Page 7 of Break: Vol. 2

"My parents—no. Just … no. I want to avoid that as much as possible." His eyes were wide with concern as if he thought I was really considering it. California was an interesting idea, but I knew it was just a subject change for Dex—a way for him to avoid my questions. So, really it was just to fuck with Taylor now that I'd seen his reaction.

I laughed. "I think California is a good idea," I said. "Besides, I've already met your parents."

"That was on a video call!" Taylor called back.

“They liked me,” I reminded him.

"I'm not going!" he yelled. "They're just gonna ask embarrassing questions and demand to know why we're not spending all of our time with them."

Darren walked into the room leisurely—fully dressed once more. "Stop baiting him, sweetheart," he warned, touching a lock of my hair as he stopped to grab a slice of pizza. My eyes went to his ass. Goddamn, that ass. So muscular. So fine. So ...all mine.

"That's it!" Cody huffed in frustration, causing me to jerk my gaze back. Cody snatched a notebook and tore a sheet of paper from it, ripping it to strips. Grabbing a nearby pen, he scribbled something onto one and folded it before shoving strips at the rest of us—even going so far as to stand up and drop one in Taylor's lap where he sat on the couch. "Everyone write where they want to go for spring break. We'll put it in a bowl and pick at random."

"Oh, that's not a bad idea," I said. In fact, it was pretty ingenious. Cody shot me a relieved look as if he had been worried that no one would be willing to give it a go.

Dex shrugged, setting his water bottle on the counter before reaching for a pen. "Sure, why not?" he said.

"This seems fair," Darren agreed.

I thought hard and realized it didn't matter to me. Any vacation with my guys would satisfy me. That said, I wrote down the Carolina Mountains. I just pictured all five of us going horseback riding, the guys going fishing, campfires at night. Maybe renting a cabin in the woods where Dex would tie me up and spank me and Darren and Taylor would go down on me and I could suck—

"All done?" Cody asked, glancing from me to the paper I had clutched in my hand. I squirmed in my seat, surprisingly heated from my own thoughts, despite what I had just done with Darren. My eyes slid over to him and then Taylor and Dex. I nodded and folded my paper, handing it back to Cody.

Dex, Darren, and Taylor handed him theirs as well, and Cody placed everyone's slip of paper into a bowl he had pulled from one of the cabinets. "Alright," he announced. "No complaining if I select one that you don't want. We're doing this to be fair."

We all nodded. His hand reached in the bowl and without looking, he scrambled the notes before selecting one slip of paper. Cody's hand came up with the paper firmly in his grasp. Setting the bowl to the side, he unfolded the paper and read aloud.

“Caribbean?” Cody read. All heads turned to Dex, who didn’t look the least bit ruffled by the way we all zeroed in on him.

“My family has stock with a vacation cruise line. There’s a ship leaving from the coast the day spring break starts,” he said with a shrug. “I couldn’t think of anything else.”

“Dex,” I started, biting down on my lip. I worried it for a moment as he looked at me before releasing it. “That’s really great and all, but … I’m not sure we could all afford that.”

He shook his head and huffed out a breath. “My family owns stock with the company,” he repeated. “I can get a suite for the five of us for free.”

Darren’s eyes widened, as did mine. Cody looked like he was thinking it over. Taylor on the other hand…

“That sounds great!” He jumped up from his seat and fist pumped in the air. “We’re going on a motherfucking cruise!”

Dex smirked, eyeing me. “Bikinis are completely optional,” he said.

I tried to resist returning his smile, but I simply couldn’t. I shook my head, standing up and moving around the table, heading for him. He reached for me just as I stopped next to him, pulling me into his lap. “I promise, Baby,” he said against my lips as I leaned down and kissed him, “it’ll be fun.”

I reached up and tweaked a lock of his hair. “It better be,” I replied as I nipped his lower lip.

He growled, his hands clenching on my waist. “I have to go to a tutoring session,” he said lowly. “Don’t make me have to punish you when I get back.”

“Promises ... promises,” I taunted.

Dex captured my lips harshly, digging his way past my surface and stealing the very breath from my lungs. When he finally pulled away, I was dizzy from the lack of oxygen. I couldn’t tell where I ended and he began. “I’ll keep all my promises to you,” he swore. “I’ll be back for the rest of date night.”

I sighed. Four hot guys. One cruise ship. A week to remember. I couldn’t fucking wait.

Chapter 4

For the entire week leading up to spring break, I found it incredibly difficult to concentrate. There was no reason for it, but perhaps it was a mixture of nervousness and excitement. This was our first official vacation as a group. A group-couple? A gruple? I shook my head as I finished packing the last of my summery clothes and zipped my suitcase shut. Maybe I was overthinking it.

I moved out of my room, pacing. There had to be something else I could do. I moved into Darren's room, and as I bit my lip, I went hunting for his suitcase. I had it on the bed and open as I searched for his swim trunks when he came in a few minutes later.

---