said, “No fucking way.”
Evie rolled her eyes. “Y’all are ridiculous.”
“Just protecting our girls. Wish me luck, Eves.” Baz rubbed his hands together and said, “Your woman’s going down, Justin.”
“Only if I’m lucky,” Justin said with a smirk. “Either way, she’s going to slay your ass in this competition, bro.”
“We’ll see about that.” Baz set his eyes on Evie and said, “Where’s my luck, darlin’?”
“I’m rooting for Chloe,” Evie said.
Baz walked away, flashing his puppy-dog eyes over his shoulder.
Evie hollered, “That doesn’t work on me!”
Baz turned around and lifted his shirt, flexing his abs with an arrogant grin.
Evie scoffed. “In your dreams!”
“Way to break a dude’s heart,” Justin teased.
“Please…those eyes do not do for me what they do for other women,” Evie said flatly.
“Baz reeled you in as his best friend using those puppy-dog eyes,” Gunner reminded her.
Evie crouched by Sampson and loved him up as she said, “Biggest mistake of my life. That man is nothing but trouble, right, Sampson?” Sampson licked her face. “I should definitely stick to dogs.”
LATER THAT EVENING at the Salty Hog, Chloe licked hot fudge from her dessert spoon, hoping Justin had caught her seductive intent—and Drake and Serena hadn’t. She and Justin had been riding high after their fantastic afternoon, and though they’d gotten frisky in the shower before dinner, it had barely dimmed their desire. They’d been taunting each other throughout dinner, and Chloe was enjoying every second of it. Justin’s hand was resting on her thigh. Her pulse quickened as his fingertips found their way to the hot spot between her legs. She stole a glance across the table at Serena and Drake, but they were busy making googly eyes at each other.
Chloe tried to concentrate on finishing her story about the day’s events. “I beat Baz by three applications, but you know, it was all in good”—Justin applied pressure between her legs, and her thoughts stumbled—“um…”
“Fun?” Justin said coyly.
“Very” came out before Chloe could stop it. Shootshootshoot! She squeezed her legs together and quickly added, “I’m thrilled to have found potential homes for so many animals.”
Serena laughed and said, “It is thrilling, isn’t it?”
Gulp! Had Serena known what Justin was doing the whole time? Chloe had never had that type of camaraderie with Serena, and she felt her cheeks heating. Thankfully, before she could stumble any further, Justin removed his hand from between her legs and put his arm around her.
He kissed her temple and said, “Everything is thrilling with Chloe.”
“It’s that Mallery blood.” Drake looked hungrily at Serena and said, “They’re thrilling, determined, fiery.”
“Damn right,” Serena said.
Justin flagged down the waitress and said something to her that Chloe couldn’t hear. After she walked away, he said, “I think Baz learned his lesson about going head-to-head with Chloe. My girl doesn’t give up.”
“Like someone else I know, Mr. Year and a Half.” Chloe pressed her lips to his, thanking her lucky stars he’d never given up on them.
“I’d have waited even longer.” He slid a hand to the nape of her neck and kissed her.
“I think we’d better get our check before you two light the table on fire,” Serena teased.
“The check is already taken care of,” Justin said, rising to his feet and bringing Chloe up beside him. He rolled his shoulders back, looking hot in his leather vest.
Chloe knew exactly when that vest with the Dark Knights’ patches had gone from being a little scary to something she loved seeing him in. It was that night on the beach when he’d told her the truth of who they were and what they’d done for him. Now she was proud to be a part of that world with him.
Drake reached for Serena’s hand and said, “Dude, we were going to treat tonight.”
“Guess you’ll have to catch it next time,” Justin said as they made their way toward the stairs.
Next time. Chloe loved the sound of that.
Justin kept his arm around her as they headed upstairs. He lowered his voice and said, “Are you doing okay? Do you have any bad feelings about being here?”
“I’m better than okay, but thank you for worrying,” she said, grateful he remembered that she hadn’t wanted Serena to know about what had happened in the parking lot all those years ago. “Did I tell you that I’ve never gone on a double date with Serena before?”
He flashed a wolfish grin. “You mean I popped your sister-double-date cherry?” He held her close as they stepped into the loud, crowded bar.
“They have a band and dancing!” Serena