I arrived before most of the guests and greeted the newlyweds affectionately. Gray was still giving me narrow-eyed looks, but we were making progress. It helped that I always brought Oliver a little treat or toy when I showed up. I was turning out to be his favorite uncle.
“How are your kitties doing?” Gray asked to make small talk.
“They’ve brought a lot of happiness to my life. Their playfulness takes the stress right out of my day.” I felt myself turning a little pink over my kitty love confession.
Gray raised both eyebrows in surprise at the same time a smile split his face; the first genuine smile he had ever given me. “Damn, Bruce, you might actually be a nice guy beneath that hard-ass exterior.”
I leaned closer because my words were for him only. “Don’t go telling people I’m nice, Clark, or I’ll bring kryptonite to your next party.” Gray laughed at my empty threat and slapped me on the shoulder.
“Are you any good at volleyball? I’m not going to go easy on Chase just because he’s my husband now,” Gray asked just as quietly. “I’m trying to build a kick-ass team while he’s busy playing host.”
“I’m almost six and a half feet tall, so I make a good blocker up front.” I thought their competitiveness was cute, and I suspected, like everyone else did, that it was a source of foreplay for them. I was torn about wanting to be on Miller’s team to sneak in a few touches or playing against him and using the competition as a build-up to fabulous sex.
“I’m putting you on my team,” Gray said before he moved on to greet his next guest.
Miller came straight to me when he arrived, shocking the hell out of me. I was lounging in a chaise by the pool, and he stood right beside me. “You look good enough to eat,” he said low enough for my ears only. I had already stripped down to just my trunks so I could soak up some sunshine. “Make them go away so I can climb onto your lap and grind against you.”
His words heated me in places the sun wasn’t reaching, and I found myself responding to his nearness. If he kept it up much longer, I’d need to jump into the pool to cool off and hide my erection. The smug smile he wore told me he knew exactly what he was doing to me and liked every second of it. Yeah, well, two could play that game.
I looked around to make sure no one could overhear my words because there would be no doubt in their mind about the kind of relationship I had with Miller. “Mmmm, I can almost feel your skin all slick with tanning lotion as you slide against me, riding my dick while yours grinds against my stomach and leaves behind a slick trail of its own.”
“Jag.”
I couldn’t see Miller’s beautiful blue eyes because they were hidden behind his sunglasses, but I had no doubt his pupils were enlarged with excitement. Gray had his form of foreplay, and I had mine. I let my eyes travel down the length of Miller’s body, but his T-shirt came down far enough to hide any physical reaction he might’ve had to my words. That was when I noticed the dinosaurs on his trunks.
“Bones, I’m digging your shorts.” My intended pun earned me a sweet smile, which eased the sexual tension between us. “I can’t wait to see them around your ankles later.” Miller’s mouth opened and closed silently a few times as if he wanted to say something, but his mouth was too dry to speak.
“Hey, you two, we’re picking teams,” Gray hollered from the other side of the pool. He didn’t let on if he suspected something was going on between us.
“Come on, Bones. If we end up on separate teams, the winner gets to top tonight.” In all honesty, I loved to bottom for Miller, but it was fun to tease him about who got to top.
“You’re on.” Miller’s face lit up over the challenge I had thrown down.
Miller and I stood together and waited for everyone else to gather around. That was when I noticed Liam, the cute bartender from Bottoms Up, had come to the party too. I recalled the time I tried to pick him up but had been warned off verbally by Chase followed by a death glare from the bar owner, Jack. I had no doubt Jack would rearrange my face if I took one step in Liam’s direction.
Liam stood sort of off to the side as if he didn’t feel one hundred percent comfortable or welcome, and it was a feeling I understood. There was something else about him that grabbed my attention, but I couldn’t place what. It wasn’t his looks, although he was a hottie. There was something familiar about him as if I should recognize him from somewhere but didn’t.
“Try not to strain yourself, darling,” Miller sneered quietly in my ear. He mistook my interest for something other than what it was.
“I don’t want him, Bones. There’s something familiar about him. I know him from somewhere, and I can’t figure it out.”
“Mmm hmmm. He was probably a bathroom hookup at the bar.” Although I didn’t like the implication that I was slutty, I loved the jealous tone of his voice. I could almost imagine him turning green like the Grinch.
“I’ve never had sex with that guy, and I gave up bathroom hookups years ago. That’s just unsanitary and gross.” I told him the truth, and that would have to be enough for him. I wasn’t going to apologize for my past, and I didn’t expect him to either. “I’m telling you. I know him from somewhere, and it’s making me nuts.”
Ben looked over at us as we studied Liam and gave us a look that would’ve made Jack very proud. Miller and I both threw our hands up in surrender and turned our focus back to one another before everyone got the wrong idea about our interest in Liam.
“I love your nuts,” Miller said, effectively diverting my attention. The guy was cruising for a hard fucking. He gave me a playful wink that let me know driving me insane with lust was part of his strategy to beat me at water volleyball.
Picking teams turned out to be a hilarious battle with both grooms protesting the other’s choices, so someone wisely recommended we all draw straws—red straws on one team and blue on the other. Gray and Chase picked first, and we all collectively groaned when Gray chose a red straw and Chase drew a blue straw. I smiled when I chose a blue straw and Miller chose red. I’m sure people thought I was smiling because I was on Chase’s team, but that wasn’t it at all.
“You two idiots will fall the hardest,” Gram said from her lounge chair beneath an oversized rainbow umbrella.
“Every rake has his day,” Ava added.
The remarks went on and on and on with Miller and me reacting as expected. I couldn’t imagine what they would think if they knew Miller and I had been together for nearly ten months. We had been seeing each other exclusively for six months, but it had been only Miller for me since the first time we had sex more than three months prior to establishing our arrangement. Miller still hadn’t told Chase and Gray about us, and I tried not to think about why he hadn’t told them as soon as the happy grooms returned from their vacation. The most obvious reason was that Miller didn’t feel as strongly about me as I did him. I knew he had genuine affection for me, but was that love?
I shoved those thoughts aside to focus on the volleyball game. Truthfully, that line of questioning led me to feelings of self-doubt and sadness. I had worked too hard to get away from despondency, and I didn’t want to go back. What I needed to do was come to terms with the fact that happiness could still exist for me if Miller and I were to end our relationship. I wasn’t to that place yet and chose to live in denial for a little while longer, focusing on something positive like kicking some volleyball ass.
