Ashton turned to watch them. Everyone did. He saw me and I looked away, pretending not to notice.
The massive body of water, which had sounded heavenly minutes ago, was suddenly looming in the distance. There was a long table full of gorgeously prepared charcuterie boards probably set up by Jenny. I meandered that way and picked up a paper plate that had a big swirling Congrats Grad printed on it in sparkling silver script.
I wasn’t hungry, but I wasn’t ready to strip down either. At the far end of the table, Peyton, wearing a pair of running shorts and a Downward Dog tank, scooped up a handful of grapes. When she spotted me, she walked over.
“Hey girl.” She grinned, her blue eyes almost iridescent against her dark hair. “Congrats on finishing your masters. And landing Ashton.” She winked and popped a grape into her mouth. “Or should I say, on him finally landing you? 'Bout time.”
Apparently, everyone had known but me.
I felt myself blush. “Thanks. On both accounts. I’m feeling pretty blessed today.”
I looked at the table of food, overwhelmed by the Dupree’s generosity. I knew this was mostly for Anna, but the huge sheet cake that saidCongrats Anna and Tally!reminded me that it was at least a little bit for me.
Peyton fanned herself with a plate as she eyed the water. “Let me guess, you’re dreading taking your shirtoff too?”
An embarrassing wheeze escaped my throat. “How’d you guess?”
She shrugged. “It’s your first day together. First time he’s going to see all that—” she waved a hand at my body “—as your boyfriend.”
“Yeah.” I pressed a hand over my forehead. “Pretty much. Why are you dreading it though?” Everyone knew Peyton had a great body. Way too many guys in town talked about it. And too many women hated on her for it and for having the face of a supermodel.
She picked up a mini sweet pepper that had been halved and stuffed with some kind of fancy cream cheese. “Ford’s playing it cool today, thank goodness. But I can see it in his eyes. The second this shirt comes off, he’s gonna pounce.” She took a bite of the pepper.
“You sure you don’t want to give him a chance?” I gestured at the house, commercial sized playground, and the lake full of water toys. “You could be the mistress of all this.” I’m pretty sure she didn't get myPride and Prejudicereference.
“Not even close to worth it.”
I clicked my tongue. “I dunno. He told me whatever lucky lady locks him down will get serenaded to sleep every night.”
She wiped her perfect lips and huffed. “Locks him down? For a week until he moves on to the next woman. No, thank you.” She picked up a second paper plate and fanned her chest. “I know his drill and I am not going to be another notch in his belt. That man only likes the chase.” She fanned harder. “Good gracious. I’m sweating in places I didn’t know I could sweat. Besides, I’m raising a boy who is going to treat women with respect if it’s the last thing I do.” I blinked, trying to follow.
Her jaw clamped as she muttered something about stupid,douchebag men between clenched teeth. Then she ground out Braxton’s name.
She plucked her tank and held it away from her chest. “At least you have immunity from Ford. He wouldn’t touch you now if you were the last woman on earth. He’s super loyal to his brothers.”
Ford hadn’t hit on me once in my life. Everyone treated him like some kind of caricature but I genuinely liked the guy. He’d been nothing but generous and respectful to me.
Peyton’s gaze flicked over my shoulder right before a pair of hands slipped around my waist from behind. On reflex, I flinched.
“Hey, what’s taking you so long to get in the water?” Ashton asked in the low timbre that made my gut purr. I relaxed as he pulled me against his wet, muscled chest. “I thought you’d ditched me.” There was a smile in his voice that said he was kidding. Mostly.
I leaned to the side, pulled him down closer, and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth. “Never. You’re stuck with me now, whether you like it or not.”
“I like it. Trust me.” He rested his chin on the top of my head.
Peyton’s paper plate fan went even faster. “That’s going to take a minute to get used to. I think I might have to go for it, Tally. Heat wave-1, Peyton-0.” Again, I blinked. Peyton went from one topic to the next so fast, I was going to need eye drops.
“Get in the water, Peyt.” Ashton laughed.
“She doesn’t want to take her shirt off,” I said. I didn’t want her to take her shirt off. Aside from the fact that Peyton in a bikini was going to put the rest of us to shame, I’d lose my Just Say No to Teeny Bikinis In Public buddy.
“Oh, I want to.” She picked up another plate and double-fanned herself. “I’m about to die from heatstroke. But thebarracuda will smell blood in the water the minute I do and I won’t get any peace for the rest of the afternoon.”
Ashton chuckled. “I just spotted a tattoo mishap on the barracuda. Feel free to use it if you need ammo. It’ll really eat him up. Why do you think I got out?”
We looked out to the lake to see Ford, waist deep, sporting a murderous expression. His chest was so tatted up it looked like an inner city overpass. It occurred to me then that I’d never seen Ford shirtless. Except in a music video once. And that video was at least six years old.
I laughed. “With all that ink, it was bound to happen.”
