Page 67 of Bright Lights and Summer Nights

Preston nods. “I don’t have my wallet because the towel I was wearing didn’t have pockets, but I’ll make sure they get a good tip. As long as you never say his name again.”

I roll my eyes. “You were literally inside me five minutes ago, and you’re jealous of the massage therapist because I said his name?”

“And the way you moaned while his hands were on you.”

“I moaned because, for some reason, your thumb brushing against my palm was the most erotic thing ever.”

“More erotic than my cock buried inside you?”

I shrug, trying to hide the blush blooming on my cheeks. “We hadn’t gotten that far yet. Now, let’s go before Hannah and Lowry come back and I die of embarrassment.”

CHAPTER 33

PRESTON

“Preston, you have to wear the T-shirt.”

I stare at my sister, questioning how much I actually love her for what she’s asking me to do. “Peyton,” I begin, saying her name nice and slow. She stares at me with the same wide eyes that used to get her anything she wanted out of me when she was a kid. “I’m not wearing a cheesy bachelor party shirt that says ‘I’m on a yacht before tying the knot.’”

Peyton juts out her bottom lip and takes a step closer to me. She grabs my hands and takes them in hers. She’s close enough that I can see that she got sunburnt earlier today during the tennis matches. “It’s fun. Jackson and I didn’t want to do individual parties, so we combined our bachelor and bachelorette parties, but I didn’t want to miss out on the cute, corny T-shirts.”

My eyes dart to the people around us. We’re waiting on a dock for the rest of the wedding party to arrive before starting the celebrations for tonight. I’m thrilled. “P, Mom and Dad chartered us a yacht for the night—where we were told to dress nice—and you want to put these on?” I hold up the T-shirt in question. The cotton is rough against my skin, and just by holding it up, I can already tell it isn’t going to fit right.

“Do it for me. Please. It’ll be fun. We can take a few pictures in them, and then you can change if you want.”

“Look who I found!” Emma calls from down the dock. She disappeared fifteen minutes ago, saying she wanted to go check out one of the gift shops. I was about to go looking for her, not wanting to spend much time away from her at all after the day we had.

“Gram!” Peyton excitedly cheers, forgetting all about me and running down the dock to Emma and Gram.

“I can’t believe you invited me to your bachelorette party,” Gram quips, rocking the T-shirt Peyton is so desperately begging me to wear. “Shouldn’t you have strippers at yours? Grandmothers don’t belong at bachelorette parties.”

Emma lets out a loud gasp. “No, you’re the life of the party, Gram. Of course, you’re here.”

It’s only now I notice that somehow Peyton’s managed to get Emma in one of the cheesy T-shirts. I took a phone call from my agent for a few minutes not too long ago, but I didn’t think Emma came back in that time. Apparently, I was wrong.

“Exactly,” Peyton chimes in, smiling as she takes in the matching shirts both Gram and Emma are wearing. I frown, knowing any minute now, Peyton’s attention will return to me, and she’s going to beg me to put on that damn shirt.

I look back, glaring over my shoulder for a minute at Jackson. Not only is he wearing the T-shirt proudly, but he’s even wearing a temporary tattoo of Peyton’s face on his bicep that he shows off to anyone he talks to.

Gram lets out a grunt as they come to a stop right next to me. She stares at the yacht our parents chartered for Peyton and Jackson in front of us. Her eyes narrow before she reaches into the small purse at her side. She pulls her glasses onto her face, her eyes still focused on the yacht we’re about to board.

“Peyton, darling.” Gram pulls her eyes from the yacht and wraps an arm around Peyton.

“Yes, Gram?”

“Why is there nothing penis-shaped at this party?”

“Gram, I never want to hear the word ‘penis’ from your mouth ever again.” Peyton shivers.

“They’re ready for us!” Mom calls, taking the hand of one of the crew members as he escorts her up the stairs to the boat.

Peyton excitedly claps before she throws the T-shirt at me. “Put it on, Preston. Let’s go celebrate one of my final nights as a Rhodes!” She runs away before she can hear any of my protests.

“Put the damn shirt on, and let’s go, Pres,” Gram chimes in. She gives me a look that leaves little up for discussion.

Emma smiles at me, clearly aware of how little I want to wear this shirt. She’s wearing hers proudly. It’s tied at the side, covering the pale yellow dress she wore for the party tonight. If Gram wasn’t standing within earshot, I’d tell her how I hate the T-shirt and not because it’s cheesy but because it hides the perfect swell of her breasts.

When we left the spa, I thought we’d hurry back to Moore’s place and spend the rest of the afternoon in bed. Unfortunately, Peyton caught us on the way out and insisted we do a late lunch with them. By the time we were done, it was time for us to get back to the house and get ready for the night.

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