Page 77 of Dirty Play

Cassie giggles as she grabs her phone. “Can I get that on video? I need evidence of you telling us we were right?”

I flip off the camera, laughing because who knew that all I needed to feel at home was that grumpy man by my side and a group of friends who have always made me feel like family.

Cade walks in, eyeing all of the boxes and clothes spread out, and instead of looking overwhelmed, he just winks. “You ladies and your clothes,” he says before walking over to me and leaning down to press a quick kiss on my mouth.

“Embracing the chaos?”

“I’ve been learning to do that since the day I met you,” Cade says, pressing another quick kiss to my lips before standing up.

It’s weird how normal this all feels, like nothing has really changed, but at the same time, everything has. None of our friends have made a big deal about any of it either, minus the little jabs about it taking Cade forever to figure it out, but I approve of that message.

“Don’t come at me with that bullshit, acting like us women are the only ones with a lot of clothes,” Cassie deadpans. “Have you seen Max’s hoodie collection? He has at least a hundred. That’s after he lost my favorite sweatshirt from high school to some girl named Candice his freshman year in college.”

“Trevor’s the same way. That man could live in his hoodies, but that just means there are more for me to steal. Especially now that I’m in my second trimester, I’m no longer in the ‘she just looks bloated’ stage and am fully in the ‘nothing fits’ stage.” Ellie shrugs before going back to unpacking all of my shoes. “Did you guys get all the kitchen stuff put away?”

Cade nods. “We did. Do you all have plans after this, or would you guys want to stick around for a while?”

The girls all look at each other, eyes wide, having a silent conversation that anyone could hear. Their shock at his invitation is evident.

“Uh, no plans,” Cassie finally says, her smile wide.

“We’d love to hang out. We don’t have to pick up the girls for a while, they went over to Rex’s parents’ house,” Ellie says excitedly.

“Good. I was thinking about making a lasagna. Would you like to join us for dinner tonight?”

“You’re cooking me dinner? Hell yeah, I’m staying.” Sawyer fist pumps.

With a smile that shows me just how far he’s come, Cade turns to walk out of the room. Jumping up, I grab his hand before he walks out.

“Wait,” I tell him, leaning up to press a kiss against his jaw, my arms wrapping around his neck. “Have I ever told you how amazing you are?”

“Yes, but I’ll never tire of hearing it.” He grins.

“I love you, Mr. Grumps.”

“I love you, too, Tink.”

“Promise?”

“Pinky promise.”

Chapter 31

Cade

If you’d have asked me last year if I’d be sitting around the dining room table at my house with all of my friends, I’d have told you to lay off the drugs. But here we are, a homemade lasagna completely eaten, empty wine bottles all over the table, and so much laughter it’s hard to imagine I’m in my own home.

Gwen gets up from her spot next to me to grab another wine opener and when she returns, I slip a finger through her belt loop and tug. She falls into me, landing in my lap with a laugh. “What was that?” she asks, her eyes playful.

“I want a kiss,” I growl, sliding my fingers through her dark hair, I pull her into me until her lips are on mine. What I expect to be a quick, chaste kiss, quickly changes when she moves her tongue along my lips.

“God, is this what we were like when we first got together?” Rex groans.

Gwen pulls back, a big grin on her face as she turns to look at everyone, still sitting in my lap.

“No, you were worse.” Cassie smirks.

“Did we make out in a room with all of you?” he asks.

---