Page 82 of South of The Skyway

Brexley slipped her lips over the crown with a satisfied littlepop.Then swirled her tongue over the slit like she was afraid to waste a drop, as she grinned at me.Jesus.

Wiping her lips, she leaned back in her seat, shifting to make the buckle more comfortable. She’d swapped to a dark pink lip stain a few weeks back, and I was still amazed when she came up just as polished looking as she’d been when she’d gone down. Well, save for where my fingers had gripped her silky blonde hair. That would need straightening. Her smile sent fire through my belly.

“You are fucking amazing, baby.”

“I know,” she said, mostly teasing as she batted her lashes at me.

“My little temptress.”

As I turned into the parking lot, that statement earned a full-fledged grin, like I’d just let her in on the most tantalizing secret. Which brought me to—

“Why are there so many cars here?” She scowled at the expansive lot. “I hate tourist traps.”

“I know. This one is worth it, I promise.”

“Sure it is,” she teased, running her fingers through her long hair and straightening in her seat. “That’s what they all say.”

“I mean it. Come on, baby, you gotta trust me on this one.”

Brex put her hands up defensively, rolling her eyes but shifting in her seat like a kid on Christmas morning. She’d never been to the beaches south of the Skyway. Which was ridiculous since she’d lived an hour away from the best beach in the country her entire life. Fixing that was imperative. When I found a spot big enough for the long bed, I threw her in park, reaching over the bench seat to grab our beach bag.

“It’s busy,” she noted with a scowl, watching the colorful herd of people buzz in and out of the main entrance like rainbow ants.

“Yup. You’ll see why in a second.”

“You better make this up to me.”

My laugh earned that adorable lip-bite thing she did when she didn’t want to admit she was having fun. But with them still swollen from rubbing across my shaft, the desire to run my fingers over them was even higher than usual. Clearing my throat and trying not to pitch a tent before we made it to the water, I jerked my head towards the buzzing entrance.

“Come on, Ace, I’ll carry you in.”

“Like hell,” she mumbled, shaking her head. I raised a brow, about to saywhat are you going to do about it?But the image of her thrown over my shoulder with a palm smacking her ass must have been just as vivid to her as it was to me, because she edged sideways, a playful smirk on her face a heartbeat before she leapt for me. I snatched her around the waist, earning an elated trill of laughter as I spun her around, bringing her up to kiss. I turned around so she could climb up for a piggyback ride and refused to laugh when she sighed as she complied. Wrapped around my back, her long, lean arms tangled around my neck, and I smiled.

The sun was shining, a pure blue sky stretching infinitely in every direction. My girl was happily draped over my back like a little koala. A koala about to set foot on the softest sand I’d seen anywhere on the planet.

“It’s sowhite,” she noted when we edged the end of the sidewalk, where hundreds of yards of fluffy, pure sand devoured it.

“Stunning, isn’t it?”

“Blinding,” she countered begrudgingly. I laughed and handed her my Ray Bans, blinking in an attempt to aid my eyes as they adjusted. “Woah,” she breathed, peeking at the expanse of the beach through polarized lenses.

Teal and aqua water splashed against the purest white sand in the world, the white caps breathtaking. Every color imaginable adorned the beach in kaleidoscope umbrellas and bright blue tents, blankets strewn about to stake a claim on the good spots. Families played in the waves for a good fifty yards past the shore, the water only breaking against their knees. Beyond the break, jet skis kicked up fountains of water. Laughter, the squeal of happy kids, and warring boomboxes battled for airtime, but it was the kind of chaos that left you smiling.

“Life’s Too Short” by Two Friends and Fitz blasted over a speaker, the man in charge busy at a grill beneath a blue box tent anchored into the sand. His dreads were adorned with orange beads that popped against his dark complexion. He grinned as his wife wrapped her arms around him from behind, kissing his shoulder and laying her head down as they swayed to the music. Perfect duplicates of each of them ran around, kicking a ball. The girl in neon pink and the boy in electric blue.

A few yards over, the round belly of a sunburnt ginger man—a tourist, no doubt—stuck up above his kids’ messy sand-carved turtle. A laughing woman in a blush hijab and flowing, patterned white and blue outfit clutched a diaper in hand, chasing her cackling, naked toddler in a circle around a hand-scraped moat. Her older boy yelped not to step on his castle.

Chuckling, I reached down and pulled Brexley’s flip-flops from her feet before wiggling her off my back and turning to watch her reaction. As her feet connected with the flour-soft surface, her pink lips popped open, eyes rounding before she laughed a breathless, you-told-me-so chuckle.

Feeling spectacularly smug, I said, “Welcome to the south side of the bridge, Ace.”

“Okay,” she breathed, closing her eyes as she wiggled deeper into the sand. “You didn’tcompletelyoversell it.”

“Hah!” I threw my arms up in the air like I’d scored a touchdown, wishing Noel had been here in time to validate the words. “Did anybody hear that?” Her eyes went wide, mouth popping open as pink crept into her cheeks. “Somebody?!” I begged, laughing as she hopped up, trying to cover my mouth with delicate fingers. I snatched her wrists in one hand, turning my face to the side. “Come on, say it again. I need to record it.”

Two of the husbands nearest me, including our unofficial DJ, flashed me knowing smiles before averting their eyes.

“Come on, Ace. You won’t believe the water.”

---