24. James
CHAPTER 24
James
“This is not a good idea.” I eye my husband warily. “You don’t know anything about shucking oysters, babe.”
Cas shrugs, confident he can do anything, which truth be told, he usually can. “What could go wrong?”
“You could stab yourself with the knife, for one thing. Have you had a tetanus shot?”
“James has a point,” my mother says, sitting next to me and Caroline, holding Noah. “You should be careful, Cas.” She stands up and makes sure Noah’s beach hat is covering his head. “I’m going to go change Noah’s diaper.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Caroline has Evie on her lap so that both babies are safely under the giant beach umbrella. It’s not a super hot day, but the Carolina sun, even in late September, is still no joke.
“I’ll go with you, Miss Becky. I think Evelyn needs a change, too.”
“We can just run on into the girls’ house. The babies could use some air conditioning for a minute. We’ll be right back, you two.” She gives me and Cas a finger waggle.
“You’re going to miss my rise to greatness,” Cas tells Caroline, his voice just ever-so-slightly suggestive, given the presence of my mother.
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll catch your rise to greatness later,” Caro quips back.
The teasing innuendos between them have me fighting the urge to moan. I shift in my beach chair. Their vibe together never fails to turn me on.
Caroline and my mother disappear across the sand toward the street.
We’re all having a beach day arranged by Frannie and Fiona, probably the last of the season, culminating in a bonfire tonight that we probably won’t be able to attend because of the babies, but I’m glad we’ve carved out time to spend with our friends and family.
It’s a boisterous crowd of about fifty people, with heaping platters of food, coolers bursting with lemonade, sweet tea, soda, and beer. There is upbeat music playing from someone’s speaker, and apparently, there is a spontaneous oyster shucking contest about to commence.
Cas bends down and gives me a kiss. “I appreciate your concern, but I’d prefer you have faith in me.”
“It’s not about faith,” I protest. “It’s that you’re going up against guys who have been shucking their whole lives. You’ll get competitive, I know you will, and you’ll go faster than you should.”
He cups my cheeks. “I want you to think I’m hot.”
That makes me lean forward and nip at his bottom lip. “I already think you’re incredibly hot. You don’t need to prove that to me.” I sink back into my chair. “And this isn’t about me. You just want to beat Grayson.”
He nods. “That is true. Can you blame me?”
“No. Grayson does need to be put in place. He got a little greedy with Caro’s pussy last night.”
Cas grins. “I think we all get a little greedy with Caroline’s hot little pussy.”
“There’s no lie there.” Just the thought of her naked, writhing as I sink inside her has my shorts tenting. Cas brushes his hand over my thigh, making the problem worse.
The four of us have been together twice now, and it’s been incredible. I don’t want to compare it to being alone with my husband, because they’re amazing for completely different reasons. But it has surprised me how much I enjoy having Grayson join us and it’s not just because I love to watch Caroline shattering at the hands of three men all working on pleasuring her together. Though I really do fucking love to see that.
It’s also because I like Grayson more than I expected to. He can be funny and charming and his love for Evelyn is palpable. I respect him. Being with the three of us is helping him relax, and I’m enjoying seeing that transformation. His shoulders aren’t so tense now and his apartment isn’t in a nationally declared state of emergency. He also is showering regularly, which is a good sign, even though like last night he showered with Caroline.
I’m a little jealous of their relationship. I haven’t admitted that to Cas. Definitely not to Caroline. We all agreed this was supposed to be temporary. Just a little very-fucking-hot fun between four adults.
Only it doesn’t feel that way to me.
I’m catching feelings for Caro. Or maybe feelings I’ve always had are just reigniting. I don’t know. I just know that spending time with her, in and out of bed, makes me really damn happy.
But I need to talk to my husband about it. I don’t hide anything from him. Though he knows me well enough that he probably already suspects it.
And will help me through my disappointment when she jets off to her next teaching assignment.
Or when she and Grayson decide they want to be an exclusive couple and our foursome is finished.
I have nothing to base that on.
But it’s in the back of my mind.
If that does happen, I have the world’s most supportive husband and an adorable baby, who we’re raising in my hometown surrounded by friends and family, so it’s all good.
