More Than Enough (More Than Series, Book 5) (49 page)

“Mm?”

“I love you.”

I open my eyes, lock them on his, clear and blue and everything I remember them to be, back when he still had control of the world around him… when his reality consisted of his purpose and of us and our love and nothing could get in the way of it. “I know.”

Riley

“D
o we even
know where the guys are going?” I ask, emptying the packet of corn chips in the bowl.

Heidi shrugs. “Who cares. I haven’t had a slumber party in forever.”

“Me neither,” Mom says. She tries in vain to open the jar of salsa before giving up. “Dylan!”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he calls out, and a second later he walks into the kitchen. He’s been out of the cast for four days. “I love the way you say Ma’am,” Lucy teases.
I think
. She fans her face, her eyes rolling back. “Say it again.”

Dylan just smiles, shaking his head as he stops between me and Heidi. Mom hands him the jar. He loosens it with a pop before handing it back to her.

“At least your hands work,” Heidi says, backhanding his stomach.

He feigns hurt.

“Oh, his hands work real good,” I blurt out.

“Riley!” Mom squeals.

I cover my face to hide my embarrassment.

“So hot,” Lucy mumbles.

“Gross,” Heidi jokes.

Next to me, Dylan chuckles. I remove my hands and glare at him. Then throw a chip at his head. “What?” he laughs out. “I didn’t do anything!”

He pulls out his phone after it beeps with a text.

I watch his lips curve to a smile as he reads it. “Your other girlfriend?” I ask.

“Wife, actually.” He shows me the phone, a message from Mike O’Brien is on the screen with a picture of him and his brothers and his mom standing in front of a house. The caption reads “
Casa de O’Brien.
”

“They got the house?” I ask.

“Looks like it.”

Dylan had been talking to Mike a bit lately on Facebook. Yes, Dylan got a Facebook. Apparently Dave’s personals were sent to his family, so he and Dylan have been going through the stuff they received. They were waiting on the gratuity payment to come in so they could move out of their tiny apartment and far away from where Mr. O’Brien could find them and hurt them. In a way, I think it’s kind of therapeutic for Dylan to speak to someone who knew Davey like he did, and not just the Marine version of him.

A car horn has Dylan pocketing his phone. “That’s the guys.”

“And Micky and Amanda!” Lucy says, clapping.

“What are you pretty girls planning on doing tonight?” he asks me.

“So hot,” Lucy whispers.

I laugh. “Not much. Probably talking books.”

“No!” Heidi stomps her foot. “Let’s do girl stuff. Like… Oh my god! Makeovers!”

“We’re not twelve,” I tell her, the same time Mom says, “Yes!” She points to her. “I like your thinking, Heidi. I’ve been wanting to makeover Riley for years.”

“Don’t you change a thing about her,” Dylan says, blocking me from their view.

Lucy sighs. “So hot.”

He turns to me. “Walk me out?”

I take his hand and lead him to the bedroom, where he grabs his bag, and then out of the house, meeting Micky and Amanda on the driveway carrying sleeping bags.

If the guys get to go on a boys’ night out to some cabin in the woods, why couldn’t we have a girls’ night in?

“Hey, Riley,” Jake
shouts, waving and grinning like an idiot as he pulls Cameron out of the trunk of his car. Logan and Jake are dressed in black, war paint smeared on their cheeks.

Cameron groans as he finds his feet, his hands tied behind his back, his mouth duct taped and his eyes blindfolded.

“What the hell?” I whisper.

“Quack quack!” Logan yells, ripping the tape from Cameron’s mouth.

Cameron curses and starts kicking Logan’s legs as soon as the blindfold is off him.

“Why are you quacking?” I yell walking down the path toward them.

“Hey Ry,” Dylan says, stopping on the sidewalk. I turn around in time to see him reveal a jar of sugar from behind his back.

“What is that?”

He smiles. “I wanted to give you some sugar.”

I take the jar off him. “Huh?”

Then his arms are around my waist, pulling me toward him. He smiles, right before he dips his head, his mouth warm and soft and wet against mine.

My body melts into his, one arm around his neck, the other too busy holding onto the jar. The force of his kiss has me bending backwards, gasping into his mouth. I smile against his lips as he slowly pulls away.

“Have a good night,” he says, releasing me completely.

“Wait.” I grab his hand. “Did you just tell me you wanted to give me some sugar and then kissed me?”

He laughs, his blue eyes bright against the evening sun. “Yes, Riley. I did.”

“Such a grandpa joke.”

“You love it.” He starts to walk backward, his smile getting wider. “And you love me.”

“I do.”

“And I’m madly in love with you, Riley Hudson.” He stops in his tracks, scans me from head to toe, before running back to me. His hands go to my face, cupping my cheeks and tilting my head up. “Hey, when I get back, maybe we can go away for the night? It’ll be all romantic and stuff. Hearts, flowers, the works.” He presses his lips to mine again. Just once.

I flatten my palms on his chest and look up at him. “I don’t want hearts and flowers, Dylan.”

“No?”

“I want your heart and soul.”

“Well, you already own that.” He smiles before turning around, leaving me standing in my front yard, my smile wide, my heart full and my future walking away from me.

I go to speak, but Cam beats me to it. “Hey everyone! Dylan’s got a boner!”

*     *     *

Dylan:
How’s it going?

Riley:
Good. You there yet?

