Or what Evan would call a smile.
It looks more like he’s trying to hold in a fart.
“I do, too.”
“I know.” She releases a sad sigh. “I’m really going to miss you two. Florida… wow.”
Poppy’s looking up at me the same way Mae looks at me whenever Florida is mentioned.
Like she’s frightened. Like she’s concerned. Like she’s on the fence.
This shouldn’t be an on-the-fence kind of decision, though. Mae needs to be sure this is what she wants, and right now, I’m not so convinced.
I sling an arm around my sister’s shoulder, our gazes still on Mae, whose ass looks fucking phenomenal in her jeans. The jeans she was wearing the first time I laid eyes on her in Emmanuel’s wine store.
“We’ll be fine, Pops. You will be, too.”
She leans against me. “I know you will. You have her.”
We settle into a comfortable silence, but we both turn when someone clears their throat behind us.
Cam stares at me, hazel eyes that match Mae’s boring into mine. “Poppy, do you mind if I talk to Nathan for a minute?”
My sister retreats, joining the others. I raise my eyebrows at Cam, whose eyes flit over to his sister before he sighs and scratches at the back of his neck. To say he looks uncomfortable would be an understatement.
“I want to apologise. Threatening you—that wasn't right. I realise I misunderstood how serious you are about my sister. You giving up football for her… that’s shown me everything I need to know.” Guilt flashes on his face.
I won’t hold this against him. I can’t lie and say I wouldn’t be the same if I found out someone I didn’t trust was banging my baby sister. It was coming from a place of protectiveness.
“You don’t need to worry about it,” I tell him, shaking his hand. “Mae means a lot to you. I get that, but I want you to know that she also means a lot to me. It was never just casual with her. Ever.”
The thought of not spending the rest of my life with this girl makes me feel physically unwell.
“I appreciate that. Just please look after her. Because if you hurt her…”
I take another peek at Mae, who’s watching me and her brother over Poppy’s shoulder, her eyebrows slightly downturned as she tries to gauge what kind of interaction we’re having.
I shook her a wink. “You don’t need to worry about that, Cam.”
The party is in full swing a couple of hours later. Apparently, Evan also couldn’t say no to Leo when he picked up a giant rainbow unicorn pinata inside the party store, so people are currently smashing it to smithereens with a few branches Samuel retrieved from outside.
I’m not even sure there’s anything inside.
I take the time to grab Mae’s hand and pull her outside, pressing her up against the cold brick wall of the bar.
“We’re going to miss all the fun if we’re out here,” she playfully says to me, rolling her lips together.
I raise a brow. “I can think of another way for us to enjoy ourselves without brutally beating a paper mythical creature into the ground.”
“Hmm, I don’t know.” She tilts her head back towards the bar, where waves of shouts and cheers can be heard. “Sounds like they’re having a blast.”
“Trust me, you’ll be making a lot more noise than that in just a minute.”
My lips land on hers, and her fingers tangle themselves in my hair. When she pulls, I release a loud moan, full of pleasure.
My cock tightens in my jeans, and I trail my hands down to grip her hips. “You’ve been fucking teasing me with these jeans since the first day I first met you. With that round ass of yours. You know exactly what you’re doing wearing these around me.”
“I don’t know what you mean. They’re just jeans.” Her smirk gives her away, though. She knows her ass looks incredible in them.
