I look back to the guys, running all over this beach. They’re all sweaty and their tanned skin glistens in the sunlight. I swallow and clear my throat, trying not to stare too long. Nate’s brown hair hangs in his face, the sun always makes it look lighter, almost like a dirty blonde. He swipes it back with his hand before he bursts out a fit of laughter at something Liam says. His crystal blue eyes stand out even more against his tanned face. And I probably shouldn’t let my eyes linger on his stomach, but it’s hard not to.
“Come here, Clarky!” Liam shouts, and I stand, walking over to him. Liam tosses me the football and I jog to try and make the catch, but I very clearly miss.
“Here, let me show you. Campbell! Throw the ball to Mia, I’m going to help her catch it.” I really hope Liam doesn’t use this move on women, because it’s the oldest, most tired trick in the book. He positions my body just in front of him, wrapping his arms around mine. Nate’s eyes are like daggers on Liam and I can see Liam from the corner of my eye smirking.
“Let’s see what he does,” Liam whispers in my ear, causing my head to turn up in his direction. But before I can ask anything, Nate’s already standing in front of me.
“You’re the quarterback,” he growls to Liam, moving his arm off of mine and shoving the ball into his chest. I watch Liam’s mouth open in laughter as he falters back a few steps and jogs backwards, winking at me. Nate’s standing to the side of me like a bodyguard.
“I really don’t need help catching a football. I know how. I prefer to just sit there and watch.”
“I know you do.” Nate leans close to me, his hand resting on the small of my back. “Now, go sit back down and watch me.” He smirks and my stomach drops to my knees.
“Let’s keep our hands to ourselves, yeah?” I give Liam a stern look as we walk back to the boat.
“He does that for your reaction, you know that, right?” Chase laughs as he pats my shoulder, pulling a beer out of the cooler.
“Yeah, well, I told her everything,” I say, standing in front of Ford, Chase and Liam. All three of them stare at me blankly, waiting for me to elaborate.
“About fucking time,” Ford says, blowing out a sigh.
“Told her what exactly?”
“Big daddy has been a little out of the loop with all the sleepless nights and hot mom sex. You might need to fill him in,” Liam chimes in, but Chase interrupts him.
“There’s no hot mom sex happening. She just had a baby. It’s completely up to her when we have sex. She’s overwhelmed. Which is the reason I wanted to take her out here today. I know her hormones are all over the place and she’s the solefood source of a needy infant, she needed a break. I’m there to support her. Don’t downgrade her to just a hot mom, you fucking idiot.” Chase flicks the bottle cap into the open cooler and takes a long swig.
“So, things are going well with her then?” I ask, knowing just a few months ago things were rocky at best. But to be fair, I’ve been so caught up with my own problems, I’ve barely paid attention to anyone else’s.
“It’s day to day, but today, things are good. So, that’s what we’re flying with.”
“And you and Clark?” Liam asks just as the girls walk up to the boat. Mia’s in a white swimsuit with strings everywhere. I want nothing more than to take all the strings and untie them with my teeth.
I pull Mia to my side, planting a kiss on her cheek as she leans into me.
Summer’s jaw hangs as she sees my hands roam over Mia’s hips and the smile on Mia’s face.
“Oh my God. Wait. So what does this mean?” Summer shouts, and Chase holds his hands up to her, motioning for her to calm down.
I look down at Mia and we smile at each other. She reaches for the sunscreen and squirts a tiny bit on her fingers before she rubs it into her cheeks and over her nose and forehead.
“It um… it means we are trying this? Right? A test run?” she says hesitantly.
I pull back in amusement at her word choice. “Oh yeah? Just a trial for you?” I quip, grabbing the key for the jet ski and hopping on. “I’m fully invested. I don’t need a trial period, sign me up right now, Clark.” My eyes trail over her slender body as she stands there with one hand on her hip.
“Well—” she begins, but I have a better idea. Something that will put any questions or ‘trial runs’ to rest.
“Come on, Smalls. Get on.” I hold my hand out for her to grab.
“Want to have some fun with me? Let’s get started on this trial run of yours.”
She scoffs and looks back at Abby and Summer before rubbing the remaining sunscreen over her thighs and reaching for my hand.
Mia swings her legs over each side and grabs the lifejacket from Abby’s outstretched arm.
“Careful,” Abby says as I start to back up.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll take real good care of her.” I smirk, and feel Mia’s arms squeeze around my middle a little tighter at that comment.
