Page 8 of Playing With Fire
I look down andfuck my life, I’m sporting a semi.
“Quit looking at my dick, you perv.”
Phoenix laughs as I adjust myself and beg my cock todeflate. Shannon’s down the beach now, but a ripple of excitement coasts through me when I realize she’ll have to pass by us again on her way back to the parking lot.
“Aw, don’t be upset, Hud,” Knox says. “Phoe’s just admiring yours because he’s still looking for his little peepee. It’s been missing since the ice fishing trip.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake. Here we go again. My cock is perfection and if you two would like proof, I’d be happy to bend you the fuck over and let you feel just how perfect it is.”
“Would you now?” I taunt.That was awfully descriptive for a straight guy.
“Hey. Watch the young ears,” Knox says with a clenched jaw. I swear to God, his jaw is always clenched. Knox needs to get laid even worse than I do.
“They’re asleep,” I argue.
“Are they, though?” he asks with raised brows, causing me to turn around and see my nephew at the opening of the tent.
“Oh, hey, Cam.”Oops.
The preschooler rubs sleep from his eyes and waddles toward Phoenix before I scoop him up and sit him on my knee. Thankfully, nothing kills a hard-on like a kid in your lap. Always on the same schedule, Ally appears not even a minute later and goes straight for Phoenix as well.
I swear age and gender don’t discriminate with him. If it breathes, it’s going straight to Phoenix, every single time.
“Would you look at us,” I tease, holding out my phone to take a selfie. “It’s a good thing Knox is out here running interference with that scowl or you’d have a swarm of potential bedmates around you, Phoe.”
“In that case, would you mind waiting in the car, Knoxy?” Phoenix asks with a shit-eating grin.
“You’d better be glad you’re holding my niece, you, firecracker,” Knox says, using our codeword formotherfucker,making me and Phoenix howl with laughter. Nothing ever hits quite as well as the actual word.
It may not seem like much, but this is one of my favorite ways to spend a day: low key, with friends and family, a beer at the lake, and my small, two-bedroom house up the Wilson River waiting for me when I’ve had my fill of the sun. The only thing that could beat it is fishing on the coast at sunrise. Another pang of loss strikes a chord so deep inside me, I have to cough to force the emotion down.
Thirty minutes later, the guys and I are with the kids at the water’s edge, pretending to be excited over the water hitting our toes for the seven-hundredth time when Phoenix nudges my shoulder.
“Pink aviator hotness, three o’clock.”
My eyes immediately scan the area and come to rest on Shannon. Perhaps she feels me staring because she raises her head and turns my direction. Although I can’t see her eyes, Icansee that her attention is on the three of us. I think I’ve died and gone to heaven when she offers our group a small, appreciative smile and nod.
“I think she likes what she sees,” Phoenix says, talking out of the corner of his mouth as he elbows me in the ribs being obvious as all fuck.
Ignoring him, I nod my head and offer her a smile in return, praying like hell she’s staring atmebehind those glasses and not Knox or Phoenix.
I see you.
To my dismay, she doesn’t look back once she’s past us and I find myself hoping like hell she’s got a package that needs to be delivered this week.
Chapter 5
Shannon
Mythank you, love you, appreciate youtext from Friday went unanswered and when Gregor opened the nameplate, he gave me a tight smile—the fake kind that screamedaww, sweetie, aren’t you cute—and told meIt’s a nice gesture, but this is a Maxwell Scott briefcase, Shan. I can’t affix the nameplate or I risk ruining the leather.Of course, there was no gratitude for keeping the house clean or taking care of the car, either, as it’s just become expected.
I’ve officially lost the ability to reach my husband, and things only get worse when we show up to the company dinner the following night.
Gregor holds his arm out for me when we arrive at the restaurant and I take it dutifully. I’m wearing the newest pair of earrings he gifted me as well as his favorite dress. The neckline on this dress is definitely what I would considerplungingand it makes me uncomfortable, but I’m working on ways to show my husband that I’m trying and it always makes him happy when I garner attention.
The hostess leads us to the private dining room where myhusband’s colleagues and their wives are all seated around the long table. It isn’t lost on me that all the wives are sitting silently by their husband’s sides as the men discuss sports, politics, and cigars.
Everyone says hello and shakes Gregor’s hand before he pulls my chair out for me. Every time we get together, the men’s eyes rake over my body—just like they are right now.