Better than good. It’s fucking amazing.
I lace my fingers through Cas’s. “Better hold your hand while you still have five fingers,” I tell him.
He laughs. “I’m going to dazzle you with my skills—watch.”
There are long tables set up under half a dozen tents with all the food on display, but they’ve cleared one off for this friendly competition.
“Points off if there’s salt left in the oyster!” Sam Reed yells out.
The elderly man is wearing a button that declares “JUDGE” on it.
“Where the hell did he get that button?” I ask, amused.
“Oh, he got it online about five years ago,” Camille, who I went to high school with, says, standing by the table eating from a paper cup filled with fruit. “I think he carries it around in his beach bag, just in case he needs it.”
“That is very Honeysuckle Harbor.” I scan the crowd standing around. “Who is competing?”
“Ford, Harrison, Grayson, your Cas.” She gestures to my husband, who gives her a little bow with a smile. “Fiona, John Beauregard, Bud Hawkins, Mary Eunice.”
“You can still change your mind,” I tell Cas, even knowing he will sever an artery before he gives up.
“Fuck that.”
“Yeah. Fuck that!” Camille says with a grin.
A hand comes out of nowhere and slaps her arm, causing her to drop a grape. “Watch your mouth, Camille.”
It’s her grandmother, who is in her seventies and still as feisty as I remember from childhood.
“He said it first!” She points straight to Cas with a smirk.
“Then you watch your mouth too.” Cas is treated to an affectionate arm smack and a smile.
“Cas, this is Mary Eunice. Ma’am, this is my husband, Cas.”
Cas’s eyebrows shoot up. “You’re in the competition?”
“You bet your boots I am. I’m not as strong as I used to be, but I have fun giving them a little scare.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“You’d better get in the lineup,” I tell Cas. “They’re already prepping.”
Sam is yelling out more rules. “No blood in the oyster or you’re disqualified!”
“Jesus,” Cas murmurs.
“Told you.”
But he squares his shoulders and takes a spot next to Grayson, who claps him on the shoulder.
“Try to keep up with me, Cas.”
There’s good natured smack talk and nudging going on as the oysters are brought out. I look up at the house, seeking Caroline. I know she’ll want to see this.
“So, uh, what’s going on with you?” Camille asks, flicking her tongue over a piece of melon. “You and Caro seem very close.”
“It’s great to see her again,” I agree, striving for casual.
This was what Cas and I were trying to avoid—the Honeysuckle Harbor rumor mill. But it seems it is turning already.
“No one cares, you know. Ford and Harrison paved the way for you when they brought Ivy and Liam here from L.A. This crowd is a ‘you-do-you-boo’ crowd, you know that.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Okay. Don’t share the juicy bits with me then.”
“Where are Ivy and Liam? I was hoping to see them.” I do want to say hi but I no longer remember to who when I see Caro pop out of the twins’ house, Evelyn on her hip, a big smile on her face.
She’s wearing a sundress today and her skin is glowing, and her eyes are bright. She has the look of a woman who has been fucked regularly by three men. I could drink in the sight of her all damn day.
She also looks good with a baby.
Grayson’s baby.
That thought makes my chest tighten.
I wave to her. “Come on, before you miss all the shucking fun.”
Caroline laughs. “Shucking fun? I definitely don’t want to miss that!” she calls back.
My mother doesn’t come out of the house but it doesn’t worry me. She’s very fond of air conditioning and it probably isn’t a bad thing for Noah to be inside for a bit. I appreciate how much help my parents have been to me and Cas since we moved here.
Though I’m a little surprised my father isn’t in the oyster contest. Glancing around, I see he’s helping build the bonfire for later. If there’s a fence to paint, a grill to clean, or a pile of wood to stack, he’s always on it.
Caro comes up between me and Camille and leans briefly against my shoulder. “Who should I root for? I’m thinking I should cheer on Fiona.”
“Girl power!” Camille says. “I’m familially obligated to root for my grandmother.”
“I have to root for Cas.”
“Oh, no, poor Grayson.” Caroline bounces Evelyn on her hip. “You need to cheer for Daddy!” She raises Evelyn’s arms up and down. “Go Daddy! You can do it!”
