I’ve never been on a boat before. But this mansion on the water is not how I expected to lose my boat virginity.
The yacht towers over the boat dock, all bright lights and loud music. Three levels of glass and sleek white walls. The walkway to the boat comes from inside and touches the dock just enough for me to feel semi-confident stepping onto it.
My stomach swirls with nerves as I continue to stand on the dock, rubbing my palms back and forth across my shorts. I can see a group of people on the second level, but I don’t recognize anyone.
Adam told me he would meet me on the dock at four, and when I checked the time inside my car, I was only a couple of minutes early. Now I’m wishing I had waited and given myself a quick five-minute pep talk.
I’m about to pull my phone out of my pocket to check if he’s texted me at all when a high-pitched squeal captures my attention. I lift a hand over my eyes and squint at the back of the boat to try and focus on the woman speeding in my direction.
She’s an image of bouncing blonde hair and pink sparkles as she makes quick work of the distance between us. The toes of her white stilettos touch the bridge that hangs over the water when she stops.
“Scarlett? It has to be you!” She waves enthusiastically, smiling from ear to ear.
For such a tiny woman, her presence is huge, attention demanding. Intimidating.
“Hi,” I say.
“Oh, my God! Am I the first one to notice you?” When I nod, she claps. “Yes! This is going to be amazing. Come on over here. The bridge is safe, I promise.”
Uncertainty pricks my mind, but I force myself to step onto the metal contraption anyway. With quick movements, I cross the gap and step onto the boat. It doesn’t so much as budge, which shouldn’t surprise me but does.
A small hand grabs mine, and I jolt in surprise, pulling it out of the woman’s grip just in time to see her lips form an O shape.
“Oh shit, I’m sorry. You have no idea who I am, do you? Dammit, Adam.” She looks at me apologetically. “I’m Gracie. The woman who doesn’t know when to keep her hands to herself. I’m so sorry about that. I’m just too excited to have you here.”
I relax slightly. “It’s okay. Happy birthday, by the way.”
“Thank you so much. It’s so beautiful out today, isn’t it? You brought a bathing suit, right? I swear, if that shithead didn’t tell you to pack a suit, I’m going to throw him off the top deck.”
“He did. It’s in here.” I awkwardly pat the bag slung over my shoulder.
Her eyes light up. “Perfect. Come with me, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
Darting my eyes to the dock, I grow uneasy when I still don’t see any sign of Adam.
“He should be here soon,” Gracie says, reading my mind. “I can wait with you here for him if you want. Or I can leave you to wait alone.”
“God no,” I blurt out, my eyes growing in size. “I mean, we don’t know how long he’s going to be, so . . .” And I really don’t want him to find me sitting here waiting for him like I can’t handle his friends alone for a few minutes.
Understanding flicks across her features. She smiles warmly. “Got it. Let’s get to it, then.”
I hike my bag higher on my shoulder and follow her toward a staircase off to the side of the first level.
“I hope you like kids,” she says when we start up the stairs. “There’s about ten of them where we’re going.”
“I can’t say that I don’t not like them. I didn’t really grow up around kids.”
She laughs. “Fair enough. They’ll all be too busy with themselves anyway. When I left to check if you and Adam were here, they were shooting each other with Nerf guns.”
“One of my old teammates had a son who always brought those with us on road games. I’m pretty sure I still have a bruise on my thigh from getting shot with one at close range.”
“I believe it. Cooper and Maddox, Oakley and Ava’s oldest son, are really the only ones who can use them properly, but the younger kids love to try and keep up.”
When we reach the top of the stairs, I look around in awe.
The room opens up completely, with a living room, bar, and kitchen tucked in the back corner. The living space has a massive rounded couch and several leather armchairs, all the same beige colour as the walls. It looks and feels like luxury, and I’m still not sure how I feel about being here.
Besides the shouting voices of the kids I spot running on the deck through the open wall beside the kitchen, it’s silent. Too silent. My attention is pulled to the crowd of people staring at us—or, more specifically, at me, and I gulp.
Gracie stands close to me and gently touches my arm. “Everyone, this is Scarlett. Scarlett, this is everyone.”
“Hi,” I croak, waving.
“Want to get any vaguer, Gray?” someone asks her from across the room.
“Right,” Gracie giggles. “Let me try this again. That’s Oakley and Ava over there.” She points to the two people sitting at the bar.
A noise of excitement comes from the brunette sitting beside Oakley. Having met the retired NHL player a handful of times over the past few years during charity events or volunteer activities, he’s a familiar face in a crowd of unfamiliar ones, and I latch onto the small slice of comfort that brings me.
His arm is slung over the shoulders of the woman beside him, and I quickly place her as his wife, Ava. She has a calmer aura about her than Gracie does but still wears an expression of barely contained joy as she stares at me.
“I’m so happy to meet you,” she gushes, clasping her hands together.
