Page 17 of My Wife

Dead.

Dead—

Splash.

I glance over my shoulder, rolling my eyes when I notice what made that splash. While Chase and Madison are flirting openly on the other side of the lake, Tyler and Summer had drifted out a little further in the opposite direction. All the earlier splashes came from the first two. Now?

Summer has her arms over Tyler’s broad shoulders. The former running back is even bigger at twenty-eight than he was at seventeen, and strong enough to clutch his slender wife to him, making her ride him while holding her up.

Water sluices down Summer’s back as she arches it, letting out a throaty moan that carries over the surface. Tyler’s brow is furrowed, concentration in every line of his face as he fucks her.

I roll my eyes and lean against Tommy.

“Couldn’t they wait until they were back at the cabins?” That’s what we’re planning on doing.

“And allow us to deprive them of the chance to show off that they still fuck like bunnies even if they’re married?” teases Tommy.

True. I snort. “Please. They act like they’re the only ones who know what it’s like to have been hitched. I was married too, once.”

And I still have the ring on my finger to prove it.

Tommy loops his arm over my shoulder, tucking me into his side. “I bet you and Clay never fucked with an audience before.”

He’d lose that bet, too.

Not that I have any intention of telling Tommy about what my love life with his best friend was like, but it’s true.

We were in our early twenties when Clay died. Up until the morning he left for work, never to come home to me again, we were banging two, maybe three times a day. When he needed me, I was ready, and it didn’t matter where. Someone might see us? That got him even hotter because he loved the idea of everyone knowing that I was his. So though he didn’t go out of his way to fuck me in front of other people like Summer and Tyler are doing right now, he wouldn’t pull out, either, until he’d finished inside of me.

Despite what she implied earlier, I’m not a prude. I’m also not going to treat Tommy like Clay just to one-up Summer fucking Kaye. He’s different. Sweeter. Gentler, too. Clay was so possessive, and sometimes I forget that Tommy isn’t like that. He’s protective, yes, but if I ended things with him tomorrow, he’d be heartbroken, but be able to move on.

With Clay, it took death to rip him away from me, and even then I can’t stop feeling like he’s haunting me.

That’s why, if it’s up to me, I’d never talk about my time with Clay to Tommy. He’s gone, and maybe it’s not the healthiest response in the world, but it’s easier for me to act like he never existed.

But Tommy… he made it so easy for me to give him a second chance. If he’d been the type of guy who couldn’t get over my being a widow, this never would’ve worked. If he held a grudge that I chose Clay over him, I’d have to end it. And if he wanted me to love him and pretend that Clay meant nothing to me…

Never.

That’s not Tommy Gillis, though. He’s a good guy. Thoughtful, too. He hasn’t moved away from my side since the second we approached the lake. Like always, he’s my shoulder to lean on.

But I’m okay. Really. And when he ducks under the water, popping back up again a couple of feet away, shaking his soaked curls out and spraying me with the chilly droplets, I don’t reach out to grab him closer.

Instead, I watch as all of these people I’ve known most of my life swim and play and have fun.

New memories, I think to myself.

Madison shrieks as Chase, maybe a little too playful, dumps water on her perfectly styled hair. She pushes the damp strands out of her face, then smacks him in the chest. He grins, grabbing her hand, pulling her close to him so he could kiss her quickly.

She melts against him, and I look away before they decide to pull a Summer and Ty and start fucking.

Group getaway, huh? Too bad Aaron didn’t come. Without meaning to, it’s turned into a couples’ vacation, after all, with everyone pairing up.

To my left, Vee’s treading water now, drifting closer to the shore. Summer calls out to her—the same time I hear Tyler’s telltale grunts behind me—but Vee ignores her.

I turn slightly to see that Summer is clinging to Tyler, the satisfied, sleepy look on her face making it obvious she got what she wanted from her husband before he did. His hand is rubbing circles on her naked back, clutching her to him as if afraid to let her go.

She’s watching Vee while idly running her fingers through Tyler’s hair.

---