Chapter 19 #2
Riot nuzzles into my neck and says something that makes my elbow jab into his ribs. I feel his smirk against my skin.
I glance at Jasper. He’s watching us. Not saying anything. Just watching. The heat in his eyes is different now. He’s trying not to unravel in front of everyone. Like he’s weighing how much longer he’s going to pretend to play the calm game.
Ash cannonballs again. Water explodes everywhere.
Macee shrieks. “YOU DICK!”
And somehow, despite the chaos, the heat crawling up my neck, and the two boys practically caging me in with their attention, I feel lighter.
I glance out toward the pool again, where Ash is now doing backflips off the diving board while Macee fake-applauds from her throne-like lounge chair. Everyone looks so carefree, like this is just another summer day. As if nothing is complicated, or on the verge of unraveling.
I sigh and say it before I can stop myself. “I wish I’d brought a swimsuit.”
Jasper’s head tilts from where he’s still sitting, arms crossed over his chest. “I had a few brought here for you.”
I blink. “You did?”
He shrugs, that barely there smirk tugging at the edge of his mouth. “Wasn’t sure which you’d like, so I told the stylist to send a variety. They’re in your closet.”
My heart does that annoying skip thing again. I try not to show it, but I’m pretty sure Jasper sees it, anyway.
Macee suddenly appears beside me like the chaotic fairy godmother she is. “Well, come on, slut muffin,” she says, looping her arm through mine. “Let’s go pick something slutty.”
Jasper laughs quietly under his breath, and I can feel his eyes trailing me as Macee drags me back toward my room.
Once the door shuts behind us, Macee spins and flops onto the bed like she owns the place.
“So,” she says, propping her chin in her hand, “are we gonna talk about the fact that you walked out this morning with bedhead and sex glow while two grown men stared at you like you hung the goddamn moon?”
I pause mid-rummage through the closet. “I—it’s not like that.”
“Oh, babe,” Macee purrs as she gets up and looks in the drawer, then pulls her hand out holding up a black bikini with silver rings on the hips. “It’s exactly like that.”
I groan and fall back onto the bed. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I shouldn’t want both of them. What if somebody gets hurt?”
She moves to sit down next to me. “They’re grown men. They know what they’re getting into… and if they don’t,” she says, putting her hand over her heart, “then may they fight to the death.”
I smack her arm. “That doesn’t help!”
She laughs and lies back. “It wasn’t supposed to.”
We lie there for a moment, silence hanging between us, until she nudges my shoulder.
“Pick a suit. You’ve got two guys ready to fight over you out there like Edward and Jacob. I expect FMC energy.”
JASPER
Riot’s leaning against the back patio railing, a beer dangling from his fingers, but his eyes are locked on the glass doors like he’s expecting her to walk through them any second.
I’m not proud of it—but I’m doing the same damn thing.
“She’s changing,” I say flatly, sitting down at the table beside Silas and cracking open a water bottle.
Riot doesn’t even look away. “Yeah, I figured.”
“Figured you’d be the one dragging her up there,” Ash mutters from where he’s toweling off his hair, always two seconds from being kicked in the face by Silas for running his mouth.
“Didn’t want to interrupt the best friend reunion,” Riot says, finally dragging his gaze away to look at me. His smirk’s casual, but there’s something hard in his eyes underneath.
We stare each other down for a beat too long.
Jace breaks the tension by snorting through a donut. “God, just make out already. Your tension is making my bacon soggy.”
Silas groans.
Riot rolls his eyes and pushes off the railing just as the door opens.
SAWYER
The second I step out onto the patio, five heads swivel in my direction like I just dropped out of the sky.
The heat of their stares hits me harder than the summer sun.
The bikini Jasper had brought for me?
It’s black. The triangle top dips low, hugging my chest in soft matte fabric, held together with delicate silver chains that glint every time I move.
The bottoms ride high on my hips, the sides nothing but those same dainty chains that shimmer against my skin with every step.
Cheeky cut in the back. Practically criminal in the front.
I feel naked. I feel powerful. I feel hot.
Riot’s beer is halfway to his lips, but he never drinks it. His eyes rake down my body so slowly it burns, and the look he gives me after? Like he’d kneel and pray to the devil if it meant getting a taste.
Jasper shifts in his seat, tongue sliding across his bottom lip like he’s trying not to say what he’s thinking. Or trying really hard not to get up and claim me right here.
Ash stands up and lets out a long, low whistle. “Jesus Christ, Sawyer.”
Jace throws a pool noodle at him. “Shut up and move, you’re blocking the view.”