Grayson hears her and shifts his attention to them. His gaze is steely, intense. Electric. “Well, I have to win now,” he says. “I have two beautiful ladies cheering me on.”
It’s probably too much for being in public, but I flick Caroline’s hair off of her shoulder. “You weren’t a lady last night,” I murmur in her ear.
She gives a soft laugh. “I seem to remember saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’”
My dick hardens uncomfortably. “You’re such a good girl.”
Grayson is watching us, his expression unreadable.
Cas looks like he wants to devour us both.
But then Sam Reed counts down, and the competition is on.
My husband has no idea what he’s doing but he just dives in, grabbing an oyster and shoving the knife between the shells. When nothing happens, he glances at Grayson to emulate his movements.
“You’ve got this, Cas!” I call out in encouragement.
He’s jabbing the knife repeatedly, making me wince. “Oh God, I can’t look,” I tell Caroline.
She squeezes my arm. “I’ll tell you if I see blood. Look at the other end of the table. Fiona is killing it.”
I take her advice and scan the row of contestants. Fiona is very efficiently working on her third oyster. Bud seems to be pulling ahead, but otherwise everyone seems evenly matched. Ford looks like he was born shucking oysters, which he probably was, and Grayson is holding his own. When I dare to look, I see my overly confident husband is struggling but refusing to wave the white flag. He is now beating his first oyster on the table.
“He’s trying,” Caroline says with a snort. “And at least he looks good doing it.”
Cas has definitely turned some heads in town with his tall, muscular build and his tattoos.
“Go, Cas!” Caroline cheers.
He raises his knife in acknowledgement.
I get that feeling again—that maybe what Cas and I have been looking for when we bring women into our marriage is…Caroline.
Is it a crazy thought?
Probably.
That doesn’t stop me from having it, though.
Which is why I wrap my arm around Caro and give her a side hug. She just laughs, still watching the contest. Camille gives me a knowing look.
“What?” I ask her.
“Nothing. Just seeing what everyone is seeing.” She waves her hand. “Everyone here has excellent eyesight.”
I have no response to that, so I just watch Sam call time.
“Time! Two minutes are up! Gotta check things over.”
It’s clear Bud has stomped the competition, followed by Ford, then Fiona. Grayson pulls a respectable fourth. Cas is last, with zero opened oysters.
“Bud’s got it with nine!”
Everyone claps and the contestants all lift an oyster and drop it back and swallow.
My poor husband is left standing there, oyster-less. But he’s smiling and laughing good-naturedly.
Grayson hands him an oyster. “Here. You can have one of mine.” Then he picks up another from his ice pile.
They tap their oysters together. “Cheers,” Cas says.
When they lift their respective shells to their lips at the same time, they lock eyes.
Is that…was there…sexual tension?
I look over at Caro. She’s watching them too—her eyes narrowed a little.
Though I’m not sure why I’m surprised. They have been sharing Caroline. We’ve all been really fucking up close and personal with each other. That creates intimacy, intended or not.
Cas is coming over to me.
“Next year, babe,” I tell him. “Good effort.”
“It was an absolutely fucking terrible effort. But I have a new goal. I’m going to practice at home.”
Caroline takes Evelyn over to Grayson, who dries his hands off with a towel before taking Evie with a big smile.
“You seem like you’re in a good mood,” I say. “Enjoying a day off finally? You work so hard for me and Noah. I hope you know how much I appreciate that.”
“I’m happy to. I have the hottest stay-at-home dad in town as my husband.” Cas kisses me. “And what’s not to love about spending a day with family and friends? Plus, I have an adorable baby, and I’m having enormous amounts of casual sex. I’m literally living the dream.”
“Casual?” I ask.
“Well, not with you, obviously. But with Caroline, yes, of course.”
“Cas! Come here—we’re taking a picture of the contestants!” Fiona yells.
“Someone has to stand in last place,” Grayson says.
Cas groans, but he dutifully goes over.
Camille is watching me, her lips pursed.
“What?” I ask, again. “Why is your face so loud today?”
She laughs, but then she mimics zipping her lips shut. “I’m not saying a word.”
“You just said five.”
“James, you always were so cute.”