horror. I punch Wade in the shoulder and he lets out a grunt on annoyance.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“We didn’t have sex last night!”
He slowly sits up, rubbing his eyes. “I know. You were already asleep when I came back in.”
“You should have woken me…”
“B, we’ve been running on about two hours of sleep a night for the past three weeks now. I wasn’t going to wake you just so I could stick my dick in you.”
I grip his chin and lean forward to pin him with a stern look. “For future reference, that is always a good reason to wake me.”
17
Jamie
* * *
“Okay, so…I think the first thing we need to do is set a date,” I say, curling up on the settee next to Shay, iPad in hand. “Once we do that everything else will just fall into place.”
Shay nods. “I suppose you’ll want to coordinate around Will? So we’re not clashing over dates and whatever…”
I shrug. “You’re the one who’s all obsessed with thunder-stealing. Obviously we don’t want the same day as them but I couldn’t care less if it’s in the same month or whatever.” I unlock my tablet and open the calendar app. “What we really need to work around are your brothers’ weddings. Connor and Josh want spring next year,” I say, scanning through the calendar. “Do you know when Aidan and Ben want?”
“I think they’re aiming for September,” Shay says. “They’re talking about going to Oktoberfest for their honeymoon.”
My brows shoot up. “How…romantic.”
Shay grins at me. “Don’t worry, red. I’ve got something much better thought out for us.”
“Oh, yeah?” I rise to my knees and shuffle over so I can straddle his waist, my arms coming up to link around his neck. “What are you thinking?”
Shay’s hands slip down my back, resting on my arse and giving a firm squeeze. His eyes flare as he starts describing what sounds like the sexiest holiday imaginable. “I was thinking somewhere tropical, like the Caribbean, or Fiji…something like that. With a little bungalow…and a private beach. There’ll be incredible food, and drink, and no one to disturb us…and maybe a nice lagoon we can swim in…”
“Mmm…I love a good lagoon,” I purr, brushing my lips along his jaw and rolling my hips to create some incredible friction.
Before we can get to any of the good stuff, though, my phone starts blaring.
“Bloody hell,” I grumble, sliding off Shay’s lap and stalking toward the kitchen counter to grab my phone. I have every intention of just switching it off, but then I see it’s my mum calling, and I know I have to answer. She hardly ever calls out of the blue so I know this must be important.
“Hi, Mum, what’s up?”
“Oh, Jamie…” My gut plummets at the shakiness in her voice. Something is seriously wrong. “It’s…it’s Granddad.”
“What do you mean? What’s happened?”
Obviously sensing something’s wrong, Shay rises from the sofa and strides across the room, wrapping me in his strong arms. I immediately sink into his hold, drawing comfort from his presence.
“He’s had a heart attack,” Mum says. “He’s alright. Mostly. He’s in hospital now and they want to operate…apparently there’s a very high chance of recovery once he’s had the operation.”
“Well, that’s great,” I say, attempting to put on a positive front. “If they’re confident…”
“I’m just so scared, Jamie,” Mum admits, her voice catching.
“I know, Mum. But these doctors are experts. They know what they’re doing,” I assure her.
I can visualize her nodding her acceptance of my point. “You’re right.”
“Shay and I are going to jump on a flight to London,” I tell her. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
I spoke without thinking, without even checking to see if Shay is okay with this plan. I panic for the briefest of moments, but when I catch his eye all I see is support. He nods and gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Of course,” he murmurs. Stepping away from me, he tugs his phone out of his pocket and starts scrolling through it.
“Jamie, you don’t have to—”
“Shay’s looking up flights now,” I say, cutting her off.
“This one leaves in about four hours,” Shay says, holding up his phone. “JFK to Heathrow direct.”
I nod. “Book it.” I do a quick calculation of the flight time and time difference before telling my mom, “Okay, we should be there early tomorrow morning your time.”
“Okay, love. I’ll see you then.”
“Keep me updated about the operation,” I tell her. “Use WhatsApp so I can check it during the flight.”
She