Page 50 of Make Your Save

“It’s too wet.” He pauses, his tongue darting out to wet his lips, and something in my stomach flutters. “To put it into the kiln,” he adds, his voice rough as he turns his back to me, walking over to the shelf where a few other pieces are drying. He sets it down, slowly turning back around to face me, propping his arm against the side of the shelf as he leans against it.

His gaze finds me across the small space. I’m completely transfixed, my body frozen in place as I stare at him from where I’m still sitting on the bench. My hands are covered in clay, but I know I can wash that off.

It’s him, the imprint he’s left on me, that I know I’ll never be able to wash away.

“I have to head out,” he says slowly, desire hanging in his tone as the electrical current refuses to waver between us. I glance at the time on the clock hanging onthe wall, remembering he had a meeting today that he’s already late for.

“Shit, I’m sorry.”

He pushes away from the shelving unit, closing the distance between us as he steps in front of me. I tilt my head back to look at him and he reaches for me, leaving a streak of clay along the side of my temple as he brushes a lock of hair away from my face.

“We’ll just have to finish this later.”

My breath catches in my throat and he pulls away, retreating as he turns around and slips out of the shed. I stare after him, long after he’s gone, attempting to get myself under control before I have to head back into the house.

I need a cold shower after whatever the hell that was...

Or some alone time with my vibrator.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

ROWAN

Fuck, she’s beautiful.

Hadley holds Lucy up, her lips moving as the softest sounds escape her, and Hadley pulls her back down to her chest. Her eyelids flutter shut as she holds my daughter tightly, pressing her face against the side of Lucy’s before she moves her away.

“Are you sure she’s okay with you for the evening?” I ask Nova for the third time as Hadley hands over Lucy. Lincoln sits on the couch with Posey tucked in against his side, a gentle smile on his lips as he watches the three of us passing the baby around.

“Yes, Rowan.” Nova lets out a soft laugh, shaking her head as she takes Lucy from Hadley. “I promise, she will be perfectly fine.” She looks at Lincoln with a smirk before glancing back at me. “This will give Lincoln some more practice with a baby.”

My eyebrows lift at her before looking at my friend. “Whatcha need practice for, bud?”

Lincoln gives me a sheepish grin. “Just for possible future ventures.”

“To answer your question, no, I’m not pregnant,” Nova tells me, rolling her eyes, and Hadley chuckles. “But like he said, for future ventures.”

My heart soars at the thought for Lincoln. After watching how he’s been with Posey, it’s going to be something else to see him with a tiny baby. I don’t know what his and Nova’s plans are, but I know they’ve been wanting to grow their family.

Nova walks over and hands Lucy to Lincoln, getting her settled in his arms before she turns back to the two of us. “We decided on a date,” she informs me, a smile blossoming across her face. “July twenty-eighth.”

The two of them had been going back and forth on dates and locations for what has felt like a damn lifetime. “Fucking finally.” I snort, laughter following the sound. “Did you decide where?”

“Turks and Caicos. It’s completely short notice for everyone, but we just had to pick a time and a place and everything else will happen the way it’s meant to,” Nova says, glancing back at Lincoln with a tender gaze. “Neither of us want to wait any longer than we already have.”

I look back and forth between the two of them, the connection and love they have is palpable.

It’s not something I ever imagined I would want in life, but I can’t ignore the longing in my chest.

Hadley moves into my peripheral vision, always stealing my attention, as I turn my head to look at her. I take a moment to drink her in, just like I did before weleft the house. Her heeled boots give her a few extra inches, but even still, she just barely reaches my shoulder. Her auburn hair falls down her back in soft waves against her cream-colored sweater. She’s wearing a black skirt that shows off her tanned legs.

And fuck me for the blood rushing to my cock again.

It would be really fucking cool if I could stop getting hard every time I take a second to appreciate the way she looks.

My secret trick when this happens is to think about the one time I saw Gray almost cut off the tip of his finger. We were playing a stupid game in our twenties that was alcohol-induced, where you spread your fingers and tried to hit the spaces between them with a knife.

Idiotic, I know, but that’s what happens when you throw a group of young guys together and expect them to make great decisions in their downtime between hockey games.

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