Page 10 of Clap Back (Carter Brothers)

However, with two dead sexy men on either side of me, I could see the appeal.

“Here,” Auden reached over me to hand Atlas the net. The bucket came next. “I’m gonna go grab us some drinks.” He leaned forward so that his mouth was near my ear when he said, “Want anything?”

I shivered as I said, “Um, yeah. Takis. Dr. Pepper.”

He hummed something low and deep, and then was gone.

The toilet flushed again just as Atlas finished up his fish gathering.

I looked up as the curtain swung open, revealing Pepper who was drying her hands on her shorts.

“No towels.” She grimaced. “I hate wet hands.”

Agreed.

I stepped behind the curtain and had to shake my head at the lack of privacy.

“We’ll be outside, Maven!” I heard Pepper call.

“Okay,” I called right back, thankful that they wouldn’t be right outside the thin curtained door and hear me.

I mean, I was only peeing, but still. When a man as hot as Auden or Atlas was right outside the curtain, you tended to not want to do anything embarrassing. And apparently, peeing was embarrassing now.

It was as I finished up with the bathroom and had to walk back through the room with the fish again, I acted impulsively.

I reached down, tried not to think about what I was doing, and caught up the dead fish.

I mean, it wasn’t like they were going to do anything with the dead one, right?

I walked out of the store, trying not to think about how slimy the fish felt in my hand.

When I got to the open truck window where Auden was taking up the front passenger seat, I tossed the fish at him.

It hit his lap with a soft plop.

He’d paused mid-drink, pulled the Dr. Pepper away from his mouth, and then looked down at his lap where the dead fish was now lying.

“Um,” Atlas said. “Get that fish out of my new truck.”

“You have a bucket full of fish between the seats,” Pepper helpfully pointed out.

Auden looked over his shoulder at me and glared.

“You owe me fifty bucks,” I said as I took my seat behind him.

He snorted, caught the fish, and tossed it out the window.

The first thing we did when we got to the lake was head to a house that was the size of my first four houses combined.

“Wow,” I said as I took in the large home. “This is massive.”

“It’s my mom and dad’s dream retirement home,” Auden said as he got out and reached for my door.

I got out, sliding down in such a way that not one part of my body touched Auden’s.

He waited for me to hit the ground, also not waiting for me to get out of the way, before he leaned forward, pinning me between the truck and his perfect body. He caught up the fish, then pulled them out.

A splash of cold water spilling on my toes made me squeak.

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