Page 24 of Forever Yours

He flicked water at my face, then tried to push me under the next swell that rolled by. I retaliated by monkeying onto his back and shoving his head underwater, but he grabbed my ankle and pulled. I was pretty sure our water fight looked like we were recreating the opening scene fromJaws.

Breathless, laughing, and with saltwater stinging my eyes, I made a T with my hands to call a timeout and flipped over to float on my back.

“Who’s the new guy?”

Lifting my head, I looked toward the beach to see David talking to Julien and Ryder.

“David. Up for some touch football?”

“We didn’t bring one.”

“He asked if we wanted to join.”

Jayson smoothed his wet hair back. He’d been letting it grow out. It suited him.

“Sure.” A beat, then, “About last night. I’m sorry.”

I was going to get emotional whiplash with all the sudden apologies being thrown at me today. I was also not going to ignore the huge elephant in the room anymore. Jayson was past the point where I thought he needed serious help. Or an intervention.

Deciding on a dose of tough love, I turned my face and looked him in the eyes.

“I don’t want any more apologies. Not from you or Julien or Ryder. Words are meaningless. I’ve been hearing the same ones over and over for four months. It would break Liz’s heart to see you like this.”

His mouth turned down, and his chin dipped to his chest. “I know.”

“Then do something about it.”

I left it at that and swam to shore where Julien was waiting for me.

“That looked intense,” he said, meeting me in the shallows.

I shook my hair out. It would turn into a curly mess once it sun-dried. Where was a baseball cap when I needed one?

Julien grabbed my waist and reeled me in. I didn’t mean to pull back when he tried to kiss me. We had hidden our relationship for so long, I was still getting used to public displays of affection.

I told my insecurities to take a hike and pressed my lips to Julien’s, keeping the kiss light with just a tease of tongue. Anything more and I would have to go back into the ocean until my dick calmed down.

Julien ended our kiss but kept me close by holding my hand. Jayson walked out of the water and clapped my back as he passed. His way of saying that all was good between us, and he wasn’t pissed at what I said. He jogged away to catch up to Ryder and David, who were already with the other guys passing the football around.

Julien and I took a more leisurely stroll, walking hand in hand along the shoreline. Moments like this were the ones I cherished most. Just me and my guy doing nothing more than holding hands.

“David seems nice.”

“Don’t really know him yet, but yeah.”

“Still need to meet Ash. Why don’t you invite him and David to the party tomorrow night? If they want, they can come watch the game, too.”

I shook off the sadness that I would be sleeping alone tonight. I would make sure it wouldn’t become a habit this year. I didn’t care if I had to get up at four in the morning because of his schedule. I wanted to fall asleep every night wrapped in his arms and wake up every morning to his gorgeous face.

And if I wasn’t there, he wouldn’t have anyone to help chase away the nightmares when they came.

“I’ll ask. No matter what, I’ll be there cheering my ass off.”

He brought our joined hands up to his mouth and nibbled on my middle knuckle.

“That’s not the only thing that tight ass will be doing tomorrow.”

I burst out laughing.

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