“He was the hardest working man I’ve ever known, and that’s as true today as it was the day he died. I still don’t know how he and Mom did it, balancing running the ranch withhaving seven kids, but they made it look easy. He’d be gone before we even got up for school in the mornings, but he was always home for supper at night. He wasn’t the kind of man that made my brothers and I feel bad for having big feelings. He showed us it’s okay to cry, or to be so happy you felt like you could burst with the force of it. And most of all, he allowed us to dream.”
 
 “He sounds amazing.”
 
 Crew swallowed hard and nodded. “He was. Admittedly, I’m the lowest man on the totem pole when it comes to the pecking order in my family, but even with my oldest brother, Owen, he never forced him into anything. Owen realized at a pretty young age he was good at football, and obviously, his talent only continued to grow the older he got. Mom and Dad made it possible for him to chase the NFL dream, never guilting him into feeling like he had to stay behind and run the ranch. The rest of us were free to do what we wanted with our lives too. My dad was the best man, and I miss him every day.”
 
 “Is he buried in town?”
 
 Crew shook his head. “Nah, he’s buried on the ranch. Mom couldn’t bear to have him too far away, so we set up a plot along the edge of his favorite stretch of pasture. It’s a short horse ride from the house, and she goes out there at least once a week. One day, she’ll rest there beside him.”
 
 My heart ached for Birdie, knowing she had to spend the rest of her life without the other half of her heart.
 
 “We spread Lola’s ashes on the shores of Lake Michigan. But she’s always with me anyway,” I said, tapping my chest right over my heart.
 
 “You could get a commemorative tattoo,” he smirked. “Really make it permanent.”
 
 I scoffed. “And before you know it, I’ll look like you.”
 
 “Tattoos are addictive,” he agreed. “But really, I know a guy. I’ll hook you up.” He reached around and ran his hand over theburn scars on my left side. “You could get these covered too…if you wanted.”
 
 “I’ll think about it.”
 
 Against my backside, I felt Crew’s dick start to stiffen, and I giggled.
 
 “Really? Talk of tattoos turns you on?”
 
 “Baby, there’s nothing about you thatdoesn’tturn me on, but the thought of your body all covered in ink? Yeah, I like thata lot.”
 
 I rose up out of the water enough to kiss him again, cupping the back of his head and holding him to me, nibbling at his lips, his tongue stroking a lazy path across mine.
 
 When I pulled away, I said, “I likeyoua lot.”
 
 Crew’s answering grin was bright and carefree, giving him a boyish air I’d never seen before. “The feeling is mutual, little phoenix. Why don’t you let me show you how much?”
 
 My toes curled in anticipation. “Do your worst, hotshot.”
 
 Wordlessly, he flipped me around so my back was once again to his chest. His cock speared between my ass cheeks, and I wriggled around, loving the smooth slide and the way Crew’s breath hitched.
 
 “If you don’t stop that,” he ground out, “I’m going to fuck that hole, and I don’t think either of us are ready for that.”
 
 I shivered in response but said, “How do you want me?”
 
 “My favorite words,” he murmured into the back of my neck as he leaned forward, shifting my body with him. “Hands on the edge of the tub.” He placed them exactly where he wanted them, so I was bent slightly forward, then gripped my ankles and put my feet next to his quads, pressing them against the sides of the tub so I couldn’t move. His legs stretched out flat beneath me so I hovered over his lap. Then he reached under the water and between us, and the bubble bath had cleared enough for me to see him fist his cock. It brushed against my slit a moment later, and I twitched against the contact.
 
 “Think you can ride me like this, little phoenix?”
 
 I peeked over my shoulder at him and shot him a smirk. “Only one way to find out.”
 
 His cock slapped my seam, and then he held it at my entrance. “Sit down then.”
 
 Yes-fucking-sir.
 
 As I sank slowly onto him, my head fell forward as a moan escaped me. God, he was huge. By far the biggest cock I’d ever seen or been with. All the edging earlier had been necessary to fit him inside. Now, aided by the water and knowing I could take him, we only met a little resistance as I took him into my body.
 
 When I was fully seated, my ass resting against his thighs, he reached for me. With a hand around the front of my neck, he pulled me backward, bending me so he could kiss me.
 
 My spine arched, contorting me into a position that should’ve been uncomfortable but wasn’t.
 
 Honestly, I’d let Crew break me in half and still come back for more with the pieces that remained.Thatwas the kind of hold he had on me.