CC washed her hands and came over to give her a hug, Hailey did the same. Bentley came into the kitchen to grab one of the beers I was still holding and then went to finish his game. I walked over and put the beer in the fridge, winked at CC who was watching me out of the corner of her eye and then I walked out.

When I walked past Bentley I kicked his foot, “Thanks for telling me she was coming, I could have warned CC.”

“Shit, sorry didn’t think of that.” Bentley grabbed the controller and un-paused the game. I sat on the couch and watched him get his avatar’s ass beat until the girls called us for dinner.

After we’d eaten, Zeke asked if we wanted to play a game since it was too f**king cold to leave and I really didn’t feel like going anywhere anyway.

“Alright, Nik get the beer you brought over. Kenz find a couple of quarters. Mase man, grab a bunch of shot glasses.” Zeke gave the instructions to them.

Nikki and Mason went in the kitchen and CC walked over to me. I was leaning on the back of the couch, ankles crossed; CC stepped between my legs and looked at me with that sexy look of hers. I grabbed her h*ps and kissed her. She didn’t put her arms around me like she normally does, but she went for my pockets. She dug around looking for my change that I normally always had but when she went to take her hands out, her right hand started roaming. Shit, I was gonna have a hard on for sure if she didn’t knock that shit off.

“Knock it the f**k off you two.” Mason seethed. CC laughed against my mouth before kissing me once more and pulling her hands out with the coins she was going to need. She grabbed a few quarters, winked and shoved her hand back in my pockets, putting the money she didn’t need back. I shook my head a little and laughed, when she walked away I quickly turned and adjusted myself, which really did nothing, because when I turned around she was bent over the table, ass in plain sight. I slightly groaned and adjusted myself one last time before quickly finding a seat.

Zeke lined four shot glasses in a row, a little less than halfway in on the kitchen table. “Alright we’re playing baseball.” He turned to eye everyone there. “Ok it’s going to be uneven but whatever, Mase you’re the ball guy, you can jump ships.” Zeke laughed to himself. “You’re probably going to be drunk before the rest of us so maybe Hunter will switch on and off for you.” I nodded. “So the teams will be Kenz, Hunter, Hailey and Mase versus Bentley, Nikki and me. Since we live here, you guys,” Zeke looked at me, “will be the visiting team. Each player on the visiting team will try shooting the quarter in the glasses. If you make a shot in the first glass that’s first base, the second is a double, the third is a triple and the forth is a home run. Each player gets three tries, if they miss; its three strikes and you’re out. When three players are out, then the other team is up to bat. If a player makes the quarter into a shot glass, they have to drink the rest of the shots behind the one they made. For example, if you hit a double, you have to drink the last two shots. If they get an out, they have to drink all for 4 shots. And just to make sure we all get a little trashed tonight, the other team must take a shot for each run scored.”

Damn, we were going to get f**ked up tonight.

CC and Hailey were smirking at Bentley and Zeke because they knew they were on the better team. Nikki looked scared to death. Bentley walked over to the kitchen and grabbed her a bottle of water, she smiled and seemed to bounce back a little.

After the first round, the girls were all giddy and giggly and they couldn’t keep their God damn hands to themselves, which wouldn’t have been a problem if they weren’t distracting Mason and me. We were drinking so many shots of beer I lost track; I just knew it was a f**king lot.

Zeke, Bentley and Nikki were up and only had half the shots we did, Mason took this turn to jump ships. At the end of their round, we were winning, how the hell that was possible was a damn miracle to me.

After playing for at least a good hour, all three girls were talking about our wedding; CC hit it off with Nikki and invited her along. I was relieved because I knew CC was worried about the girl when she’d first found out about her.

Another hour of the game and we were all feeling pretty damn good. Zeke was the surprising lightweight and passed out on the couch as soon as he sat down. Mason and Hailey were walking up to the spare room they were staying in when CC came over and flung her arms around me.

“Take me to bed handsome.” she said with that look that said everything she was thinking.

I tipped my head to Bentley and Nikki, who laughed at CC when she jumped into my arms. I carried her to the bathroom instead of to bed; I knew she was going to wake up with a horrible hangover tomorrow. She hated drinking beer and she bitched about it smelling like feet all night long but still drank it anyway.

When I walked into the bathroom I pushed the toilet seat down and then set CC on it. I reached into the shower and turned on the water; CC took off her shirt and bra and was now sitting in just her yoga pants. I adjusted the water, making sure it wasn’t too cold, I needed to sober her up a bit before bed.

When it was just right, I reached behind me and pulled my shirt over my head, threw it on the floor and then worked on getting my pants off while CC stood and did the same.

I grabbed her hand and led her into the shower.

“I love you.” CC said as she ran her hands up my chest and then back down over my stomach.

“I love you more baby.”

And then we both lost ourselves in each other, taking our time, covering each part of our bodies, being mindful of our fresh tattoos, until we were both shaking. When the water started cooling we turned the water off, dried and I sat CC back down on the toilet seat. I’ve only ever dried her hair once but I knew she’d loved it and tonight I was doing everything in my power just to prove to her how much I loved her. I was worshipping her.

I hope she understood why I was keeping this secret from her but I had a feeling she wouldn’t, and if this was the last night that we got like this, I was staying up all night instilling into her just how deep my love for her ran.

24

When I woke up the next morning, wrapped in Hunter’s arms, something felt off. I can’t explain the feeling but it was there nonetheless. I turned to look at his face and was surprised to find him awake.

“Mmm, morning,” I said as I snuggled a little closer to him. “What are you doing awake already?”

He tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear, “I never went to sleep.”