A note on the fridge said Jake was crashed in the other room, Archie would probably be late, but he was out with his grandfather for dinner and business. Coop had gone home, but promised he was just around the corner if we wanted company.
Ian snorted at the note. “Told you.”
“Except,” I pointed out, “he removed himself from temptation.” It was the only reason he would have gone back to his mom’s apartment. He really did respect the boundaries Ian had, we all did. And I liked my time with each of them individually as much as I did together. I had the best of both worlds, and I planned to savor every second of it.
“True.” Ian brushed a kiss to the curve of my ear, and a shiver went through me. “Get some water? You hungry?”
“Not right now,” I murmured. “But I could probably go for ice cream later…” I glanced at him over my shoulder. There really was only one thing I wanted at the moment, and I was looking at him.
His eyes darkened, and another shiver went through me. I might have been asking him to let me spoil him tonight, but that expression promised so much more. “Get a couple bottles of water then, Angel. Then back to the bedroom.”
“Yes, sir,” I whispered, and he gave me a knowing look before he turned away and headed out of the kitchen. A little shiver went through me in his absence. I half expected the cats to greet me, but they’d probably all crawled in with Jake, which meant Ian and I had my room to ourselves. I paused in the bathroom long enough to use it and brush my teeth before I headed into the bedroom.
Ian turned around when I walked in, and I forgot how to breathe for a moment. He’d stripped all the way down to a pair of boxers only, and he wore the most amused smile.
“What?” I asked as I leaned against the door and closed it. I didn’t want to take my eyes off him. Sometimes, I had to remind myself that these guys were mine. They were all beautiful. Ian had broad shoulders, cut muscles, and he was leaner than Jake in some ways, but it didn’t detract in the slightest. I loved the way he moved and looked.
He already had the first signs of his summer tan coming in. We needed to spend more time in the pool. Not that I was opposed to that idea at all. Summers in the pool had always been a part of our friendship.
Except for last summer.
Last summer, I’d been here and they’d been off…
“Hey.” Ian’s voice yanked me right back to the present. His soft smile had vanished as he narrowed the distance. The warmth rolling off him chased away the odd chill. “What happened?”
“I’m being…weird.” I made a face and would have looked away, but he caught my chin and tugged my gaze up to his.
“About what?”
“We were talking about leaving and it’s hitting me, and I was thinking how beautiful you are.” My face flamed. You’d think I wouldn’t be remotely embarrassed about that kind of honesty, but getting to tell them I loved their bodies was still kind of new for me. He stroked the line of my jaw with his thumb, waiting. “I was thinking I loved how golden your tan is and that we needed to swim more because summers and swimming go hand in hand. Or it always had except for last year.”
“And you got sad,” he whispered. “Because you started thinking about what we missed.”
I let out a little sigh, and his whole demeanor gentled. “I hate that we lost those few months and it was partially my fault.”
“And ours,” he reminded me. “We were all to blame, but we’re all together now and there won’t be another missed summer like that. Not this one. Not the one after it. Or the one after that.”
“I like your enthusiasm.”
“It’s called commitment, Angel,” he said, the words feathering over my lips as he leaned in close. “I’m committed to you. To us. To all of us.”
Each word sent shivers racing up my spine, and my thighs clenched a split second before his mouth claimed mine. I leaned into the kiss, opening to the sweep of his tongue as he dragged me forward. It went from just the connection of his fingers and our mouths, to his arms around me. The water bottles hit the floor, forgotten as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
The heat from his skin seared me through my shirt. The ache the memory of the past summer opened up in me eased with every nip of his teeth and stroke of his tongue. When he lifted me off my feet, I just clung to him. Even expecting it, I wasn’t ready to let go when he set me by the bed. Then he pulled back long enough to tug my shirt up and off. The bra went right with it.
The air conditioning kicked on, and the first brush of the cool air against my nipples tightened them even further. He traced his fingers down my sides to my jeans. He kissed each breast as I settled my hands in his hair, and then he was peeling my jeans down. The kiss to my navel had me shifting my feet, but he slapped my hip lightly and I locked my feet, lifting them only when the jeans reached my ankles. The shoes and socks came off with a tug to each so he could peel the jeans the rest of the way off.
My panties followed. I only half remembered I still had them on.
“I was supposed to be taking care of you,” I protested when he traced his thumbs along my calves. The warmth of his hands as he switched to his palms along my skin had another series of shudders
