20 - Peyton
PEYTON
Sunlight spilled over the deck like warm butter, illuminating everything I’d been avoiding all morning. Fresh fruit. Hot coffee. Some kind of jam, spread over bread thicker than two of my thumbs put together. It all smelled so good, it should be illegal.
“Morning, boys.”
I crossed the room, the silk robe I’d put on dancing around the tops of my bare thighs. In truth, I hadn’t been avoiding anything. In fact I was looking forward to it. I was just so damned tired. And rightfully so.
“Who the hell butchered this mango?”
Theo, sitting beside the knife, was the obvious culprit. He wrinkled his nose as I picked at the savaged piece of yellow-orange fruit, and laughed.
“One day I’ll show you the proper way to cut it,” I admonished him, popping it into my mouth. It tasted sweet and tangy and just as delicious as everything else, here in paradise. “Not like this, though.”
I passed Ripley, who was shirtless of course, leaning against our little outdoor cabana. He had his arms folded casually, smirking like the cat who’d swallowed the canary. I blew him a kiss, in full view of the others.
“So, did everyone get enough of me last night?”
His smirk disappeared in an instant. He and Theo exchanged a concerned look, then glanced at Colson.
“Oh, don’t worry about him,” I teased. “He’s no angel. He got his turn, too.”
Theo’s jaw hit the floor. Ripley’s expression likewise took a hard left into confusion.
Shit, this was way more fun than I realized.
“He…he did?”
“Hell yeah,” I winked at Colson. “We got clean together, in the shower. Then dirty. Then clean again.”
I plucked the cup of coffee from Theo’s frozen hand and took a sip. The poor guy still hadn’t moved.
“Oh, come on now,” I began. “Are you really that surprised? After what the two of you did to me?”
I stretched lovingly toward the sun, extending my arms, then hands, then fingers. The hem of my robe rode up a bit, barely covering the bottom of my ass. As expected, it didn’t go unnoticed.
“Pretty sure you did some stuff to us as well,” Ripley answered, without missing a beat.
“Well,” I admitted, with a guilty shrug. “When in Rome…”
Theo’s hands moved mechanically as I handed his coffee back to him. For the second time in as many days, he’d actually closed his laptop.
“I hate all of you, by the way.”
Ripley’s resulting smile made something warm bloom in my stomach.
“That’s not what you said last night.”
“Yeah, well I’m telling you now.”
Theo looked genuinely worried. “Why?”
“Why?” I laughed. “Really?”
Birds chirped exotically, somewhere in the distance. All three men were staring back at me in silence.
“Do you know how awesome last night was?” I asked, storming my way to the coffee pot. “How totally fucking legendary?”
The dark brown liquid was still steaming, as I poured myself a cup.
“Legendary,” ventured Theo. “That’s good, isn’t it?”
“No!” I exclaimed, playfully. “That’s not good. I’m ruined forever! Especially since last night came at the tail end of a really long dry spell.”
“Dry spell?” Theo raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t you and Donovan—”
“Donovan’s terrible in bed,” I cut him off. “Up until last night, I’d forgotten what great sex feels like. It’s been like forever, since… well…”
“Your boyfriend with the motorcycle?” Ripley grinned.
“Yeah. Him.” I stopped, and squinted in confusion. “Wait, how’d you know about—”
“Nobody does what you did at the church, after a few ‘riding lessons,’” he reasoned. “You tore shit up. It was obvious you’d dated someone who taught you some tricks.”
I watched him rub thoughtfully at his chin. The stubble there was thicker than last night. Sexier.
“So your motorcycle boyfriend was great in the sack, was he?”
“Sure,” I reasoned, adding a shrug. “For about a minute and forty-five seconds. Then he rolled over. The rest was up to me, if you catch my drift.”
“I do,” Ripley chuckled. “Why do you think he was such a three-pump chump?”
“He used to tell me it was because I was too hot. He couldn’t control himself.”
“Know who says that?”
“Who?”
“Guys with no self-control.”
