“You know, not many people take this trail. I’m surprised you bothered to wear a swimsuit at all when it’s so much nicer to skinny dip.”
“Bella.” Matthew wraps his arm around her. “Why don’t we wait until everyone leaves?”
“It’s not like the guys haven’t seen me naked before. And I’m sure that Sophie here isn’t interested in me like that.” Her eyes shine.
It’s been less than twenty-four hours, and I’m over her. I take a slow breath, and Roman lets me lounge on him. I refuse to kiss him to make a point, even as I hear the rustling of her clothes.
Roman rubs my shoulders with sunscreen. “We should have done this first to make sure you’re not all red at the wedding.”
He focuses on stroking me over with lotion until two splashes echo. Looking over, I see Matthew and Bella swimming. Holden distracts me with a whisper. “She’s not usually like this.”
“I can’t see any of you putting up with that.” I agree.
“She was sweet, a good sub, knew what would get her punished, and it only went down that path when she wanted it.” He assures us, pulling on his pants and shirt.
“Aren’t you hot in those?” I motion to his pants.
“They’re joggers, so they’re not bad.” He shrugs.
I want to sit in his lap and tell him it’s okay to wear shorts. That I’ll put anyone and everyone in their place for saying something about his prosthetic, but I have to stay with Roman.
“Gunner, why so far away? You should try climbing the falls.” Bella advises. “It’s a rush.”
“Good advice for next time.”
“She was so nice showing me around the office. What happened?” I ask Roman.
“I’m sure it’s prewedding stress. Nothing more.” He rubs my hand. “Or maybe a little jealousy that we have you.”
“I shouldn’t have come. It’s just going to cause problems.” I sigh.
Roman kisses my forehead, and Holden takes my hand tightly. I know they want me here. I know it the same way I know I will be sore tomorrow from all this hiking, but that doesn’t mean I want someone interfering with our relationship.
One look at Gunner says he’s frustrated beyond belief. Nick is just chatting with Matthew, but Gunner’s already dealt with a lot.
“Gunner and I talked.” Roman whispers in my ear. “Everything is going to be okay, Bambina. We’ll make it okay. We survived war together. We survived starting a business. We can survive Bella.”
“I should go with him tonight,” I whisper. “To make sure everything’s okay, to talk to him at least.”
Roman shrugs. “All of us are happy to have you, however, you choose.”
“Not jealous?”
Roman shakes his head and nibbles my earlobe. “After last night, absolutely not.”
I giggle and nod.
I drag my dress and shorts on, and Roman pulls his shirt over his delicious, muscular chest. This spot had so much potential, and I’m still uncomfortably wet, thanks to Holden teasing me. But my only option is to wait until we can finish what we started.
Gunner manages to make it to shore and get his underwear on before Bella notices and sighs once he has his shorts on. He buttons up his Hawaiian print shirt and pulls his sunglasses on.
“Don’t worry,” I assure him as I stand up. “You’ll have plenty of time to be naked tonight.”
“Promises.” He chuckles.
“Well, monsters have a way of catching the girl.” I wink.
He grins and yells to Nick. “Let’s go! We gotta say hi to Miles.”
“Send my love!” Bella yells. “Can’t wait to catch up.”
Matthew waves. “We’ll see you guys soon.”
We head back, but this time the trail seems a lot less magical. Bella’s threatening my guys with her rules, comments, and attitude, and I don’t like it. Bride or not, I have my limits. At this rate, she’s going to break through them before she says, “I do.”