Page 153 of The Complete Truth Duet
“Really?” she whispered.
I nudged her the way she’d done me. “Assuming the right woman said yes.”
Her feet kept moving, but she melted into my side, making me think maybe she’d made her decision on kids too.
“Boys or girls?” she asked.
“Boys. I think getting Savannah and River to adulthood is going to be enough to do my head in.”
“Aww.” She flashed me a smile. “Thank you for always including them. From day one. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”
“You don’t need to thank me for that, Cora. Spending time with them has not been a hardship.”
“For other men, it would be.”
I shot her a wink. “Then let’s hope none of those other men propose before I do.”
Her cheeks pinked and she turned her attention down to her sandy feet, muttering, “Fingers crossed.”
As we got closer to Drew and Catalina, I squinted, trying to force my brain to make sense of what I was seeing. He was lying on his side, facing her, sporting a huge grin while drizzling wet sand into the palm of her hand. She was laughing, her dark hair blowing in the wind as she sat with her legs stretched out beside him, in a bikini much like Cora’s.
And though they were both wearing shades, it was beyond obvious that there was some serious eye-fucking being exchanged, at least on Drew’s side.
I had no idea what had happened in my Audi on that twenty-hour car ride from Chicago. But if the nightmare in front of me was any indication, the engine exhaust had to have been rerouted into the car and affected both of their brains.
“Hey,” Catalina chirped, jerking her hand away when she tore her eyes off Drew long enough to realize that other people existed.
Fuck. I didn’t want to imagine the epic clusterfuck that would ensue if those two started something.
Drew was a good guy, and while wooing women was definitely his thing, staying with them was not.
“Hey,” I replied gruffly, shooting him a silent what-the-fuck-are-you-doing glare.
It sailed right over his head. “Hey, so, how do you feel about me and Cat taking the girls out to a movie tonight?”
“I don’t. And it’s not happening,” I muttered, releasing Cora to grab two beers from the cooler. I twisted the top off one, passed it her way, and then did the same on mine.
“And why not?” he asked defensively.
I sat on the top of the cooler, patting my thigh in an invitation Cora quickly accepted. As she settled on my lap, I replied, “Because this isn’t a vacation. I have no idea what Thomas and Manuel are up to right now, but it’s better for all of us if we stay tight, keep our heads up, and try to figure out what’s next.”
“Right,” he mumbled in a way that sounded more like fuck you than it did an agreement.
“Oh, I know!” Catalina exclaimed. “What if we rent a movie and watch it in that theater room over the garage?” She waggled her eyebrows. “Maybe give you two some time alone in the house.”
Now, that I could get on board with. If it bought me some much-needed alone time with Cora, Drew and Catalina could eye-fuck all damn night.
“What movie?” Cora asked.
I grazed my teeth over her shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. You’re not watching it.”
Drew grinned and then pushed his sunglasses down his nose, narrowing his gaze on Cora’s feet. “Holy shit, is that a sand shark?”
And that was how I became deaf.
She flew straight up into the air, but not before screaming in my ear. I nearly dropped my beer, and hers spilled all over us both. But Drew and Catalina laughed so hard that it almost made it worth it.
“Baby, chill.” I chuckled, dragging her back down onto my lap. “Sand sharks still live in the ocean.”
“Oh my God! I hate you people—all of you.”
“Hey, what did I do?” Catalina whined.
“You’re laughing,” she spat.
And she was.
And so was Drew.
And then I joined the group.
And it wasn’t but a few seconds later that Cora joined us too.
As it would seem we were one big, happy family.
It wasn’t until a few hours later, as a river of blood forged a path across my living room floor, that I realized it had all been one big fucking lie.
Cora
I’d lied. Staying at Lisa’s house was a little weird.
After we got back from the beach, everyone scattered to the various bathrooms across the house—all five of them.
My hair was still wet as I padded through the maze of wood floors in search of my man. “Penn?” I called.
“Right here, baby.”
I followed his voice to the end of a different hallway and found him staring at a closed door to what had to have been the master bedroom. He’d avoided it like the plague on the grand tour earlier. And while the bedroom Penn had dropped our bags in was large with a private bath, there was no way that it was the master in a place that luxurious.
