Chapter 36
THIRTY-SIX
Devon
After another thirty minutes that ended with my mouth back between her legs, we decided to stagger our entrances downstairs. I slipped back into my room, took a quick shower, and changed before I walked downstairs first.
Voices and laughter carried up to the second floor, and I tried to wipe the obnoxious, very uncharacteristic grin off my face as I stepped into the living room. Everyone was lingering in the kitchen, but my eyes immediately shifted to the large floor-to-ceiling windows to my left that looked out onto the lake.
I was excited for our first lake day in a long time.
“Look who’s finally up,” Josh exclaimed from across the kitchen, where he was pouring orange juice. Everyone else turned to look at me, and I was instantly self-conscious like they could see the secrets.
“Sleep well?” Reed asked from his position at the stovetop. He flipped a pancake and then moved it onto a waiting plate. I crossed the kitchen and opened the cabinet directly above the coffee maker to find a mug.
“Yeah, I slept well. ”
I poured coffee and added brown sugar to the mug when someone chuckled behind me. Turning, I saw Amanda seated at the island, trying desperately to hide her smile behind her own coffee cup. She was failing miserably, and I glanced around at everyone else. Ivy was wearing her usual sweet expression, but Reed, Josh, and James were looking back and forth between each other.
Fuck, they knew. None of them were any good at hiding what they were thinking.
Before I had the chance to say anything, and ask them not to be their usual selves, the stairs creaked, and all our heads shot in that direction.
Muttering a curse under my breath, I clutched my mug so tightly I was surprised it didn’t break. Blakely hopped down the final step and smiled over at us while I was trying to hide the hard-on that was growing behind my swim trunks.
She was barefoot and wearing a little black bikini and a partially sheer black cover-up. Her dark hair was partially pulled back, and her skin was glowing. She was fucking glowing, and it took more than the usual amount of restraint not to go to her and wrap her in my arms.
We’d crossed that invisible line that had always been there between friends and something more. And now that we had, there was no going back. My body, my heart, and my head were all in harmony—she was mine, and I was hers.
“Hey, B-dubs, how’d you sleep?” Reed asked, and the way he asked it broke me from the trance she’d put me in. I could hear the amusement in his voice.
“Really great. What about y’all?”
Josh shrugged and slipped into a barstool next to his wife. It struck me for a moment how weird it was to think of the throuple that way, but I threw them all—anyone who would look at me—a warning glance.
“Not too bad, but I didn’t get much sleep,” he said. He looked between Amanda and Reed, and I relaxed, thinking that he was talking about what they were up all night doing.
“I’m sure you didn’t,” Blakely joked, coming to a similar conclusion. She rounded the kitchen island after eyeing the pancakes Reed was still preparing and stopped next to me. Opening the cabinet with the coffee mugs, she pulled one out and cut her eyes in my direction. A sly, knowing smile slipped across her lips, and I bit the inside of my cheek not to return it.
Unlike her, I was facing everyone else, and I could feel them watching us.
She poured her coffee and added a little bit of cream before taking a long sip and groaning quietly. That sound was too good and reminded me of all the dirty things?—
“Well, it wasn’t the sounds coming from our bedroom that kept us up.”
I looked up to, sure enough, find every single eye in the room on me and Blakely. With her back still turned and the coffee mug near her mouth, Blakely stopped. She glanced back over at me and rolled her lips. Setting the mug on the counter, she asked quietly, “They’re looking at us, aren’t they?”
I took a deep breath and nodded. Slowly, Blakely turned, and we both faced the group. Josh and James looked like they were both going to piss their pants from restraining their laughter, while Reed and Ivy appeared expectant. Amanda was literally bouncing in her seat with her hands clasped excitedly in front of her.
“So, you all know then?” Blakely asked.
It was Reed who cocked his head to the side. “What do we know, Blakely? Please enlighten us.”
Blakely rolled her eyes and spun back around to grab her mug when Amanda let out a throaty moan. “ Oh, Devon. Yes, Devon. Right there.”
My jaw dropped, and Blakely almost lost her grip on her coffee. The rest of them burst out laughing, except Reed, who pointed the spatula at his wife. “Very funny, but if I ever hear those words come out of your mouth again, Cielo…”
“It was a one-time thing,” Amanda agreed. Turning back to us, she wore a sheepish expression. “Sorry, guys. But we all heard it. It was actually hard not to hear.”
“So, you had to confront us about it at breakfast?” I asked, feeling fiercely protective of Blakely and the new thing between us.
James stepped next to Ivy and tossed his arm over her shoulder. “What were we supposed to do? Pretend like it hadn’t happened all day and wait until you both eventually told us? That wasn’t going to happen. We don’t like secrets in this group.”
At that, I couldn’t help but scoff and roll my eyes. “You have all,” I said, motioning to each and every one of them, “kept your share of secrets. So that argument is bullshit.”
“He has a point,” Ivy added, and I appreciated that we at least had one person on our side.
Blakely’s hand landed on my arm and interrupted my silent scowling. I peered down at her to find a small smile tugging at her mouth. “It’s really okay,” she said. “Right?”
The rest of the question was silent but bright in her eyes: is there a reason why they shouldn’t know? And there wasn’t. Whatever it was between us, it wasn’t a one-time thing. I wanted it all with her.
With my free hand, I cupped the side of her neck and ran my thumb along her jaw. I bent down, brushing our lips together in a chaste yet potent kiss. I could hear our friends around us, but thankfully they waited until I pulled back, and Blakely smiled up at me to bombard us.
Actually, it was just Amanda who bounded over and awkwardly threw her arms around both me and Blakely at the same time. My coffee almost drenched us all as I attempted to catch the small blond.
“I’m so happy for you guys! This is the best news ever.” She pulled back and squeezed our shoulders. “I really want to ask you questions, but I’ll let you have a semblance of privacy…for now.”
“You’re too kind,” I muttered under my breath, which earned me a narrow-eyed glare that lacked any heat.
“Well, now that that’s out of the way,” Blakely prompted, trying to change the subject. “What’s the plan for today?”
“Breakfast and then a day on the boat,” Josh said. He added a healthy amount of champagne to his orange juice and reclined back on his barstool.
Blakely ran her hand down the inside of my arm and gave me a sweet smile before she took her coffee and joined Reed at the stovetop. “Need any help?”
Reed took her up on her offer, and we descended into our usual conversation while the two of them made us breakfast. An outsider watching the scene wouldn’t have had any idea that Blakely had been missing for the better part of two years and all of the other shit she—and the rest of us—had been through.
There was a distinct tightness in my chest, and I found myself thinking, not for the first time, that I was so fucking happy she was back.