He stepped forward and crowded me. “So you just thought you would take the choice away from me by avoiding me?” He growled.
I flinched. Was he mad at me? It seemed like he was mad at me. “No, I—”
“Because let me make it perfectly clear. I don’t like being ignored, Kate. Me walking in on you and Reid did nothing to cool my feelings for you. And you would know that if you had answered the door when I knocked the last couple of days.” He was full-on scowling now.
Guilt panged through my system. I didn’t want to upset him, but I just needed to breathe for a minute. I guessed I could see where he was coming from. If someone had avoided me like the plague after the encounter we had, I was sure that would hurt.
I stared at my hands like they held the secret to life itself. “I’m sorry, Heath, I really didn’t mean to hurt you. You and Reid are just so intense, I didn’t know how to deal with everything I was feeling. It won’t happen again, I promise.”
His face softened. He stepped forward and grabbed my chin, tilting it up and forcing me to meet his eyes. “You’re forgiven, sweetheart,” he said with that drop-dead smile, showcasing those dimples that made my knees weak. “And you can pick me up tomorrow for our date.”
I choked on a laugh at his sudden turn in mood. Was it really that easy? In the past, whenever I had pissed off Tom, he would bull up for days, laying on the guilt trips so thick that I was drowning in them. “You still want to go out with me?” I asked.
He looked at me like I was crazy. “Of course, I do. But don’t think you are out of the doghouse just yet. I expect flowers and don’t even think I put out on the first date. I’m not that type of girl.” He teased with a playful grin.
I laughed out loud, tears coming to my eyes. “All right, I will try to remember that.” I grinned up at him.
Still giving me that hundred-watt smile, he pulled me in for a kiss. His hand moved to my hair, giving it a light tug that had me leaning in for more. Then he pulled me back long enough to look at me with serious eyes. “Don’t ever think that you can’t talk to me about how you’re feeling,” he said before leaning in to take my lips again.
Before the kiss could get too deep, Reid came waltzing back up to us with his swim trunks slung low on his hips and a cutoff shirt showing that sexy tattoo winding up his arm and disappearing beneath the fabric. He threw Heath his trunks and grabbed me away from him. Pulling me to his side, we all stepped into the elevator.
As I stood between the boys, Heath pushed the lobby button and we started our descent. I looked up at Reid, and he gave me that panty-dropping smile. When I glanced at Heath, he winked at me. I swallowed the lump in my throat and focused on the lights on the panel. I was in so much trouble.
****
“You cannot be serious,” I said to Heath, humor in my voice. I had been smiling and laughing so much that my cheeks were starting to ache. This was probably one of the best days I’d had in years.
We had left the apartment complex in Reid’s truck. They convinced me that it would be silly to take two different vehicles if we were all going to the same place.
They’d placed me in the middle, and I tried to keep my hands in my lap as we started the forty-five-minute drive from the mainland to Pensacola Beach. I feared it would be one of those long drives made awkward by the silence in the cab. But to my surprise, it was pleasant.
Heath grabbed my hand five minutes in, raking his thumb across mine in a soothing motion. I dumbly looked at our hands for long moments. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to have a man hold my hand. There was something about the pure innocence of it that made butterflies take flight in my belly.
Reid spent the drive pointing out places of interest to me as he drove with confident precision, I relaxed more with each mile that passed. Every now and again, when we hit a bump, I would feel Reid’s thigh rub against mine. By the smirk on his face, I would’ve bet he was trying to hit every pothole he could.
When we got to the beach, the boys found us a nice spot with a few loungers and a big blue umbrella. I contemplated keeping my overalls on, worrying about what they would think of my body. Even though Reid had expressed how much he liked the way I looked, I was still self-conscious.
I watched as they stripped their shirts off, revealing two sets of lickable abs and impressive pecs. I almost drooled as my eyes traced their happy trails before they disappeared under those low-slung trunks. By the time I stopped ogling them, they were looking at me expectantly, smirks on their faces.
I turned away from them and took a deep breath. With shaking hands, I stripped out of my cutoffs, revealing my simple black tankini. I placed my clothes in the lounger before facing the boys again.
I always covered as much as possible, but there was only so much a bathing suit could keep contained. It was like a second skin and probably showed an indecent amount of my ass. When I looked up, both men were staring at me. The heat in their gazes was enough to make me want to cover back up.
We spent all morning and most of the afternoon playing in the ocean with each other and lazing about. It felt particularly nice when Heath took me out until the water was just about to my breasts and held me. He had taken his time, kissing me softly, nipping at my bottom lip every so often. I was in such a daze when he came up for air that I hadn’t even felt Reid come up behind me.
He grabbed my hips below the water, and with a deep rumble, pressed against my ear as he asked if I was getting hungry. I was ravenous, but not for food. It was like I had no control over my body as I leaned back into his embrace. I managed to nod. Heath grinned and vouched that he would go get us all burgers from a nearby food truck.
As Heath waded through the water, I started to follow him until Reid grabbed my wrist and spun me around to make me face him. I let out a shocked breath before I looked back at Heath to see him still moving forward, paying us no mind.
I felt slightly uneasy when Reid turned my face up to his. “Have I told you how sexy you look in this?” he asked as he ran his finger between my top strap and the swell of my breast.
Just like that, I melted under his touch. Unable to form any words. I shook my head. He grinned and said, “Well, let me make it up to you.” He knelt down, taking my mouth in a rough show of dominance. Where Heath was soft and loving, Reid was firm and demanding. It was an intoxicating combo.
I didn’t know how long it was until he broke the kiss, grabbed my hand, and led me back to the beach. It should have felt wrong kissing two different guys within minutes of one another, shouldn’t it? Having still not figured out what this was with us three, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The boys told me story upon story of them growing up. From some of the tales they told, I felt bad for their mothers. They had been mischievous, doing all sorts of dangerous acts that would have put gray hair on any adult that was responsible for keeping them alive.
I found myself laughing so much that my throat was a little raw. I didn’t think I’d ever felt that carefree or alive. Watching them laugh and poke fun at each other made me see how special their bond was. They might have just been friends, but they were brothers at heart.