Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Hutch
I swing open the door. The cottage has a large living room that opens onto its own private patio by the pool, facing the beach. There’s a kitchenette to the right. And a small half bath. Stairs lead up to two identical bathrooms with private toilets and sinks, and a shared tub and shower area.
“This should be interesting,” I hear Jocelyn mutter under her breath as she stares at the enormous hot tub and the even bigger shower with two rain showerheads and two large massaging showerheads.
I turn toward her. “Do you shower at night or in the morning?”
She gives me a pointed look. “Uh, both.”
“Well, OK, then. I’ll just shower after you. See, no big deal,” I declare as if I just solved all the conflicts in the world.
I walk into one of the identical rooms and set my bag down on the bed.
“Where should we go for—” I start, but am cut off by Jocelyn’s scream.
I run through the bathroom and into her bedroom. There’s a lizard on her bed. It’s tiny, but she stands in the corner on a chair.
“It’s just a harmless little lizard,” I state as I walk over and grab it. I hold it out toward her, and she shrinks away.
“Get it away!” she says loudly, wrapping her arms around her middle.
“OK, OK,” I say in a calm voice as I carry the little guy to the sliding door that leads to our shared balcony. I let him go into a plant on the far side of the balcony and go back inside.
Jocelyn is still on the chair. Actually, she’s about my height now that she’s standing on it.
I walk over to her, and we look at each other.
“How does it feel to be tall?” I tease, trying to get her mind off the lizard.
She rolls her eyes. “Thanks for…dealing with it.”
“Can I ask why you are petrified of a little tree lizard?” I ask as I hold out my hand.
She takes it, and I help her down.
She shivers. “When I was little, we went to the Florida Keys. And my sister thought it would be funny to drop a little lizard in my hair. That thing got lost in my curls, and my mom couldn’t get it out for like three minutes. I could feel it moving, and…” She trails off as she trembles.
“Wow, so you’re scared of them now?” I ask.
“Just the little ones,” she admits.
“Note to self, do not buy Jocelyn a lizard,” I state.
She glares at me, and I chuckle.
“Not funny,” she says. “I think I’ll sleep downstairs.”
“Oh, come on, I’ll sweep your room for lizards. It’ll be a lizard-free zone,” I promise as I start walking around.
I look behind blinds, in drawers, in the closet, and even in our bathroom.
“See, no lizards. Shall we go find the others and figure out what we all want for dinner?” I ask as I stand from where I was kneeling by some cabinets in the bathroom.
My hip aches as I get back up, and I grip the sink.
Jocelyn rushes to my side from where she was standing in her room.
“Hutch, are you OK?” she asks, her brows furrowed with concern.
I move a little to rest my hip. “Yeah, it’s just sore from flying. I don’t normally sit for that long,” I explain, cursing the damn joint that the doctors pinned and screwed back together.
Her hand reaches for my forearm. “What can I do to help?”
For reasons that I don’t want to think about, a million inappropriate ideas start popping into my head.
I swallow hard and attempt to stand without supporting myself on the sink. It burns a bit, but nothing I can’t handle.
“It’ll be alright. I think I could use a little aquatic therapy,” I state, motioning to the pool.
“Let’s go, then. You said we had groceries delivered, right?” she asks, stepping back into her room and slowly closing the door.
“Yes. Everything we requested should be stocked in the main house,” I say as I listen to the rustling of clothes, realizing that Jocelyn is likely naked on the other side of this door.
Shaking my head in disgust at myself, I walk into my room and shut the door. I carefully change into swim trunks, testing out my hip as I go.
It feels tight, so a swim will definitely help stretch the muscles around it. I know Farley has a gym in the main house. I should go find it later so I can do some physical therapy weight training.
I open my door to walk downstairs just as Jocelyn steps out in…barely anything.
I know my mouth is hanging open. I know I should shut it. I know I should not be gawking at my good friend just because her body is completely the most perfect-looking female body I’ve ever seen.
She puts her hands on her hips. “Please, take a photo, it’ll last longer.”
I close my mouth and blink. I should apologize for staring. I should stop staring.
She waves a hand in front of my face. “You alive in there, Viking, or have you returned to your ancestral ways. Or maybe your hip injury is impacting your brain’s processing time?”
I clear my throat. “You can’t wear that.”
She absolutely cannot wear the itty-bitty bikini she has on with a freaking see-through cover-up over it. Every man here can see…everything. And what if she leaves the house like that? There’s a community beach two doors down. Anyone could see her if she goes to the beach.
She laughs. “You’re hilarious. Come on,” she says, clearly not taking me seriously.
I stalk after her. Grabbing her upper arm, I stop her at the door.
My eyes go to where my hand is completely wrapped around her forearm.
Her skin feels so smooth, soft, and inviting.
I imagine what it would taste like if I licked it. Salty? Sweet? Maybe both?
