As I neared the door, I could see them—Megan, Emily, and Laura—sitting in the sand, facing the ocean. They were dressed in capri yoga pants, Laura’s sensible black to match the sports bra she wore, Megan’s a floral pink and yellow that matched her T-shirt, and Emily’s black with cheetah print patterned patches and random cut outs. Her crop top matched. Fashionable, I guessed, but they looked ridiculous, if you asked me.
“Get your head out of the gutter,” Brad said, pulling me from my thoughts, which hadn’t quite entered said gutter, but were definitely nearing it as the women stood, bending straight over, arms to either side. Emily appeared to be leading them.
I laughed, accepting the plastic cup of coffee Brad held out. “What the hell are they doing?”
“Yoga, apparently,” he said, slurping his coffee.
“Don’t they know they’re supposed to be sleeping in?”
He scoffed. “I planned to sleep in until noon. Laura was up at the crack of dawn to go running.”
“Running? Why, is she stressed?” Laura only ran when she was stressed. “Doesn’t she know we’re on vacation?”
“I guess she didn’t get the memo.” He snorted, brows darting up. “Anyway, when she came back, Emily invited her to do yoga, and they’ve been out there ever since.”
“How the hell can anything that looks like that be relaxing? It looks painful.”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care. They can keep it up, far as I’m concerned. I much prefer to see my wife like this than in her sweats at home.”
I didn’t laugh, because he had no idea how lucky he was to get to see her in her sweats, and I so badly wanted to tell him that. Instead, I took another sip of the scalding coffee. It was black when I’d have preferred creamer, but I wasn’t a complainer.
“I think the guys are wanting to play some basketball later. You down?”
I nodded too quickly, then backtracked. “Well, I’ll have to check with Megan before I agree. She may have something planned. We hadn’t discussed it.”
Brad waved my worry off. “Emily’s already talked them into going to the spa for the day. My guess is we won’t see them until dinner. Laura gets in the spa, and you can basically forget doing anything else.”
I nodded, my lips pressed together. “What about Natasha?” She was the only one not participating in their yoga.
“According to Jaren, she’s still snoring.”
I laughed, because of course she was. That was Natasha for you. “Now that’s my kind of vacation. We need to get her to teach our women a thing or two.” I ran a tongue over my teeth in thought, then yawned loudly before taking another sip of my coffee.
At the mention of his name, Jaren and Andy walked out of Andy’s hut together and headed our way.
“Morning,” I said as they grew nearer.
“Morning,” Jaren said.
“Did Brad tell you?” Andy asked. “About the game?”
“Yeah, sounds cool.”
“You’re in?” Andy asked.
“Yep, count me in.”
“Awesome,” Andy said, nodding to Jaren, who blinked his eyes sleepily, obviously not completely awake. I realized then he was wearing a shirt that was obviously a size too big—likely Andy’s.
“Oh, shoot, Jaren, I meant to give you clothes last night. Did you get everything taken care of, or do you still need stuff?” I jutted my thumb in the direction of my open doorway.
“Nah, it’s cool. I think I’ve got everything.” He looked back out at the girls on the beach, apparently wrapping up their session as they noticed us gathered together.
“You wouldn’t think they’d all get along, would you?” Brad said stoically.
“Do you think they do?” Jaren asked.
“Well, I know Natasha doesn’t like Emily,” Andy said, flat-toned.
“Natasha doesn’t like anybody,” Jaren said with a sniff.
“Natasha just doesn’t know her, man. None of us do,” I pointed out. “She seems nice enough.”
“She’s perfect,” Andy agreed. “You’ll see.”
“Enough about that,” Brad said finally, clearing his throat after he downed the last of his coffee and crushed the cup. “I’m going to get changed. Now that we’re all up, it’s time for breakfast and to hit the gym. I’m dying to see what a state-of-the-art gym looks like. Sound like a plan?”
“You said it,” Jaren said. “It’s gotta be better than my garage setup.”
“Yep, I’m in. I’m starving,” I said, my stomach grumbling with agreement.
“What are you boys up to?” Emily asked, approaching the group first. She pulled her hair out of the bun, letting her long, dark locks fall down around her face, the roots coated in sweat.
“Making plans for when you ladies disappear into the spa all day,” Andy told her.
“You mean you don’t want to join us for mani-pedis?” she asked with a grin and wrinkled nose.
“Not if I was held at gunpoint.” He laughed.
“Well, don’t let me hold you up,” she jeered, poking his chest playfully. “I’m dying to get to hang out with the ladies.” She leaned forward to kiss Andy, and when his hands went around her waist, he drew the kiss out, her tongue pushing forward into his mouth. I looked away, scratching the top of my head awkwardly. We were used to watching embarrassing displays of affection from Andy and the women he dated, but Emily had seemed the least receptive to it until that moment.
When the kiss ended, she turned around, her eyes locked with Brad’s, her face flushed red. She touched Brad’s arm gently, but only for a second. His gaze locked on hers, seeming lost in the moment. I don’t think anyone breathed until she spoke again. Her words came out so low, I almost had to lean in to hear them. “See you boys later.”
I watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed then looked away, his neck flaming
