Page 87 of Beauty and the Bayou

She nodded, still looking a little upset.“It’s because of me that you got bit though,” she said.“I know I should relax about Gus and everything.”

“No.You’re right to want to protect him.We’ll do whatever we have to.”

If Josh and Tori were surprised that that answer came from Sawyer—and they clearly were, because they both stared at him—then Sawyer was even more surprised.

However, the way Juliet squeezed his thigh told him that even if she was surprised, she was also proud of him.

“And if Ellie’s cream doesn’t work quick, try cucumber slices on the bites,” Sawyer said.

“Yeah?”Josh asked.“How do you know that?”

Sawyer leaned in and lowered his voice.“Mom.But she never wants Ellie to know that she’s giving out information AEA.”

“AEA?”Tori asked, clearly amused.

“Against Ellie’s Advice,” Sawyer told her.“But the cucumbers work.”

“Hey, Tori,” Josh said, pulling her close and kissing her temple.“Want to go home and apply cucumbers to my sore spots?”

She blushed.“Sure.But you didn’t get bitten anywhere but your arm.”

“No,” he agreed.Then gave her a slow grin full of mischief.“Not yet.”

Tori’s cheeks turned pink but she nodded.“Good point.”

Sawyer laughed.God, he loved the two of them together.

Of course Tori cared if Josh was at risk for injury.He had to quit thinking that he was the only one aware of the risks and consequences.He had to trust that they all wanted to take care of each other as much as he wanted to take care of them.He also had to trust that if things went sideways, there were a whole bunch of people ready to help out.

“See you guys later,” Josh said, turning Tori toward the door.

“Let us know if you need anything,” Sawyer said.

He felt Juliet squeeze his leg again and he realized he’d saidus.As in him and her.Josh and Tori could come tothemif they needed anything.If she hadn’t been sitting there with him, he wasn’t sure how he would have responded to Josh’s bandages.Maybe not badly.Fire ant bites were just a thing that happened down here.But would he have said something shitty about how Josh should have known better and why hadn’t he looked around and this is what happened when people messed around down there in the dark?Yeah, he would have.When Josh was down there in the dark because he was trying to make Tori happy and he was keepingherfrom being bitten by fire ants.When Tori was willing to go down there because she was trying to save Gus from animal control.When Maddie had gotten animal control involved accidentally because she’d been trying to save Josh from an overly flirtatious tourist.

They were all looking out for one another and it was a mess of blunders, but it was their mess and they were trying to fix it and what he should have said was “I’ve got your back and just let me know what you need and I hope those fire ant bites don’t hurt too much.”That was the supportive, non-asshole thing to say.And because of Juliet, that was essentially what he’d said.

That felt really fucking good.

He needed her around for all of the things he needed to face that he’d been handling with a severe lack of finesse and appreciation for the amazing, imperfect, full of love and passion people that he had in his life.

Suddenly Juliet leaned over and pressed her lips to his cheek.“That was really good,” she whispered.

She’d just kissed him.In public.In front of her brother.On the cheek, but still.He glanced at Chase to find him smiling as he dragged a French fry through the Cajun mayo on his plate.

Juliet started to lean back, but Sawyer lifted his hand to the back of her neck, holding her in place and turned his head to seal his lips over hers.She stiffened in surprise for a second, but quickly sighed and melted into him, letting him urge her mouth open and kiss her deeply for nearly ten seconds.

He let her go, but not before he met her eyes with a look that he was sure clearly said, “I’m getting you naked as soon as I possibly can.”

He needed her.In a way that felt primal and raw and should have been terrifying but felt so fucking right he almost couldn’t breathe.

She settled back on her seat with a little sigh that he saw more than heard and then picked up her iced tea—unsweetened of course—and took a long draw, as if she needed to cool off.

An idea occurred to him as he watched Chase bite into a fried alligator nugget, and he reached into his back pocket to pull his phone out.

What do you think about coming down for a swamp tour soon?Sawyer sent the text to his friend Gabe Trahan and waited, his heart pounding more than it should have been.

He’d not only done so many swamp tours he was in triple digits, he’d taken Gabe and his kids out on the boats a dozen times.Gabe’s daughter, Stella, was an alligator freak and loved everything about the bayou.She was only nine, but she’d even proposed to Sawyer at one point thinking that if they were married, she’d get to work at Boys of the Bayou and drive the swamp boat tours herself.Of course, she’d broken things off with him when she found out that he’d hunted alligators, too.He’d been pretty confident that he’d be able to win her back over.There was a nest of snapping turtle eggs he’d intended to show her and some new baby alligators down around the east bend.And Gus.The river otter had moved in just a week or so before Tommy’s accident, so Stella hadn’t met him yet.

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