Page 65 of Promised Summer
So I took a few steps back and walked forward again—intentionally making noise—and called, “Dan, Clay! Dinner’s here!”
I gave them an extra few seconds before rounding the corner again. They were now sitting a respectable distance apart, with Dan facing my way this time. His body was just the slightest bit tense, but he tried to play nonchalant.
“I’m starving!” he shouted and stood when he saw me. He didn’t even cast Clay a backward glance as he stepped out of the hot tub and dried himselfoff.
I told them I’d see them inside, then returned to the front of the cabin, still in a daze.
Ryan was getting Karla out of her booster seat and told her to run inside to play and to stay away from where Ryker was working, probably worried she might injure herself.
He turned to me, a huge smile that quickly turned worried when he saw me. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
I opened my mouth, but what could I say? It wasn’t my secret to tell. No matter how much my friends liked to tease me about being just as much a gossip as the neighborhood aunties, I knew what could and couldn’t be talked about.
I shook my head and pulled Ryan into my arms. “It’s nothing. Was just captivated by your glow, Sparkles.”
His laugh was light as he pressed a soft kiss to my lips. Ryker hooted and hollered from where he was working, and laughed when I flipped him off.
“Let me help you bring everything inside. Is the food in the trunk?” I asked and moved to open the trunk, but Ryan quickly blocked my path using his body.
“No!” His loud shout seemed to have surprised even himself.
Now I was really curious about what he was hiding in the trunk, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side of the car. What was he hiding in there that he was trying so hard to keep me from seeing?
“Food’s over here,” he said and pushed an aluminumtray into my arms. The enticing scent wafted into my nostrils and had my stomach grumbling.
“Aw, Sparkles, you cooked for us? I thought you were going to order takeout or something,” I said, and lifted the foil to take a peek inside.
Ryan smacked my hand to let the foil drop. “Don’t let the food get cold,” he chastised and nudged me toward the front door. He turned to grab the other two trays that were stacked on top of each other, then made sure I was in front of him the entire walk inside.
How curious.
I didn’t have time to question him before Dan and Clay came barging inside through the sliding door, dripping water onto my hardwood floor.
“Whatever that smell is, I need it inside of me!” Dan called and padded over to where we’d placed the food on the island. Lily raised her head at their entrance, but quickly laid it back down on her nest to nurse her pups.
I glared at him and snatched the towel from around his neck to wipe up his mess.
“Whoa! If you wanted me naked, all you had to do was ask,” Dan said, his arms an X across his chest to cover his nipples and bare chest.
“Put on a shirt, dude! There’s a child present,” I told him with a glare.
Dan smirked and made a show of flexing his chest muscles. “I’m just showing Karla that she should never settle for less. Isn’t that right, baby girl?” Karla giggled.
For a doctor, he was a lot more muscular thanexpected. That could be because of his stepbrother’s influence.
Ugh, it was so weird to think of them like that now that I knew what they were up to in private. They kissed, and who knew what else they did!
I quickly shook that thought away. I didnotwant to think about my friends’ potential sex life.
With each other.
Thankfully, I didn’t have much time to think when the food was uncovered and everyone, aside from Ryker, who was still outside, descended on it like scavengers.
Ryan had made plenty of food, but I still fought to be one of the first to grab a plate, after Karla, of course. But after that, even my Sparkles wasn’t spared from my rush to fill my plate.
Ryker came in just as the last of us were served and seated around my island. He saw us all shoving food down our throats, shook his head, and headed to the bathroom, probably to clean up.
When he returned, he beelined straight toward the food. The shortest route just so happened to put himself between Dan and Clay. He quickly made himself a plate and sat in the empty seat between them.
