“We couldn’t send you off when you report for training without a party, captain,” Maya says.
God, I fucking love her and that sassy tone she uses to tease me.
“Is that so? I don’t know.” Signaling to the guys with my chin, I bring my face close to hers. “I think you should look again.”
Noah records us to get her reaction while the rest of my teammates shuffle around the entryway, unrolling the poster they helped me finish yesterday after I was sure Maya was asleep. It readsMaya Donnelly is smarter than me, congrats on graduating love Easton.
Her eyes go wide, then she cracks up, tucking her face into my neck. I kiss her head.
“Surprise, baby.”
“You knew, didn’t you? How did you find out?” she manages to get out between joyous laughter.
“You’re not as sneaky as you think. Me, on the other hand. Very sneaky.”
Noah moves in for a closeup on us. “Annnnd kiss.”
We look at him, then I take her chin to turn it back to me, capturing her gaze for a beat before I close the gap between us and press my mouth to hers.
“What are we waiting for? Everyone out back. Let’s get it going.” Cameron ties an apron over his head that says grill king. “Burgers will be ready soon.”
“No one come in the upstairs bathroom, we’re going to put our bathing suits on,” Reagan announces, grabbing Lainey’s hand.
“Babe, that’s like dangling a steak in front of a starving dog. Now all I’m going to think about is two hot chicks naked together right next to my room.”
“Hey,” Alex says sharply, pausing from moving Lainey’s bags of books into a separate pile. “Don’t you dare think about my girl, Porter.”
Reagan laughs and smacks his chest lightly. “Shut up, you big flirt.”
“Are you sure you don’t need help?” He saunters closer. “I tie great knots.”
Madden jerks him aside with a forceful grip on the back of his open Hawaiian shirt, thick brows flattening.
“That’s not funny,” he mutters.
Noah holds up his hand. “Relax, Graves. Didn’t mean any harm.”
Reagan grins, shaking her head. She puts a hand on Madden’s shoulder when he steps between them, standing guard at the steps.
“Thanks, Madden. You’re the MVP Knight.”
“I thought that was me?” I joke.
“You’re the rookie now.” Maya waggles her brows.
Alex snorts. “That’s right.”
“Go change,” she says when I set her on her feet.
I admire her outfit, the green bikini top giving me plenty of ideas. Her skirt is long and flowing, the sheer floral material split up to her hips in two spots to show off her luscious tan legs. I’m a genius for suggesting to the guys to make Maya think it was her idea to put kiddie pools in the yard.
“I’ll meet you out back.”
I jog upstairs to put swim trunks on, rifle through my shorts to get a folded slip of paper from the pocket, then head outside.
The yard has blue, green, and white streamers hanging from every tree and fence post. Logs burn and crackle in the fire pit. They set up a kid’s version of a rink on the grass to play 1v1 with mini sticks, improvising a slip n’ slide to serve as ice.
Cameron and Alex talk while manning the grill. It smells fantastic. The girls have cans of hard seltzer and sit with their feet in the pools.