It’s a dumb question. They only left a half hour ago. Still, it hasn’t stopped me checking the phone, checking the time, waiting to see which one of us would crack first. Luckily, it was him. And lucky for me, his texting has gotten a lot better since he started talking more with Mikey.

Dylan:
Nope. Another hour or so.

Riley:
Are you having fun?

Dylan:
Not as much fun as I would with you.

Riley:
You left me hanging, Banks.

Dylan:
That was the plan. Keep you wanting more.

Riley:
Your plan worked.

Dylan:
Oh yeah?

Riley:
Yep. Text me when you get there, okay? Be safe. The girls are yelling at me to get off the phone.

Dylan:
Okay. I miss you.

Riley:
Me too.

Dylan:
I love you.

Riley:
I love you, too.

Dylan:
Riley?

Riley:
Dylan?

Dylan:
Nothing. I just love you.

*     *     *

Dylan:
We just got to the cabin.

Riley:
Thanks for letting me know.

Dylan:
You’re welcome. Riley, you know I love the way you are, right?

Riley:
Yes. Why?

Dylan:
I just don’t want you thinking you need to change the way you look. I think you’re real pretty but if you want to do something then I don’t mind. I was just kidding with what I said.

Riley:
You own my heart, Banks.

Dylan:
And the rest? I like that spot right behind your ear. The one that makes you squirm. And your ass too. And your tits.

Riley:
Lol! You were doing so well! This taking it slow thing must be hard for you.

Dylan:
I’m always hard for you.

Riley:
I’ll fix that when you get back. Maybe on that overnight trip you mentioned?

Dylan:
I’ll steal Jake’s fucking car and come back right now. I’ll book it online. You can do that, right?

Riley:
Omg. Such a guy.

Dylan:
I have to go set Logan’s dick on fire. I’ll call you later.

Riley:
WHAT!

I look up from my phone to see five sets of eyes watching me. We’re sitting in a circle on the floor. I have no idea why. “What?” I ask, shrugging. “I miss him.”

Amanda shakes her head. “It’s one night, Ry.”

“By the way, Dylan’s about to set Logan’s dick on fire.”

“What?” Mom says, spitting her wine out of her mouth. She was going to make it an alcohol free night but I told her about the book clubs I’d hosted and the drinking that went on. I didn’t have an issue with it. She shouldn’t either. Besides, it’s one night.

One night. Five friends. One mom. Pajamas. Food. Candy. And, apparently, one Drunk Lucy. “Ms. Hudson, if I ever have children and look like you at your age I’ll be one happy fucking whore.”

Kayla giggles. “Sorry, Ms. Hudson. Lucy curses like a sailor when she’s drunk.”

“Call me Holly…” Mom says, “…and bitch can say whatever the fuck she wants.”

“Mom!”

“Let me be young and careless, Riley. Just one night.” She pours another glass of wine. “Besides, you can’t talk to me about being inappropriate, sweetheart. I’m in the bedroom next door and the walls are thin.”

“Mom!”

“Oh yeah,” Lucy says. “I bet you guys have been going at it like rabbits since his cast came off.”

I shake my head. “No.”

“Bullshit,” Mom says. “I hear everything.”

“We haven’t had sex,” I tell them, like I’m on the stand and pleading innocence.

Mom rolls her eyes. “No woman makes the noises you make on foreplay alone.”

I scoff. “That’s because you don’t know Dylan.”

“Gross,” Mom says, her nose in the air.

“Seriously?” Amanda asks. “You guys haven’t since…”

“Nope. We mess around and do other stuff but not sex.”

“Why not?” Heidi says.

“Because we kind of rushed it at the beginning. I mean, we had sex before we were even together and—”

“You did?” Mom cuts in.

I smirk. “Right on that kitchen counter.”

“Riley!” she squeals.

And we crack up laughing.

“So Dylan didn’t want to wait at the start?” Heidi asks.

“Uh oh,” Mikayla murmurs, chugging her wine like she’s preparing for a showdown.

“No.”

“Huh,” Heidi says. “It took forever to get him to want to have sex with me.”

I gag.

She laughs. “Sorry. It’s just strange.”

Lucy chimes in. “Dylan was a virgin when you guys were dating so…”

“You weren’t a virgin?” I ask.

Heidi shakes her head.

I ask, “How many guys were you with before D?”

“One.”

“Who?”

The girls look at Amanda.

“Gross,” she says.

“So wait!” Mom throws her hand in the air. “Riley, you had sex on my counter?”

I nod.

Now she gags. “Gross.” Then she looks at Heidi. “And you’ve slept with two of the boys in the group?”

Heidi raises her hand. “Yes, Ma’am. But Logan and I never really dated, we just… you know. Besides, now I’m dating a guy who asked Riley out.”

Mom shakes her head and points between us. “And you’re amicable?”

I shrug. “As long as she keeps her hands off D, I’m good.”

“Wow.” Mom’s eyes widen. “Riley, you’re a lot nicer than I am. If my boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend was even around, let alone in the same room, I’d be ripping out her hair and slapping the shit out of her.”

Lucy cackles. “You’re a woman of my own heart, Holly.”

“Right on,” Mom says, high fiving her.

My phone sounds and the girls moan. “Leave it, Ry,” Amanda pleads.

I laugh. “It’s Skype, though. No one’s messaged me on Skype since Dylan’s been back.”