got back together because of her obsession with the pizza.”
“I think Dad ought to put this shit online. He’d go viral in a heartbeat,” Wren suggests.
“I can see the headlines now,” Porter agrees. “Five Couples Find Love Over Pizza.”
“True Love or the Ultimate Cheesy Story?” Drew adds.
“Super fucking cheesy,” Winston gripes, but he still looks at his wife like she’s his everything.
“Speaking of cheesy love stories…anyone have any plans for New Year’s Eve?” Dory asks.
Wren sits forward excitedly. “Shut up. Is that the date?”
“You guys finally settled on one?” Drew says.
“Yep!” Dory beams. “We’ll have the ceremony a few hours before midnight and just party until the ball drops.”
The girls start giggling and talking amongst themselves.
“Looks like you need to step up your game,” Winston says from beside me. “You’re about to be the only one here not hitched.”
“Stop trying to rush the man, Win,” Porter tells him. “When he knows, he’ll know.”
“But we don’t have to tell him that,” Foster adds. “He has the juju. I bet he already knows exactly who his future bride is and he’s just stringing us along for shits and grins.”
I shake my head. “I’m as clueless as you guys are. I think I’m kind of blocked from my own stuff.”
“Makes sense,” Porter says, but Foster disagrees, and the two launch into a debate over it.
“What about Thea?” Winston asks quietly, leaning into me.
“What about her?”
“Any juju?”
I glance over, and she has her head thrown back, laughing at something I missed.
It hits me again, that same sense of ease and calmness I felt last night when we discovered our paths unknowingly crossed years ago.
When she told me she was the girl in the bar, I believed her right away.
Sitting at that bar my first night in town, I knew something about this place felt right. I just could never put my finger on it. When Winston said I could crash on his couch, I didn’t hesitate to say yes, even though I didn’t know him.
Staying felt right.
Just like being with Thea feels right.
Even though I know what we’re doing is all pretend, I can’t help but feel like there are moments when it’s not fake at all, and I don’t just mean during sex.
It’s moments like right now, watching her laugh and enjoy herself, seeing her fit perfectly into our group like she was always meant to be part of it.
And I want more.
More of this. Of our moments alone together.
Of her.
She peeks over at me, tilting her head. “What? Do I have something on my face?”
I don’t think. I just wrap my hand around her head and bring her lips to mine.
I kiss her hard, unapologetically.
And I don’t let up, not even when my friends start whistling and hollering at us to get a room.
I can taste whiskey on her lips, loving how the spice mixes with the vanilla she always tastes like. I can taste the desire, the visceral need I’m feeling too.
She whimpers when I pull away, breathing hard.
“What…” She draws in a deep breath. “What was that for?”
“Just because.”
“Because you’re trying to make me all hot and horny in front of your friends?”
“Oh, are there people here?”
“Sully…”
“Let’s get out of here.”
“Yes,” she says, no hesitation.
I rise to my feet, reaching for her hand and pulling her up along with me.
I drop our plates onto the loveseat, leading her around the fire pit without a word to anyone.
“Well, that answers my question. Leaving so soon?” Winston calls after us with a mocking tone.
“Damn, that tequila’s working fast. Wren, you ready to go yet? Ouch! Fucking hell, Winston! I didn’t even say anything this time.”
“The implication was there, Foster,” he seethes.
I’m almost sad we’re leaving because Foster is definitely getting his ass beat tonight.
Almost.
I lead us around the corner.
“What question did Winston ask? Did he—”
I press her against the side of the house, silencing her questions. Sliding my body against hers, I let her feel just how serious I am about leaving.
“Oh hell,” she mutters before smashing her lips against mine.
Our mouths fuse together, and I slip my hands under her ass, bunching her skirt and hauling her up. She wraps her legs around my waist and moans as my cock rubs the spot she needs me most.
Her heat spreads through me, and it’s painfully obvious she is in fact not wearing any underwear.
I grunt, pulling my mouth from hers. “Jesus, Thea. Have you been running around with nothing on underneath this skirt all night?”
She laughs softly. “Three hours—it took you nearly