Page 22 of Cody

I glanced at Mia as she jumped to her feet along with everyone else. “Don’t be shy!”

“I’m never shy when there’s food involved,” I laughed, getting to my feet. As I brought my foot over the bench I caught it and felt myself begin to fall. I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. “Shoot!” I cried out, trying to catch my balance.

“Got ya!” Max rushed out as his arms closed around me.

Laughing at my clumsiness, I looked up at him as he steadied me. “Thank you. That would have been embarrassing.”

“My pleasure, pretty lady,” he responded, dropping his arms and stepping away.

We each grabbed a paper plate at the end of the table and began to make our way to the grill. I’d been right about Max’s body. In the brief moment when he’d held me against him I’d noticed how hard and well-defined he was. I glanced over at Cody, noticing the slight furrow of his brow. He’d obviously witnessed my gracelessness, but I didn’t think that was what had put the frown on his face.

I walked right up to him. Max was behind me, and Cody’s gaze followed him as he continued past us to the grill. “We meet again, soldier,” I smiled.

He grunted and looked down at me. “Marine,” he corrected.

“I know.” I licked my lips, drawing his interest to my mouth, and teased, “You’re so much fun to mess with.” I smiled. “So, um, was Evelyn your booty call the other night?”

His thick brows rose, his surprise at my question flickering briefly across his face. “’Booty call’ would imply that we’d had sex, so no. She providedotherservices.”

The blowjob. We both knew what we were talking about.

His next question came out of the blue. “You ever been on a motorcycle?”

Somehow we’d moved closer to the grill. King was still cooking, but on the side table connected to the grill there was a platter of already cooked meat. “No, I haven’t had the pleasure.” I reached for a drumstick and gave King a smile. “The cook never gets to eat,” I joked.

King winked. “Don’t worry about me, sugar, I learned how to cook and eat at the same time.” He proved it by cutting off the end of a sausage and popping it into his mouth.

Still next to me, Cody reached down for the cooler at King’s feet. He opened it and dumped out the two beers that were inside. “Need to borrow this.” He put two burgers and a piece of chicken on his plate. “Fix yourself a plate, Alina, and cover it with another one. Grab a drink and some napkins. I’m about to make your day.”

“Really?” He sounded so sure of himself.

“Yup. Just do as I say and don’t ask questions.”

“You’re bossy.”

“Yup.”

I followed Cody with my eyes for a minute and watched as he added buns to his burgers. When he moved on to scoop a large spoonful of potato salad on his plate, I finally moved to do as he said. When I had what I wanted I took a clean plate, put it on top, and looked up at him. “Now what, Marine?”

His lips twitched at the corners. “Follow me.”

I gave the girls who were sitting together at the picnic table a slightly amused look that probably appeared more like confusion to them. They were busy stuffing their faces, and Mia was the one who acknowledged me with a smile and a shrug and gave me a little finger wave. I turned and caught up to Cody at his bike. He put the cooler on the ground and carefully put our plates of food and drinks inside before securing it to the small rack at the back of his bike. All without words.

He climbed on, looking so hot in faded jeans that stretched tight over his thick thighs, a pair of well-worn boots, and a dark blue flannel shirt that was unbuttoned enough to reveal a tempting display of hair on his chest. Not a carpet. Just enough. He didn’t look like the kind of man who manscaped, but you never knew.

Once he was settled, he looked over at me. “Climb on, baby.”

Damn.He probably called all women “baby,” but it was the first time in years anyone had called me that, and it had a pleasant effect on me, the kind that made me tingle in some places and made me feel special. Cody was waiting patiently for me to get on, but I glanced at the tight space behind him. I may have been petite, but I had an ass on me that I was certain wouldn’t fit.

The bastard smirked as if guessing my thoughts. “Bring your leg over and plant your ass on the seat with your pussy nice and snug against my backside.”

Ohmygod!It took everything I had not to show him how hot his words made me. I was going to burst into flames if he kept this up. I wished I could come up with a response that would shock him, but he’d left me speechless for the moment, and I could only do as he asked.

“Now wrap your arms around me, hold on tight, and lean in with me on the curves.”

I wrapped my arms around him and linked my fingers. He turned his head sideways and spoke over his shoulder. “Got it?”

“Got it.”

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