only thing I can think of to get out of Cade’s sexy force-field—the one that has started muddling my mind—while also shutting Dani up before she says something I’ll most likely regret.
“Thomas! Pasta salad!” I blurt out in desperation.
“Yes, Chef!” Thomas replies. Cade chuckles in my ear and places a soft, full-of-promise kiss on my neck, sending clit-tingling vibrations throughout my body. “Do you need me for anything?” he asks, and a myriad of answers bounce around my head.
My breath quickens and I struggle to hide my reaction, realizing I’ve failed when his hands on my stomach flex and start to roam. “There are many things I need you for, Doctor Hottie, but given that Thomas wasn’t impressed with our kitchen antics, I probably shouldn’t tell you how I’m dying to drop to my knees right now.”
His hands still, and he presses his semi-hard cock into my back. “Damn,” he curses, burying his face in my neck and nipping my skin.
My lips part, and a whispered moan escapes my throat.
“You two perverts are banned from my kitchen!” Thomas announces, wrenching us apart. Cade growls and I snort, turning to see Cade scowling at his best friend. “Aww, loosen up, dude. You can have her later, just not in our kitchen. Go! Shoo! Dani and Zach were heading out to the backyard, and Noah’s car has just pulled up.”
“Right,” Cade replies on a huff, sounding far from happy at the delay in getting him some.
“Jeez. Never thought I’d see you so pent up when you’re getting it on the regular. Abi, are you not giving it up enough?” Thomas asks.
“More like he’s not putting out enough for me,” I reply, and both men’s eyes come to me. “I guess that happens with old age.” I raise both of my brows in an open challenge to Cade.
“Let’s go to my room right now and prove that this old dog still has tricks up his sleeve,” Cade says with a smirk, just as Thomas mutters, “lucky bastard,” under his breath.
With our food eaten and drinks topped up, we all sit in Cade and Thomas’s backyard around the outdoor table, trying to hold off food comas. It’s when the girl posse and the guy posse take their respective sides that Mac nudges my ribs.
“So how are things with Cade?”
I turn my body her way, my widened eyes meeting her curious ones. “They’re fine. We’re just friends.”
“Who sleep together. I know about those kind of friends. I also know when it becomes more than that.”
“That’s not what’s happening.”
She tilts her head and narrows her eyes. “How do you know?”
“I—”
“She doesn’t,” Dani muses across the table.
“I do so!” I say, glaring at her.
“You’re so full of shit I’m surprised you can’t taste it,” my best friend retorts, and my mouth drops open.
“You’ve changed. You’re sounding more and more like me every day. I’m so proud,” I say, wiping an imaginary tear away from my cheek.
“Stop trying to change the subject. You obviously can’t see what we see, and what I’m telling you is, make it real. What have you got to lose?” Dani asks, and it hits me that this could be a premeditated attack.
“What’s a little—okay a lot—of hot sex with a little fake girlfriending on the side?”
“A one-sided relationship where he gets more than you do?” Dani says, deadpan. “I’ve done the secret relationship thing-”
“This isn’t a secret one, this is a fake one.”
“That’s still a secret and comes with its own brand of heartache.”
“Only if there are feelings involved.”
“And are there?” Sam asks, leaning forward in her chair with interest.
“Are there what?” I reply.
“Feelings involved?” Sam presses.
“Nope,” I say, accentuating the P with a pop.
“So what happens when it’s not fake anymore?” Dani asks, making my head jerk. I square her with a ‘don’t go there’ look but that doesn’t stop her. “Well?”
“It won’t. We know what we’ve got and the purpose of it. The benefits are out of this world so I’m not going to complain.”
“Okay then, how about this? What happens when you meet someone who you want something real with?”
Not going to happen because I already want that with Cade, I say in my head. “We’re low-key, casual, free, and easy.”
“I bet he’s easy when he’s got you on tap,” Mia says with a grin.
An undignified snort escapes my lifts. “Maybe it’s me who has him on tap.”
“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” Mac says, holding up her hand up for a fist bump.
“Things are fine as