“You put him up to this, didn’t you?” I asked. “Because every time I’ve mentioned dinner beneath the bay, he asks why we’d want to do that when we can just shift and catch our own meals.”
“He did mention that you’d wanted to go for some time now,” they replied. “As well as all the flimsy excuses he used to avoid it. Some of them were really lame too, so we fixed the real issue, which was his wardrobe, by the way, and I found this stunning dress I’m dying to show off. You’re not going to deny me the opportunity, are you?”
The moment my eyes slid over those curves in that stunning, shimmering lavender and amethyst dress, every protest flew out the window along with thoughts of an evening spent with my feet propped up on the coffee table while I shifted around uncomfortably on the couch, trying to get comfortable.
“Dinner beneath the bay it is,” I said, loving the way the fabric clung to them.
“Wise man,” Nyx replied.
The low-cut V in the front accentuated their chest and breasts I longed to caress and suck, while their long hair, left loose and flowing tonight, framed their face and trailed over their shoulders in soft waves I’d love to crush in my fists as I thrust into them. Dammit, those weren’t the things I should be thinking about as they sat and slipped on a pair of purple heels.A short time later we were buckled in the Jeep and heading down the road.
Honestly, it was nice to be able to kick back and lean against the back of the seat as we passed streets illuminated with decorations. It had been such a go-go-go week that I’d barely given them a thought as I’d driven past them.The Grinchplayed on the radio while a large inflatable one bobbed gently in a yard filled with plants wrapped in holiday lights that made me think about the ones I’d come home to the other night. Nyx’s mom was right; the living room had far more charm now that there were plants in it. And if the room happened to remind me of the bottom of an aquarium, that was just a bonus. In one night those two had given me the gift I’d been longing for.
Someone had turned their fruit stand into a gingerbread house, with six-foot candy canes on either side. Further down the block, a sly-looking grinch was positioned on a ladder halfway up to the roof of a house with an inflatable chimney tethered to it since it didn’t have a real one. I had to give them an A-plus for ingenuity for adding that touch.
The closer we got to the ocean, the easier it was to smell it, even over the exhaust of all the cars. It seemed like everyone was headed somewhere tonight, probably for the same reason we were. Because few places would be open tomorrow, and almost none would be open the day after that. Those that were would be packed with long lines and irritated people who’d rather be with their families, if they had one. My mates had already filled the fridge with Styrofoam cartons filled with meals they’d retrieved from the market, and to be honest, I was grateful to them for that. I wasn’t in the mood to cook anything, nor had I had time to work out a menu or a grocery list, so them taking the load off my shoulders couldn’t have come at a better time.
The parking lot was packed when we pulled in, and lights twinkled off the surface of the bay, creating a glittering backdropfor our walk along the sloping dock that led to the door of the restaurant.
“This is even cooler up close,” I said as I got a glimpse of the door, propped open because there was a line of roughly seven or eight people trailing out of it. “It might be a while before we’re seated, but at least we can enjoy the view.”
“Nope, that won’t be an issue,” Nyx said as he pulled open the other door and ushered us in. “We have a reservation.”
“You? You made a reservation?” I asked, glancing around for corners because at this point I was sure I was being pranked.
“With some help from Kekoa, since the restaurant doesn’t take reservations over the phone, you have to do everything through their app, which isn’t the easiest to navigate, but we got it done. We’re early too, so the most we’ll have to wait is six minutes, but who knows, maybe our table is already waiting for us.”
“A reservation, and we’re early? No wonder you guys were pushing and prodding at me like you were trying to tenderize my flesh. What’s going on? Did something happen? Is this your way of breaking it to me? Please say it doesn’t involve going back to the police station again or Kekoa going anywhere. Anything else I will probably be able to handle, unless you tell me one of you is sick, in which case, why are we here instead of researching specialists?”
“Relax,” Kekoa said, taking my hand and squeezing it. “No one is sick. No one is going anywhere. And no one is getting arrested. We’re just having a night out because we can. So enjoy date number eight and stop thinking there’s some ulterior motive behind us coming here.”
“Fine, but if someone pops out of a cake or delivers me a message instead of the cocktail I intend to order, you two will have some serious explaining to do,” I threatened.
“Okay, Desi,” Nyx said as a hostess arrived to show us to our seats.
“Just remember, if I’m Desi, that makes you Lucy, and you don’t walk well in heels.”
“I’m starting to think I might need Kekoa to give me lessons; they are rocking those things.”
“Why, thank you, kind sir; flattery will get you everywhere and anything,” Kekoa said, making the hostess giggle as I pulled out Kekoa’s chair for them.
As soon as the hostess left us to peruse our menus with a promise that our waitress would be by soon for our drink orders, I locked eyes with Kekoa, who was seated across the table from me. All of the tables were horseshoe-shaped to provide everyone seated at them with a view through the window of the sea life teeming beneath the surface of the bay. It was like getting to eat inside of an aquarium, complete with a starfish creeping up the side of the glass.
“Does anywhere include under you in our bed?” I asked. “I’ve been dying to feel you ride me.”
“Haven’t I already done that?” Kekoa asked, wiggling their eyebrows at me.
“In skin!” I hissed. “And not on my back, either.”
“Ahh, I see, you’ve got to learn how to be more specific with your requests,” they said. “I thought you were going to let me play underwater cowboy again.”
“Of course I do,” I groaned, shaking my head at them. “Otherwise you might decide to be all literal or deliberately misconstrue my intentions just so you can give me shit.”
They just shrugged with a fake-ass innocent look they only managed for a few seconds before grinning at me. “How can I not when you practically gift-wrapped the opportunity?”
“Please do not mention gift wrapping to me, not right now. Maybe in six months we can revisit the topic, but the sheernumber of fake gifts we had to wrap as part of this upcoming event nearly did me and my crew in. None of my usual gift-wrapping gurus were available, so we found a few tutorials and learned that yes, you really can accidentally tie yourself to a box.”
“You have gift-wrapping gurus?” Kekoa asked. “As in someone you can just call up and ask to wrap things for you?”
