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I smiled, thinking about the way Gemma had seamlessly become part of our lives. She was stepping into a motherly role for Mason and I didn’t even think she realized it. In no time at all, she had become one of Mason’s favorite people. The kid had good taste, though, because I happened to know just what it was like to be infatuated by Gemma. She was one of the best people I knew.
“What’s that smile for?” she asked, bringing her hand to my lips and grinning from ear to ear herself now.
I continued smiling and watching her as she still had an inquisitive look on her face that said she really didn’t know what was happening. It rarely happened as Gemma was one of the smartest people I knew, but when it did, her nose scrunched up and I couldn’t help but want to kiss the scrunch away. “You really don’t know how happy you make me, do you? How happy you make Mason? Remind me to thank your sister again for choosing the resort for her bachelorette party.”
Gemma chuckled, practically tossing her head back. I liked seeing her so carefree, like there wasn’t a thing in the world that could burst her bubble of happiness. And if I had it my way, she’d be this happy for the rest of her life.
Finally, she replied, “I’m sure that won’t go to her head or anything, knowing that us getting together is in large part because of her.” Then her eyes widened. “Not to mention, she already thinks her meddling with the note you wrote me to come see you at the beach was what sealed the deal. Her head is already way too big.” Gemma shook her head and grinned. “Any bigger and her head won’t be able to fit through the doorway of her new house.”
“You’re doing it again, bringing up the house,” I pointed out, remembering that Gemma promised to not touch that particular subject with a ten-foot pole. She didn’t like the idea of her parents spending so much money on a down payment for a new home for Sophie and Bobby. But this one was out of her hands, even though she offered multiple times to help pay for it so her folks didn’t have to dip into their retirement savings. “It was nice of them to do that for Sophie and Bobby, just leave it at that.”
She raked her teeth on her lip and then gave in, “You’re right.” She tacked on, “Again,” and I couldn’t help but curl my lips upward. Gemma saying someone else was right was rare, so I’d take it.
I wrapped my arms around her waist and brought her closer to me so our bodies were flush now. “What do you say, I tell the guys to get lost and we have some adult fun?”
She blushed and looked toward the patio where the guys were drinking beers and hanging out, waiting for me to come back around. “Lance!” She gently swatted my arm. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She shook her head and her eyes went wide, looking everywhere but at me, just as they always did when she became slightly embarrassed. “They’ll know what we’re doing. They’ll know why we made them leave,” she practically whispered that last part as though one of those knuckleheads could actually hear us.
I laughed and brushed the pad of my thumb across her cheek. “All right, I won’t send them home. Yet. But if they’re not gone by ten, I’m kicking them out. Forget what they think we’re doing.” I brought my lips down on her and tugged at the bottom one. “I want everyone to know that I’m falling in love with you and don’t care who knows we’re having some fun of our own.”
“Okay, but not yet.”
I held up my hands and laughed again. “Okay, okay.”
Just as she was about to respond, her phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and held it up to me to see that Sophie was calling. “I’m going to take this. You go back out there and hang out with your friends. It’s okay, really.”
“All right, but if you change your mind, I have no problem giving them all the boot so I can spend some alone time with my girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend,” she repeated and sighed happily. “I love the sound of that.”
“Girlfriend,” I repeated so she could hear it come from my mouth one more time. Frankly, it was like music to my own ears.
“Boyfriend,” she returned and closed her eyes, clearly satisfied with the way that sounded, too. “Lance, my boyfriend.”
A deep groan came from behind us and had me turning around to see Tyler standing there. “Man, you two are disgustingly lovey dovey. We get it, you’re boyfriend and girlfriend. Geez, you two can get branded with the labels later. In the meantime, you left ten minutes ago to get more beer.”
“Oh, right,” I said, as though a lightbulb went off and snapped my fingers. “I forgot.” It was easy to get distracted by my girlfriend. Ha, who knew? I liked the sound of it, too.
“It’s fine,” Gemma said, tapping her phone. “I have to call Sophie back now. In all our back-and-forth, I missed her call.”
I gave her a quick kiss and let her go. “You do that and thank her for me. I mean it.”
She rolled her eyes and walked away, but not before I gently swatted her butt. She turned around and gasped. “Lance!”
I winked. “You can punish me later.”
I heard Tyler gagging and chose to ignore it, going to the fridge and pulling out another pack of beer. “Come on,” I said, passing him by to go back outside. “Or would you like to stand there acting jealous some more?”
“Jealous?” he asked, his voice getting an octave higher, as though the mere notion that he might actually be jealous of a real relationship was too much for him to handle. “Me, jealous? No way.” Doth protest too much, I mused.
When we got outside, he passed me by and rolled his eyes dramatically, like he needed to make sure he thought what I said was absolutely ridiculous.
Noted, Ty, you aren’t jealous.
Even, though, you so are and we all know it.
Tyler sat back down in the chair between Hunter’s and mine. Corey was sitting on the other side of Hunter, taking a swig of his beer, his leg crossed over his knee. “What are you two gossiping about?” Corey asked, looking from Tyler to me.
I cut my hand through the air and brushed it off. “Nothing, really. Ty’s just jealous because I found a woman of substance.”