She glances back up at me. “Dude, are all men disarmed and taken offline if they see boobs?”
I nod. “That’s why you can’t wear this.”
She spins around and looks up at me. “Hutch, I love that you want to protect me. But we’re here with friends. No one is going to hurt me. No one is going to do anything inappropriate. And most of the guys are transfixed by their women. I could walk outside naked, and they probably wouldn’t notice.”
She’s not wrong about that, but I still don’t want them seeing her curves on full display.
Sighing, she grabs my hand. “If you think this is bad, wait till you see Cam’s bikini…if you can even call it that.”
With a laugh, she drags me down the walkway and into the main house, where Fletcher is practically using his body as a human shield to keep everyone from seeing Cam as she puts together some snacks on a tray.
“It’s not that small,” she protests.
“It’s practically nonexistent,” Fletcher seethes.
“Oh my God, you are such a drama queen. It’s fine.” She steps out from beside him, and my eyes bug out of my skull. Fletcher is right. I thought Jocelyn’s bikini was too small. But Cam’s leaves nothing to the imagination.
Then Carly, Roxy, and Piper walk into the kitchen with Ava in tow.
“Jesus Christ, do they not make bikinis that cover body parts?” Fletcher hisses.
Ava sticks her tongue out at him and juts out her hip. “Mommy says I look great.”
Fletcher sighs. “Yours is great, Ava,” he mumbles with a clenched jaw.
“Come on, ladies, let’s leave the Puritans here to the cooking. How about we get in that pool?” Roxy says as she walks past us.
Bray, Gray, Kasen, and I are now all standing and staring out at them.
I suddenly am worried that other people will see any of these ladies.
I feel a hand on my arm. I look down to see Margie standing there. Now, she looks covered up.
“Don’t be Neanderthal weirdos. Those young ladies look great. I wish I had a body like theirs. Come on, Cornelia. The men are apparently sulking and cooking,” she says as she practically dances out onto the deck by the pool.
“Gray! Less gawking, more daiquiri making,” Roxy tells him as she dives gracefully into the water.
“Yeah, Gray, where’s my daiquiri?” Bray teases.
Gray groans and starts rooting around the cabinets, pulling out a blender and alcohol.
“I got this. Let the bar master do his magic,” Al quips as he walks into the room.
Ava squeals in delight as Cam tosses her into the pool. She grabs a pool noodle and starts floating around.
“A bit of advice from an old man,” Al says.
We all turn to look at him. “There are five gorgeous young women and two beautiful older women out there. All we have to do is remind them of how beautiful they are inside and out. And yes, if someone ever tries to hurt them, we protect them because we are a family. But they are safe here. If you can’t feel you can be yourself around your family, then where can you be yourself? We support; we love; we respect.”
Fuck. I hate that he’s right.
“OK. Let’s order in some mofongo. Farley gave me the name of a restaurant that delivers. I’ll get us some other stuff too,” I state as I reach for my phone and order dinner.
* * *
“I forgot how sun and salty air make me sleepy,” Jocelyn says with a yawn as she snuggles up next to me. We’ve been drinking daiquiris all afternoon and evening. We ate delicious food. And now folks are heading to bed.
Jocelyn and I have curled up on the sofa in the guesthouse. We’re watching an old rom-com at her request.
My motion sensor camera app sends me a notification. I finally broke down and bought one. I pull it up and see Cliff sitting by the automated bird feeder that I bought.
I turn on the microphone.
“Hey, Cliff! Just a second, buddy,” I say as I use my other app and release some food.
Jocelyn cranes her neck and looks at my phone.
“I’m sorry. Did you just talk to the raccoon from your phone?” she asks.
“Yes, I did. And I gave her food,” I explain as I show her the app.
She rolls her eyes. “You have a problem.”
“No. I have a small, furry friend,” I correct her.
She shakes her head. “Any notifications for the flowers?”
I scan through my missed notifications. “Nope. But, look here.” I point to a video. “See how some leaves blow in front of the camera.” And then it picks up again, like thirty minutes later, when someone walks by and the flowers are there.”
“Huh. You think those leaves were intentionally put there?” she asks.
“I’m beginning to. I’ve seen them a few times now with this new camera,” I explain.
“Let me see that,” she says, grabbing my phone. “Look, you can set an auto feed daily for your outdoor pet.” She hits a button. “All done. Now stop looking at your phone. You’re on vacation.”
I nudge her. And point to her laptop on the table. She was working on her rough draft earlier.
“Then no more paper for you. Take the next five days off,” I state.
“Fine,” she says as she turns back to the television.
I smile as she curls up, her head on a pillow that’s sitting in my lap.
My arm rests on her side. I’m not sure when we fell asleep, but the last thing I remember is listening to her soft breaths and watching her hand twitch while she dreamed.
The sleep that follows is the most peaceful I’ve had in years.