Page 44 of The Husband Game

“Yep. I’m comfy.” He smiled at Dustin but it fell when Dustin pushed himself up and climbed out of the pool.

Sweet Mother of Taylor Swift was he hot.

And Charlie was married to that slab of man dripping water all over the tiles …

When he realized Dustin was stalking toward him with a smirk on his face, he yelped and rose to his feet, dashing to hide behind the chair.

“What are you doing?” he asked warily.

“It’s such a nice day, kitten.” Dustin’s grin widened. “You should really enjoy the water with me.”

“Nope, I’m good!” he said, mortified when it came out as a squeak.

“I don’t know …” Dustin feinted like he was going to grab Charlie and he darted behind another chair with a squeal. “You look pretty hot.”

They played keep-away for a few minutes, Charlie dodging and weaving to keep a chair between him and Dustin. He was dimly aware of the crowd of Dustin’s friends watching them, but he knew if he took his eye off Dustin for even a minute, he’d find himself in the pool.

Charlie was ready for it when Dustin pounced, but he wasn’t ready for how fast he was, and before he knew what was happening, he found himself wrapped up in Dustin’s arms, plastered against his wet body.

“Nooo,” he protested, but he was laughing too hard to figure out how to wiggle free of that iron grip. “Don’t throw me in the pool! I worked so hard on this makeup.”

Dustin stilled and pressed a smacking kiss to his cheek before pulling back with a smile. “I won’t throw you in if you don’t want, kitten. Promise.”

“Phew,” Charlie said, pressing a hand to his racing heart. “You had me worried there.”

Dustin stroked his thumb down the side of Charlie’s throat, his fingers cool from the water, his gaze surprisingly intent. “Don’t worry. You’re safe with me,” he whispered.

Those words sent Charlie’s heart rate spiking all over again, and he gently worked himself free from Dustin’s embrace and stepped back, annoyed by how flustered he felt.

“You know what? I think I changed my mind,” Charlie called out, kicking off his sandals.

Dustin’s mouth fell open as he worked the knot loose from his shirt, then stripped it off, tossing it at Dustin’s chest.

He caught it, but he never took his eyes off Charlie as he wiggled out of his shorts and let them fall to the tile below to reveal a pair of teeny-tiny swim trunks in a pink and white swirl that had reminded Charlie of candy when he bought them.

With Dustin’s heated gaze on him the whole way, Charlie strolled over to the deep end of the pool. He shot a wink in Dustin’s direction, then dove in, slicing through the water. He swam underwater for a minute, then surfaced, calmly continuing his lap until he reached the far end. He used the ladder to pull himself out of the pool, his skin prickling with the awareness of a heated gaze raking over him.

Charlie turned and walked calmly to Dustin, who stood, staring open-mouthed at him, still clutching his shirt. Charlie pressed a hand to Dustin’s bare chest, gently pushing him down into the nearby chair.

He swung a leg over Dustin’s thighs and curled his fingers around his neck, leaning in to whisper in his ear. “Don’t you know, Dustin? Tigers like to swim.”

Charlie grinned as he drew back to see Dustin looking at him with a hungry expression.

If Dustin wanted to play? Fine. Charlie would play.

He might not want to dive into another sexual relationship and all of the messy issues that would bring.

But he was not above fighting fire with fire.

* * *

“Well, you survived the first team party,” Dustin said with a smile a few hours later, dropping onto a lounge chair next to Charlie’s. The lights were low except for the soft blue glow of the pool. “How was it?”

Charlie shrugged. “Not bad. A lot of people to keep track of but good otherwise. They’re nice.”

“Yeah, they are.”

Dustin settled back with a contented sigh. His teammates with kids had headed home to get them to bed a while ago and although some of the other guests had lingered for a while over drinks and conversation, most had gone home earlier than usual.

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