Page 26 of Dream (Fighting Fate)

I helped her pull her board in and made sure she was right carrying it out of the water. She looked up at me shyly when we reached the sand, uncertainty written all over her face. How did I reassure her when I had no idea what I was doing? But I knew I had to do something. “Do you want to come back to my place when you’ve changed?”

Relief flashed in her eyes, but it was quickly followed by a slightly panicked look.

I smiled to lighten her worry. “Just to spend some time together. Maybe we could watch a movie or something?”

The smile she returned was everything I wished it wasn’t. The way it made my body react could very well make a liar out of me. “Okay. I’ll b

e as quick as I can.”

I watched her jog off toward the trail before forcing my legs into action and heading for the guys. I knew I was about to get a ribbing for kissing her, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to respond just yet. I knew I really needed to get my self-control on a tighter leash. The way Liv made me lose it could end up being very disastrous—in more ways than one.

I looked up to see varying emotions written on my friends’ faces. Daniel was scowling at me, clearly unimpressed, Lance looked disappointed, and Corey and Cain looked amused.

“What are you doing, man?” Lance asked, shaking his head.

I glared at him. “What?”

“Come on, man,” he said, giving me a you’re-not-that-stupid look. “If she checks out like you say she will, you know better than anyone that you can’t go playing that kind of game with her. She’s too innocent.”

My jaw tightened. I fucking knew she was too innocent. That was my biggest goddamn problem. Grabbing my towel, I started drying off my board shorts. “Just leave it alone, Lance.”

Corey stepped forward. “No, I think we need to talk about this now. We’re here to protect you, Josh. Getting involved like this is bad news.”

I rubbed the towel over my face, growling. “Fuck! I know that!” Taking a steadying breath, I met each of their gazes in turn. I knew they were only trying to make me see reason, but honestly, I thought I was already beyond that. “Look, I just want to spend time with her, okay? I’m not going to sleep with her.”

They all gave me a deadpan look, letting me know just how successful they thought that’d be.

“Josh,” Daniel started, “you know we’re only looking out for you. Why don’t you just wait for us to do a background check first, to make sure she checks out, then we can go from there?”

I threw my towel down on the sand. I’d already told them I was okay with the background check, if that was what they needed to do, but I knew she was legit. I’d seen the pictures for fuck’s sake. The fact that they didn’t trust my judgment was starting to piss me off.

I wanted to tell them to leave it alone. Again. But I also knew they wouldn’t stop giving her a hard time until they could trust her too, and I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable around them. I also didn’t want it to be either them or her. I wanted all of us to be able to hang out together. Olivia included.

“I already told you. You can do your fucking background check, but I’m telling you, she’s legit. I know I should stay the fuck away from her, but I just can’t, all right?” With that, I picked up my shit and stalked off to the house to shower before Liv came back.

After the talk with the guys, I no longer needed the cold shower to cool down, so I went straight for the heat before dressing in a pair of shorts and a tee.

Liv arrived fifteen minutes later. She was dressed in those amazing denim shorts she’d been wearing the day before, and a hoodie. Her hair was dry and fell down her back like soft, golden silk. Again, she wore no makeup, but she was still the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen.

The guys were all hanging around the living room, and I knew it was because they either didn’t trust her, or they didn’t trust me. I could’ve told them to leave us alone. They were technically my employees, but they were also my friends. Plus, I really wanted them to get to know her.

She smiled widely when she stepped inside, holding out a bag for me to take. “I brought snacks.”

I took the offered bag from her and watched her slide past me before closing the door. She looked up at the guys all sitting around, saying a soft hello before blushing that beautiful color I was really starting to love.

I cleared my throat, hoping it would also clear my mind. “Would you like a tour?”

She glanced around the house. “Yes, please.”

Handing the bag to Lance, I grabbed her hand and started towing her from room to room. If you asked me later to recall the tour, I wouldn’t have been able to. I was too busy watching her and her reactions to everything she saw.

When we reached my bedroom, I had to stop myself from closing the door behind us. She walked over to the windows and looked out at the ocean. “Okay, you win. This view is mind-blowing,” she said, turning to give me a blinding smile.

The breath caught in my throat. Holy shit, I wanted her.

“So, are we going to watch one of your movies, then?” she said in a teasing tone.

What? Hell no.

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