his head. “I hate it when you’re right,” he grumbled. Sacha was right. They’d all interacted countless times with Emmett, and none of them saw or heard anything that would have set off alarm bells.
“You good?” Joker asked as he stood.
“Yep.” Jack waved him off. “Go kick some ass.”
“You got it.” Joker patted his cheek before jogging off back to the others.
“You know,” Colton said with a hum, “behind the messy hair, never-ending parade of T-shirts and swear words, is quite an intelligent individual.”
“Oh, Sacha is terrifyingly smart. He just hides it well.”
“Why hide it at all?”
“The places he grew up in, playing dumb became a survival skill.”
“That’s terrible.”
Jack shrugged. He wasn’t going to get into their past. Colton knew enough about Sacha not to question, and Jack appreciated it, especially since it wasn’t his story to tell.
“I swear it’s got to be like a million degrees today,” Joshua said as he walked into the shade of the huge tent. He moved his sunglasses onto his head as he smiled brightly at them. “Hey, guys. Thanks for inviting me.”
“So glad you could join us,” Colton said. “There’s water, soda, and beer in the coolers, and enough food and snacks to feed an army.”
“Or Ace,” Jack teased.
“Or Ace,” Colton agreed with a chuckle.
With August came sweltering heat and humidity that not even the ocean breeze could tame, but the day was gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky, so Colton and Ace invited everyone over for a day at the beach and evening barbecue. Jack and Sacha had set up the huge tent on the private beach behind the house before his best friend had been summoned by Chip and Duchess. Barky opinions were made, and ball-throwing was to commence immediately. Ace and Jack had taken over the entertaining of the pups so Joker could play frisbee with the guys, but since Ace had bested the devil in a banjo duel or something, the guy never seemed to tire, much like their furry companions. Jack, on the other hand, needed a break.
“The water looks amazing,” Joshua said with a little sigh.
Red and Laz had headed straight for the ocean and were currently being all ridiculously romantic and cute.
“Go for a swim if you want.” Colton sat up, grabbed one of the dozens of sunscreen bottles, and tossed it at Joshua, who caught it. “I think I’m going to go for a dip as well.”
“I hope you’re all wearing the appropriate sunscreen,” a gruff voice grumbled, and Jack grinned up at Frank just as Ace and Lucky came running, whooping and making catcalls.
“Nice legs, Ramirez.” Ace held his thumbs up, and Frank flipped him off.
“Holy shit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you not in a suit,” Lucky teased. “Look at you. I didn’t know you had clothes that weren’t black.”
Frank flipped them both off, and they cackled before they turned to Jack.
“We’re going to swim to the sandbar,” Ace said, smacking Jack’s arm. “You joining us, old man?”
“Fuck off.” Jack spotted Fitz heading his way. “We’ll be there in a minute. Go terrorize Red.”
“Um, no. Red must be protected at all costs,” Ace replied with a scoff.
“Why?” Frank asked, confused.
Jack shook his head in amusement. “Because Red’s cooking barbecue tonight.”
Lucky and Ace nodded in unison; then Ace grabbed Colton and picked him up, ignoring his fiancé’s curses.
“Anston Sharpe, don’t you dare!”
Jack cringed. Ooh, was Colton new at this? A surefire way to get Ace to do something was to demand he not do the thing. With a big grin, Ace threw Colton over his shoulder and headed for the water.
“He is ridiculous,” Lucky said, then let out a yelp as he was swung over Mason’s shoulder. It was followed my much Spanish cursing before Mason smacked Lucky’s ass on the way to the water. Lucky let out a loud laugh and smacked Mason’s ass in return.
“Hey, fellas.” Fitz grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler, his gaze going from a very quiet Joshua, whose cheeks were red—and not from the heat—to Frank, who shifted awkwardly. Jack hid his smile. What was it with these two? Fitz unscrewed the cap to his water and swallowed down several gulps before he grabbed a bottle of sunscreen and threw it at Frank. “Come on, Frank. Time to go swimming.”
“Um. Yeah. Sure.” Frank stood there for a second, then seemed to snap himself out of it. He unbuttoned his shorts, and Joshua’s blue-green eyes went so big, Jack feared they were about to pop