Macee struts out behind me in her own bikini and oversized sunglasses. “Told you that you were about to cause problems.”
Riot’s already walking toward me. “You’re fucking sin, you know that?”
Before I can answer, Jasper appears on my other side.
“Get in the water,” he says, voice low. “Before I decide, the patio’s a good place to bend you over.”
Macee fans herself dramatically. “Yup. Definitely a throuple now.”
I smirk and toss my towel onto a chair, every step I take toward the pool is precise.
“I’m going in before you both spontaneously combust,” I mutter, glancing between Riot and Jasper.
Riot’s already peeling off his shirt, muttering something under his breath about needing to cool off before he commits a felony. Jasper doesn’t move—but his eyes don’t leave me, even as I dive in, the cold water stealing the air from my lungs.
When I surface, Macee’s grinning like she’s got front-row seats to a scandal.
“You’re definitely not allowed to complain about being unwanted anymore,” she calls, raising her glass. “You’ve got two guys ready to drown each other for a spot at your side.”
Ash leans over the edge of the pool. “Yeah, but who’s gonna win?”
Jace shrugs. “My money’s on Sawyer.”
I grin, flipping my hair back dramatically. “As it should be.”
I’m floating near the edge, letting the sun soak into my skin when arms wrap around my waist from behind.
I gasp, but I already know the feel of him—Riot, tattooed torso slick against my back, his breath warm at my ear.
He’s grinning; I can feel it without even seeing his face as he pulls me down into his lap.
My head tips back onto his shoulder, legs tangling with his under the water.
The heat of his body, the flex of his thighs, the hard line of his cock pressing against my ass—it’s right there, impossible to ignore.
“Miss me?” Riot murmurs, voice low and teasing, soaked in mischief.
I laugh. “I didn’t realize you left.”
He shifts against me, not subtly at all. I can feel him pressing against me beneath the water, thick and hot, making my pulse race.
“Oh,” I breathe, and I can’t stop the flush that climbs up my chest.
Ash catches the look on my face from across the pool and groans, splashing water. “Bro, are you seriously pitching a tent in the shallow end?”
Riot doesn’t even try to play it off; he just grins wider. “Not my fault she looks like that in that fucking swimsuit.”
Jace howls, laughing. “Man’s out here living the dream.”
Macee raises her drink while eyeing Jasper. “He’s about two seconds from living with a limp.”
Jasper stands abruptly. Silent. He looks like a predator catching a scent. The air around the pool changes. His jaw ticks, hands clenched at his sides, the shirt sticking to his chest from the heat, muscles flexed and ready. His eyes? Locked on Riot, but the heat, the claim—it’s all for me.
Silas mutters, “Shit. Here we go.” And starts reaching for his book.
“Everybody back inside,” Jasper says, voice low and lethal. “Except Sawyer and Riot.”
Jace whistles. “Damn, I wanted to see them fight.”
Macee smirks and shakes her head, getting up slow. “I don’t think this isn’t about to be a fight,” she says, slinging her towel over her shoulder and giving me a wink on her way out.
RIOT
For a second, I thought I heard him wrong.
Except for Sawyer and Riot.
I glance at her, water beading down her chest, cheeks flushed from the sun and all the teasing. Her thighs are still draped over mine where she’s straddling me under the water, her back resting against my front like she was made to fit there.
Then I look up at Jasper. He’s standing at the edge of the pool, broad and unmovable, eyes like an inferno. His jaw is so tight, I swear I hear it crack. He’s not yelling. Not moving. That’s how I know he’s close to losing it.
Ash’s voice echoes from the house. “Oh shit.”
But I don’t break eye contact.
Sawyer shifts in my lap, clinging tighter. I give her thighs a squeeze, just enough to say, ‘I’m not going anywhere’.
Jasper’s eyes flick to my hands on her body, his chest rising, every muscle straining not to jump in and rip me away.
Sawyer glances between us, pulse fluttering in her throat, and I think she might bolt.
But I don’t let her.
I tighten my grip around her waist. Not backing down. Not now.
She’s trembling, breath coming in little pants, her eyes darting—caught between us.
Jasper steps forward, and I can practically feel him itching to fight me. But not with fists. No—he wants to win her in the only way that counts.
She shifts on my lap, her bare legs trembling.
“You want her to get out, Reign?” I say, loud enough for him to hear. “Come in here and take her.”
His eyes snap to mine like daggers.
I kiss her shoulder slowly, to make a point. “’Cause she’s warm, wet, and not going anywhere.”
Sawyer sucks in a breath like she might explode.
So might I.