Page 41 of Spreading Her Wings

“Girl, put that thingaway!” Simone shouted, leading the group into the living room.

Katie jerked up and winced, cursing to herself under her breath. “Fuck drunk Katie and her damn open-door policy,” she whispered, and I laughed, throwing my arm around her. I kicked myself for not locking the front door behind me when I’d walked in, imagining I could’ve gotten a quick taste of her before our quiet moment was gone.

Squealing, Katie turned so her back was to the counter. Her neck was warm and pink with embarrassment, and she stared at me with a mixture of embarrassment and lust in her eyes. Turning back towards my friends, I slapped Logan on the back.

“You have great timing, you load of fucking cockblocks.”

He laughed, sticking his hand in the air to high five Jackson. “I told you we should’ve bet on it.”

“You wouldn’t have won,” Simone argued. “They weren’t fucking. Just almost.” She winked at me, and Katie buried her face in her hands.

“Oh mygod,” she groaned out, rushing to the fridge and throwing it open before hiding her face behind the metal doors.

I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her back from the chilled hiding place. “They’re just playing, kitten. Come on.”

“Hey, newlyweds! Are you going to bring some of that wine in here or what?” Jackson chided from his comfortable spot in Ash’s lap.

I stepped aside to let Katie through, as she seamlessly fell into the role of hostess. She gathered three glasses in onehand and two bottles in the other, gripping them between her fingers and nodding to the remaining glasses on the counter—an instruction I quickly obeyed. Scooping them up, I followed behind her while she practically danced her way into the living room.

She sat the empty glasses on the coffee table, pouring the wine with a look of satisfaction. I settled into the chair as she passed out glasses, tugging her arm and pulling her on top of me when she was holding the last one.

“Just don’t start making out or anything, huh?” Logan sounded annoyed, but the light grin on his face said otherwise. He’d been telling me for weeks he just “liked me more like this,” and I was starting to believe it more myself.

“No promises.” Katie giggled when she said it, leaning down as if she were going to kiss me but changing direction at the last minute to take a sip of wine. I growled under my breath, gripping her thigh under my hand and squeezing until she whimpered. When she did, my cock stirred in my jeans, and I was both grateful for and frustrated with Katie’s ass grinding against my groin.

As Logan swallowed the last bite of pizza, he groaned and leaned back against the couch. “Okay, I’ll hand it to you. Pepperoni and black olives isn’t the worst. It could have pineapple on it.Thatis the worst.” He nudged Simone, earning him a sharp glare from her and a laugh from the brunette woman curled up in my lap.

“Told ya,” Katie and I said at the same time.

Logan rolled his eyes, and the rest of the room filled with laughter. “You two together is almost scary. Married for, what, a week, and you’re already reading each other’s minds?”

Katie stiffened in my lap, but she still laughed. I ran my fingers along her back in a soothing up-and-down motion, coaxing her to release the tension in her shoulders. Slowly, she relaxed back against me. “It is pretty scary,” she said with a slight hum.

“You’re the one who wanted to do something that scared you,” I whispered against her ear. She shivered, a delicious trail of goosebumps rising on her skin.

“You’re right. I meant something like get a tattoo or go skydiving.” She released a small huff. If it weren’t for the smile on her face, she’d almost sound angry. Was there a piece of her that was? How much of this—of us—did she regret?

I sat back against the chair, continuing the smooth movement along the subtle curve of her spine. “Mm-hmm,” I hummed with amusement.

“Well, maybe not skydiving. I don’t like heights that much.” She giggled, swallowing a long gulp of wine. Her throat bobbed, and my mouth felt dry. The kind of dry that red wine didn’t help.

Before I could respond, Simone chimed in from across the room. “Do you haveanytattoos?”

“One.” Katie blushed, tightening her arms around herself in a hug. Eyebrows around the room raised, and I chuckled.

“What? Where? I just saw you in a bikini!” Simone sat up on the couch, shock looking a lot like a glare on her face.

Looking down, she mindlessly drifted her hand to the side of her chest. “I have a tiny rose on the side of my boob. You can only see it if I’m naked.”

“I love roses,” I growled out.

Katie smacked my chest, giving me the kind of look a mother gave her child when she wanted them to behave. I wiggled my eyebrows at her, and she broke into a fit of giggles. “I’ve always wanted to get another one. I just haven’t.”

I tried to imagine the look on her face when the needle ran along her skin. Would she be the type to grit her teeth or let her mouth fall open? Then I thought about the memory of the small rose just on the underside of her boob and the fact that someone had put it there; someone who had their hands cupped around her perfect breasts. Did her nipples get hard from the vibration of the tattoo gun?

She crossed her arms and relaxed, letting her body rest fully against me. Her gaze continued to drift, hovering on the spot where I gripped her thigh. When she licked her lip and bit down, she let out a small giggle. Based on the blush in her cheeks and the lucid curl to her words, she was comfortably under the influence.

Her body language said she was comfortable in general, though. The way she crossed her legs, hanging them over the armrest on the chair while she lounged in my lap and draped her arm around me said she was at ease. She twirled a loose strand of dark hair around her fingers, chewing her bottom lip. Her eyes sparkled with each laugh.

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