Oakley speaks next, his words ultra-calm in comparison to the two girls I’ve just met. “It’s great to see you again, Scar. Thanks for coming.”
I smile at them both while Gracie points to the couch. There are two large men sitting on opposite sides of a dark-haired woman. One of them has a large hand placed high on the thigh of the woman beside him.
“My husband, Tyler, is on the end there, and the guy who looks about ready to slip his hand up his pregnant wife’s dress is his brother, Braden. Sierra is the poor woman getting felt up beside him.”
I choke on a laugh, and both men hop off the couch. Braden, the stockier of the two men, reaches down to help Sierra up. Tyler rounds the couch and walks toward his wife with a grin while my jaw falls open.
It’s just now clicked in that Tyler is Tyler Bateman, the best defenseman in the hockey league right now.
Oh, shit. Am I sweating?
He moves to Gracie’s side and kisses her cheek before looking at me. “It’s nice to meet you, Scarlett. We’ve heard great things.”
Sierra walks closer to the rest of us and places a hand on her slightly rounded belly. “Your hair is amazing. Is that your natural colour?”
“Oh, yeah, it’s natural,” I answer. Subconsciously, I push my hair back.
“Scarlett with the fire-truck-red hair, huh?” Braden asks. Sierra glowers at him.
“It’s a name I’ll never forgive my mother for,” I say honestly.
Braden bursts out laughing, and everyone else quickly follows. I smile slightly, feeling a bit more relaxed.
“Braden can be a bit of an asshole sometimes, Scarlett. Just a fair warning,” Tyler says.
I focus my attention on him and find myself overrun with questions I want to ask him. Like what was it like to enter the league undrafted? Did it make his experience harder compared to Oakley’s? Or was it similar?
Suddenly, a hard chest brushes my back. My breath hitches at the contact, but I don’t move away. Instead, something has me leaning against the hard wall of muscle behind me and relaxing completely for the first time since I was in my car.
A large hand grips my hip, squeezing as hot breath warms the back of my ear. “You’re looking at Tyler like you idolize him. It’s making me jealous.”
Goosebumps pebble my skin. “You’re late.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” he whispers.
The pads of his fingers press deeper into my hip when he pulls me flush against him. The feeling of him pressed against me has my head spinning. I shudder and try to focus on the group around us.
I’m aware of how this looks, but despite that, I can’t get myself to move away like I know I should. All I can think about is how perfectly I fit against him and that I’ve missed him since the last time we saw each other.
Someone in the group whistles, and it acts like a shock to my system. I take a step forward, and Adam’s body heat disappears, his hand dropping.
“That was hot,” Braden says. I find him fanning himself.
“You’re embarrassing us,” Tyler grumbles, staring at his brother. He offers me an apologetic smile. “See? What did I say? An asshole.”
Braden scoffs. “As if we weren’t all thinking it.”
“That’s the difference between you and everyone else. We thought it but didn’t say it,” Ava scolds.
My cheeks have to be just as red as my hair right now. They feel like they’re moments away from bursting into flames.
I can feel Adam’s eyes on me, but I can’t get myself to look at him. I’m tempted to jump off the side of the boat and swim to the dock.
Turning to Gracie instead, I ask, “Where’s the bathroom?”
After she tells me, I place a smile on my face and excuse myself.
ADAM
Scarlett’s panicking.
I turn to Braden and, for the first time in all the years we’ve known each other, have to hold myself back from punching him in the face.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I growl.
Ava gasps, but I only focus on Braden. This protectiveness is new for me—terrifying, even—but all I know is that I don’t ever want to see that look on Scarlett’s face again. Especially not because of someone I consider family.
“If you’re going to punch him, Adam, please do it somewhere the kids won’t be able to see,” Gracie sighs.
Braden whips his head in her direction. “You’re kidding me, Gray. I don’t deserve to be punched.”
“I would have already knocked your teeth in,” Tyler pipes up.
Braden snorts. “That’s because you have the restraint of a toddler.”
I give my head a shake and ignore them all as I follow after Scarlett. My fingers are still curled at my sides, and this feeling of desperation is nearly suffocating. I’m desperate to get to her and make sure she’s not completely freaking out.
For someone who doesn’t like meeting new people nor social gatherings, I can’t imagine being called out in front of a group of unfamiliar faces in an uncomfortable environment is very settling.
If I wasn’t late, maybe this wouldn’t have even happened, but I try to push that thought away. Scarlett is a big girl, and from what I saw when I arrived, she was handling herself just fine.
Her strength and confidence is what drew me to her in the first place. It’s one of my favourite things about her.
With how demanding my life is, I need someone that can handle themselves but also knows they can lean on me when the pressures of everything gets too much. She’s exactly that.
The bathroom door is locked, so I knock twice. “Scary Spice?”
“Leave me here alone to die of embarrassment.”
I laugh. “Not happening. Can you let me in?”
A huff and then the clicking of the lock. “Say one wrong thing and I’m kicking your ass,” she grumbles.
