I rev the engine a few times, being a general asshole, and then I’m peeling out of the gravel driveway and chasing Liam, Sem, and Luke. Liam’s in his own Jeep, and Sem and Luke are in another large truck that they’ve been working on together.
“Why are we going off the road?” Whit asks loudly when I steer us over some bushes. We bump and bounce over some holes in the ground, and he grabs onto the oh-shit bar in front of him so tightly his knuckles turn white.
Mud kicks up against the truck's sides, and some flings onto my jeans as we continue to move away from the house.
“It’s called off-roading, babe. Well, technically…” I say as we bounce over a small hill and splash into a muddy puddle. It flings onto Whit’s clean pants, and he stares at it before turning toward me.
“It’s called mudding,” I add and then rev the engine again, lurching us forward.
Whit curses under his breath, but it's all drowned out by the sound of the truck engines.
* * *
“You did good for your first time,” Liam says, slapping Whit roughly on the shoulder. “Wouldn’t have guessed you were a virgin.”
Whit flicks his hands down toward the ground, and mud slaps onto it.
I chuckle and pull him into me. He scowls at me. He’s been giving me the evil eye all morning.
“Laugh all you want,” he grumbles.
We’re a mess. My entire lower half is covered in mud, but Whit, well, he got the worst of it when I purposefully hauled ass through a mud puddle on his side.
He’s covered in mud. From head to toe.
He looks fucking adorable.
I pluck at his muddy shirt, and my smile widens.
“You look good messy,” I say, swiping at a smear on his face.
He smacks my hand away, then pulls his shirt away from his skin. It makes a sucking sound.
“I am going to kill you in your sleep.”
“Nah, then who would cuddle with you, huh?”
“I have my pick,” he mutters, but I ignore him. I’m sure he does, but all that matters is that I’m the one who is all up on him at night.
And the one he’s wrapping that hand around.
“Let’s go shower,” I say and then tug him toward the back of the house.
“Clothes off!” My aunt shouts. “I will not be cleaning up your muddy mess. Off and put it in the laundry bin.”
Liam, Luke, and Sem begin undressing, and I follow suit, leaving Whit to stand awkwardly in front of us.
“Come on, man,” I tell him, peeling my shirt off. “Clothes off.”
Whit stares at me and then shakes his head. “I—no, I….”
I tilt my head. I’ve never seen Whit at a loss for words before.
“Why not?” I ask when my cousins crash through the door, each fighting who will get a shower first.
“I…please just get me a towel.”
My eyebrows meet, but I don’t question him. He seems almost embarrassed. So, I disappear inside the house and then reappear a moment later with a large beach towel.