Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
I rolled my eyes. “Great. We’re gonna do some fucked-up version of a takedown event so you and River can cross something off your kinky bucket list.”
“Hey—two birds, one stone.” He was real pleased with himself. Then he leaned in and nipped at my jaw. A signal of warning, and it made me go rigid. “Three boys of prey, four apex predators. It’s gonna be fun.”
Grrr.
“You’re delusional if you think Walker and I will jump into kink five minutes after not seeing each other for two years.”
He shrugged. “I ain’t sayin’ you will. But you won’t be able to escape this time.”
Yeah, that was a problem.
“You, Shay, and Lane will also do whatever the fuck we make you do, Macklin.”
That was also a problem with Walker’s arrival. Had Reese told me this yesterday, I would’ve jumped for joy. The prospect of getting dirty with Shay—and my sexy-as-fuck boyfriend? I’d beg for that.
Alas…
I was gonna see Walker today.
Holy shit.
A breath gusted out of me.
I was seeing Walker today.
“How do we get closer to the shore?” I asked.
“We don’t.” Ty smirked as he lowered the anchor. On this boat, that happened electronically. “We swim from here.”
What the fuck was wrong with these people? Had they never vacationed before?
Lane was unreasonably excited. Shay too.
I didn’t get it.
I folded my arms over my chest and eyed the water. Sure, it was crystal clear here too, just like at Ty’s island, and it didn’t seem to be very deep. But still. Sharks, anyone? Were they aware Florida had actual crocodiles? Lane was. He was the one who’d told me.
What about all the snakes that could swim? That python monster—that one could swim. Water moccasins too, obviously.
“This is gonna be incredible,” Lane gushed. He wasn’t even sucking up to Ty, who was paying attention to everything Lane did. My boyfriend was all about nature. Wilderness. And he’d packed for it. His backpack was fucking waterproof.
Mine wasn’t.
“Any possibility of my bag fitting into yours?” I wondered.
“Don’t worry about it. You take mine. I’ll keep yours above the surface,” he assured. “I’m a good swimmer.”
Ugh. I mean, so was I, thank you very much. I was stronger than him too. But his happy mood wasn’t helpful when I wanted to bitch and moan without feeling like I was the party pooper.
I had to get my act together.
“It’s fine.” I pressed a kiss to his temple and went to grab my bag.
I did leave my wallet below deck, though. My phone too. It wasn’t as if I’d have a signal out here anyway.
The island appeared harmless enough. Definitely on the small side. It probably wouldn’t take more than ten minutes to walk around the whole thing. We’d arrived from the other side, so I knew it was surrounded by a white sand beach. The center was still a mystery. All I could see were mangrove trees, low palm trees, shrubs, and rocks.
It was easy to tell we were in the outer rim of the islands. The little jungle couldn’t grow tall before a hurricane knocked it down. Several palm trees were bent low over the beach, and countless tree trunks had washed ashore.
“What’re we waiting for?” Shay asked. He jumped up on the sunbed and shouldered his backpack, having already stripped down to boardshorts.
“Do you have enough sunscreen, baby?” Reese asked. “Otherwise, get over here.”
“Believe it or not, I’m usually not this pasty white, Daddy.” Shay patted his abs. “River squirted all over me earlier.”
I grinned. Couldn’t help it.
“I bet he did,” Reese chuckled. “All right, then. If y’all’ve left your phones and other gadgets that don’t do well with water in the cabin, jump in.”
“Fuck, yeah!” Leave it to Lane to embrace his inner clown. He darted up on the sunbed and jumped in with his backpack on, and as if that wasn’t enough, he went in with a fucking flip.
Shay dove in right after, followed by River and Reese.
I glanced over at Ty, who was putting on his bag too. “How hooked are you on Lane?”
He raised his brows a little and adjusted the straps over his shoulders. “To be honest, I’m not sure he’s real.”
Yeah, well. Lane was…different. I was protective of him. He was real. Incredibly real—and I knew with every fiber of my being that he wasn’t revealing all of himself to Ty. Because Lane didn’t do that with me either.
The one time I’d reminded him to take his medication, he’d been so embarrassed. I’d made sure he’d brought his medication today by snooping in secret.
“He’s real.” I nodded once. “Keep convincing him to join the community. I’m biased enough to believe we can look after him better, but Corey and I haven’t had any luck in swaying him. Maybe you can.”
“So he has other friends at Mclean?”
“Not really.” I followed him to the sunbed where we were evidently jumping to our doom. “Just Corey and me so far. They’re cousins.”