case of bed head, going every which way like Tate’s earlier. His eyes are the color of Hershey’s chocolate and he has long, pretty eyelashes. He’s always so put together and all preppy looking when I see him. Seeing him relaxed and lounging around actually makes him look so much cuter. He kind of reminds me of a muscular pretty-boy.
Cameron and London look absolutely beautiful together; I bet they would have little babies that would look like models. Ha! That’s silly, London and Cameron are both hardcore players, there’s no point me even going there.
“Tate and Nikoli left to shower, change, get me some clothes and pick up one of the boats. Avery’s feeling better so she’s in the shower right now. I think she’s trying to be ready before Nikoli gets back. She was rushing around all crazy as soon as he left.”
I look at Cameron like he’s speaking Chinese. Did he just say one of the boats? Freaking spoiled boys!
“Umm, boat?” I repeat like I don’t know how to use my words.
“Yeah, you said you wanted to go to the lake or river, right? Tate’s family has a few boats so he went to go get one. He wants you to be pleased, so he was going to pick up a chest of drinks and everything we would need.”
He uses his hands to make quote marks and tries to sound like Tate when he talks, “Tate said he wants everyone to be ready to go whenever you want to leave.” Cameron huffs then goes back to talking normally, “They should be back anytime; they’ve been gone for a while.”
I just stare at Cam, because…I mean…shit. I really don’t know what to even say. Tate is thinking of me yet again. He’s even going out of his way to make me happy, just like he did that first night and like last night.
I leisurely trek into the kitchen to get some caffeine. I need to wake up. On the counter there is a white, long stemmed calla lily.
“Hey, who got the flower?” I ask no one in general again. I’m still stuck in zombie mode.
“Oh, Tate brought it in and set it on the counter.” London opens her pretty little mouth for the first time. Cameron must be doing something right, to keep that one so quiet. It’s like he has her tamed or something right now.
Tate is so sweet. I don’t remember him buying me a flower, but then I don’t even remember coming home, so yeah.
Avery comes breezing out of the shower looking all brand new. You’d never guess she was blowing chunks this morning. She has on a hot pink bikini top, white jean shorts and white flip flops. She looks adorable. Avery has her hair down and brushed straight, with just a little mascara on her face. She actually looks younger than usual with her makeup missing.
“Geez, sweets, you are rocking some serious abs! Playing volleyball sure does agree with you.”
I’m not a fan of abs on chicks; I think it’s not really a feminine look. I have always believed women are meant to look a little softer and men are supposed to be hard and full of muscle. She sure can pull it off though; she looks hot.
She grins, “Thanks, Em. I quit the team though.”
“What? I thought you were on scholarship?”
“I was but I ended up getting an academic scholarship because of my grades. It’s not as good as the other, but I’m able to switch over to Accounting as my major. Now I won’t have to train as much either. It was just getting old.”
“As long as you’re happy, Avery,” I reply, giving her a worried look. She doesn’t like to really be tied down to anything and I’m concerned about her not completing her degree. It’s not really my business though.
I hop in the shower long enough to do a quick upkeep and wash my hair. I have a new red bikini I’m going to try out today.
Tate seems to like it when I’m wearing red, pink or black the most. He’s been going out of his way for me, so I’m going to wear a color he likes. Plus, I want his attention on me and with Avery and London’s hot bodies, he might get distracted.
I put lots of lotion on since I’m going to be in the sun, some mascara, and lip gloss. That’s as good as it’s going to get. I hurry, knowing London and Cameron need to get in here, too.
I step out of the bathroom and am instantly assaulted with the delicious smell of cheeseburgers.
Yum.
I feel like I could eat a horse right now and drink about a gallon of water. That smells amazing.
London turns towards me when she hears me open the bathroom door. “There she is! Girl, this guy is out here trying to get us all to hurry up! Please tell your man to calm down, that you’re not ready to leave yet either.”
She is smiling brightly at me from teasing Tate. When I glance at Tate, he’s looking at the ground a little bashful. I just roll my eyes at her. She’s never going to stop picking on Tate if he lets her get away with it.
Ignoring her, I ask Tate, “Is that burgers I smell? God, it smells really good!”
“Yes, I stopped and got Freddy’s. I figured the greasy food might help everyone feel a little better.” He gives me a shy smile.
Oh my, Tate Masterson bashful and shy?! Where did the stubborn alpha go that I’m used to seeing? I really like it that he’s showing me this side of him.
I nod, “That sounds wonderful, Tate, thanks for being so thoughtful.”
I go up on my tippy toes and give him a quick chaste kiss on the lips. He briefly hugs me to him and kisses my forehead. I get rewarded with his handsome smile afterwards.
London and Cameron shower together. That’s an experience alone, with all the noise he has her making in there. That bitch is totally cleaning my shower before she goes back home. It definitely sounds like Cam knows what he’s doing in there.
Afterwards, she walks out in a black bikini, full of cheesy smiles.
I just shake my head at her, amused, “Okay can we please go now? Everyone’s had plenty of time to get ready.” I glance at each of them, “Hey, where’s Nikoli?” I ask, scanning the apartment.
“He’s checking out all the stuff on the boat. I told him to make sure we had plenty of life jackets, towels, that kind of stuff,” Tate responds and gestures toward the window that faces the parking lot.
“Awesome! Thank you so much for getting your boat, Tate, you’ve made me even more excited than I already was!” I gaze at him gratefully. He keeps stealing little pieces of me that I’m trying not to give away.