My gaze shifted to Colson, who still hadn’t said anything. He was standing at the edge of the deck, looking calm and unbothered. Like he hadn’t just snuck into my shower a few hours ago, and railed the shit out of me from behind.
Memories of that encounter came rushing back, and my stomach did a happy little somersault. His hot mouth, roaming on my neck. His hand, strong and insistent, rolling its way into my hair…
“Theo.”
He looked startled at the sound of his own name. It was kinda cute.
“How much longer until you crack the locket?”
He blinked, and those long lashes reminded me sharply of last night. That handsome face, hovering over me. Kissing me while Ripley sawed into me, his hands on my hips.
Shit, was everything going to remind me of last night?
Not that I minded, of course.
“Could be today,” Theo shrugged. “Could be tomorrow. Could be next week, or a month from now. I really don’t know.”
“But you can do it,” I mused. “Right?”
He was staring blankly back at me, as if he were daydreaming about last night too. “Yes.” Confidence slowly returned to those honey brown eyes. “I sure can.”
“And right now we’re good?” I asked, turning toward Colson. “Still off the grid? No immediate danger?”
I watched, trance-like, as those big shoulders swung my way. They seemed more relaxed this morning. Somewhat more at ease.
“As long as we stay right here, and don’t draw attention to ourselves, we should be fine.”
“Good,” I nodded, setting my coffee down. “That’s what I needed to hear.”
I stepped between them and shrugged out of my robe. Soft blue silk fell to the floor in a puddle, revealing the bright yellow string bikini I’d put on before coming outside.
All eyes shifted to my ass. Or my tits. Or both.
Because really, who was counting.
“Boys, I have a confession to make,” I started off. “I’ve been thinking about last night, all morning,” I admitted. “And I’ve come to a conclusion. Wanna know what it is?”
Setting my hands on my hips, I turned my back to them and looked out over the blue-green ocean. Their attention wasn’t in question. I had them completely hooked.
“Like it or not, this place is home for a while,” I sighed into the wind. “And if we’re going to be stuck here, together, we might as well have fun.”
I whirled on them; fast enough to catch their eyes fixed to the spot where my ass used to be. It made me chuckle.
“Of course, we can act like last night never happened,” I countered, pretending to think about it. “But where’s the fun in that?”
Ripley shook his head. “No fun at all.”
“Exactly,” I pointed a finger. “And since we can’t put the genie back in the bottle…”
I shrugged guiltily, but it was all a show. The not-so-shocking truth was, I didn’t feel the least bit guilty. I’d thought about how this might go from the moment I’d opened my eyes. Either it could be awkward, for everyone involved… or we could embrace it for what it was.
And also, hopefully, for what it could be.
“I’m going to take my coffee on the beach,” I said cheerily. “That way you boys can talk amongst yourselves, maybe figure things out. Let me know what you come up with.”
I sauntered past them, grabbing another slice of mango along the way. A hand stopped me, dropping gently to my bare hip. It was the same hand I’d seen in the shower last night.
“What exactly are you saying?” asked Colson.
I looked him straight in the eye and shrugged. “This.”
I stood on my toes, leaned in, and kissed him full on the mouth. It was a soft, sensual kiss. The kind that kept on going until he was kissing me back.
“Fuck,” Ripley swore under his breath.
I chuckled, then strutted over and kissed him too. His hands went straight to my ass. I couldn’t blame him, but after a moment or two I still had to pry them away.
“Later,” I whispered into his ear.
I pushed back and found Theo still sitting there, his blank expression completely unchanged. I kissed him last, leaning in low so he could get the full effects of my significant bikini cleavage. I made sure the kiss was even longer and better than the others, too.
Then I spun on my bare heel, jumped to the sand, and headed out to greet the goddess of sun and surf.
I was a dozen steps onto the beach when I heard one of them speak.
“Theo…” Ripley grunted.
It took Theo a moment to answer. When he did, his voice sounded very dazed and far away.
“Yeah?”
“You crack that locket in anything shorter than a week,” Ripley warned, “and I’ll beat you to within an inch of your short, miserable life.”