Teddi gave me an exaggerated wink. I smiled in her direction. I'd soak this in. Austin was rubbing the center of my back until I leaned to the side. I was going to get bonfire snuggles in.

He wrapped his arms around me and locked them there.

I could smell the nape of his neck. If I had any guts at all, I'd place a kiss there, but I had to respect the fakeness of the relationship. And kissing his neck would be pressing my luck. Instead, I just inhaled.

Austin leaned near my ear. “I think Tasker is taking Brutus out of here.”

His low voice near my earlobe was music. A prayer. It made my eyelashes flutter.

“Yup. They’re leaving.” He sat up now, letting his arms drop. “Mission accomplished and we didn’t even have to have sex.”

I wanted to trail my fingers across his jaw. Instead, I forced myself to push off of him and sit in the empty chair next to him. “Yeah. We showed him. Thanks.”

Peaches came close and dropped my phone in my lap. “Aren’t you glad you tossed that at me?”

I checked the screen and it wasn’t cracked. It also had a few messages on it. I unlocked it and saw that Peaches had snapped five pics of me with Austin. One was us coming out of the pool that seemed like it could be a book cover. The lap sitting by the bonfire was hard to see, but I knew what it was. I covered the images with my hand. Peaches was a real one. She knew that I’d want to remember these things, and now I’d have a way to do just that.

The evening lasted well into the morning. The stars eventually showed up as the bonfire wound down. Ronna had dragged out blankets and we all covered up, letting the songs go on too long.

Brutus sent me a few more messages and I ignored them. When it was time to go inside, Austin touched my waist and then squeezed my hand.

He went downstairs, and I was already missing him. Never mind that I had spent all day with him.

When we got set for bed, Peaches and Teddi took turns showering.

Teddi was first. “Not all of us had a douchebag throw us into the pool.”

Peaches watched her until the bathroom door was closed. Then she was sitting on my air mattress. “Dude. What the hell?”

“I know, right? The cuddling? The touching? I think I’m pregnant.” I sighed and let myself fall back onto the bed.

“I think I am, too. It was so hot. Austin, as if he could get more good-looking. Sweet shit, he thinks of everything. Can you imagine what kind of orgasm he doles out?” Peaches landed next to me.

“Oh, that would kill me. I can’t even do that to myself.”