“No pressure.”
I turn the handle and open the door. She’s leaning against the vanity, her palms flush to the sides. When she turns to look at me, I swallow.
Fuck, she’s stunning.
I only got a good look at the back side of her when I got here, and as fantastic of a backside as it is, it pales in comparison to the front.
There’s black lining her eyes when they meet mine, and it makes the blue in her eyes appear even lighter than usual, like glacier water. The makeup surprises me after seeing her without it every day for the past couple of months, but she looks beautiful. She always does.
Scarlett blinks a few times, long, thick lashes fluttering before a sound of annoyance escapes her. I watch with intrigue as she reaches up and pulls her eyelashes off before doing the same with the other eye and then setting a clump of lashes in the sink.
“My mother made me wear those. They feel like caterpillars on my eyes.”
“Good to know.”
She rolls her eyes before looking away. “You didn’t have to come after me. I just needed a minute.”
“Yeah, Scar, I did.”
She’s staring at her feet when she says, “That’s the first time you’ve called me Scar.”
I lift my brows. “And? Do you approve?”
“Anything is better than that ridiculous nickname of yours.”
With a teasing smile, I shut the bathroom door and lean back against it. I cross my arms. “Okay, we’re completely alone now. Admit you don’t hate the name as much as you let on.”
She turns her head. Our eyes lock. “Why would I do that?”
“It would make me happy.”
“It’s a good thing your happiness isn’t my concern, then.”
I push away from the door and swallow some of the distance between us until we’re standing opposite each other. The bathroom isn’t all that big, and I quickly realize how much closer we are than I anticipated. Still, I don’t back away.
“No? ’Cause for weeks, yours has been at the top of my priority list.”
Her breath skips. The shirt she’s wearing hangs off her right shoulder, leaving her skin bare, exposed to the greed in my eyes. Before I can stop myself, my thumb is swiping across her collarbone, tracing the outline of a crowd of freckles.
“I love how many freckles you have. It’s like you’re covered in stars,” I whisper.
“Your imagination is impressive,” she replies, slightly breathless.
I shake my head and trail my touch up the side of her neck. Her pulse thumps beneath my fingertips. “There’s nothing imaginary about you or the way you make me feel, Scarlett.”
“Adam,” she starts. Her voice trails off when I slip my fingers through her hair and palm the back of her head, tilting it back so our lips are a breath away.
“I’m a patient guy when it comes to things I really want, so I’ll wait for you to admit to yourself that you feel the same way I do, because fuck, Scarlett. There’s no way you don’t.”
Her eyes flare. “It’s not that easy.”
“Not yet. Just give me some time to convince you that it can be.”
If there’s one lesson I’ve learned over the course of my life, it’s that the best things never come easy. You have to work your ass off for them, and Scarlett might just be the best one I’ll ever come to know.
“I’m too old to play games when it comes to the things I want, and I want you and everything that comes with you,” I confess.
She chews on her lip. I’m not surprised to find reluctance heavy in her stare.
“Let me try something,” I plead. I free her lip from between her teeth and swallow a groan at how soft it is. Her nod is barely there, but I catch it.
I bring my mouth to hers in a kiss that threatens to send me to my knees. Her lips part on a gasp, and I fight back a smile, knowing it’s affecting her the same way.
Her hands brush my chest in a way that hints at her curiosity. It’s like she wants to touch me but isn’t sure if she should. I tighten my fingers in her hair and deepen the kiss while grabbing one of her hands and spreading her fingers. With her hand open, I press it to my chest and hold it there.
Her touch is electric, addicting in the same way adrenaline is.
A gruff noise escapes me when her other hand joins the first. They start moving up my body, and I nip at her bottom lip, unable to hold myself back the more she touches me.
The tension between us has finally exploded, leaving us buzzing in the aftershock. Scarlett opens her mouth for me, and I get my first real taste of her.
When she moans against my lips, the final bit of my restraint snaps in half. I drop my hand from her hair and grip her hips before lifting her and setting her on the vanity.
Stepping between her spread legs, I slip my fingers beneath the bottom hem of her shirt and hold her waist. She’s all warm muscles and smooth skin, and my head swims with need for her.
I ache to bring her closer but know better than to push my luck.
It’s her that breaks the kiss, pushing me back and closing her eyes. Her chest rises and falls just as fast as mine does.
“What am I supposed to do with all that?” she snaps, suddenly furious.
I can only grin, staring at her swollen lips. “Remember how you just felt when you think about the possibility of you and me. Maybe it will help clear some things up for you.”
“You make everything sound so easy.”
I sober up. “I know. There’s a lot for you to think about. Just know that I’m ready to talk about it when you are.”
“And if I tell you that you’re wrong? That I don’t feel what you think I do?”
I squeeze her waist one last time before releasing her and stepping back. Grabbing the door handle, I say, “If you lie to me, then we’ll be here again. Only it won’t be your mouth I’m kissing.”
