“Come now, Minnie! You haven’t seen me since Thanksgiving. Give us a kiss!”

Minerva swatted at him. “Don’t you dare put your lips on me, you bratty toddler! I can’t believe you convinced that nice girl to marry you. She’ll live to regret it. You mark my words.”

Jared smacked a kiss on her cheek anyway, and Minerva blushed bright red. “Where’s my mother?”

The lady butler rolled her eyes. “Swimming. She’s always in the pool nowadays.”

My friend shrugged. “There’s worse things.”

“Will you be staying in your old bedroom?”

“Yes, I will be, but I think mother said she set Tomás up in the garçonnière—”

“Jesus,” I scoffed.

“What?”

“Garçonnière? Minerva’s right. You are a spoiled brat.”

“I always did like you,” Minerva said with a smile. “Leave your bags here, and I’ll make sure they get to your rooms and unpacked.”

“Oh, if you don’t mind, Minerva, I’d like to unpack my own bag.”

“Why can’t Minnie unpack your bag? What are you hiding in there? Your pocket pussy?”

I elbowed him hard. “The fuck, man?”

“I’m just saying, it’s been a while since you’ve talked about a woman in any significant way. If you did have a pocket pussy in your carry-on, I wouldn’t judge.”

“I’d hate to mar your pretty face three days before your wedding,” I growled through clenched teeth. It was an empty threat. I loved this man like a brother, but he was really embarrassing the shit out of me right now.

“Relax,” Jared said, giving me a lazy smile. “I know you’re too uptight for that. Come on. Let’s go say hey to mom.”

I followed Jared into the house, then through the French doors to the balustrade that ran the length of the townhome — down here, they called them piazzas. The junior Olympic-size pool was just beyond the porch, and I could see Darcy slicing her way through the water.

“Hey, mom!” Jared called out.

Darcy stopped mid-stroke and treaded water while she squinted in our direction. “Jared? Tommy? Hey!” she exclaimed before she dove under the surface and swam to the edge of the pool.

“Oh, shit,” I said breathlessly as she climbed out of the water.

I shouldn’t stare, especially since I was standing next to her son — my best friend — but fuck…

Darcy was wearing an orange swimsuit with cut-outs that revealed her flat belly and toned back. The color contrasted and complimented her smooth golden saddle-brown skin. She turned to grab her towel, and water trailed off her two braids and down her back, drawing my attention to her ass. The ass-to-waist ratio made the rise of her hips the perfect place for me to hold her if I—

Not now, damn it.