“I’m glad.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I like boy things too. So does Kim. Especially long, hard things.”
I chuckled. “Speaking of which… What do you think of Carter?”
“I really like him.”
“And his dick?” I prompted.
“Very suckable.” She grinned up at me. “Kim was telling me what you talked about. You and Carter had quite a discussion earlier. When were you going to tell me? Oh, don’t look so surprised. Of course she told me. She wanted to know what you like. Sex stuff.”
“Did you tell her?”
“Of course. I told you, we have a lot in common.” She laughed softly. “She’s the exact opposite of Lily. All she cares about is making Carter happy. Or you, if things work out.”
“I think they will,” I said.
“I think so too. Only, she said Carter doesn’t want to rush.”
“What does she want?” I asked.
“To make him happy.”
“And you? What do you want?”
“To make you happy,” she said in a breathy imitation of Kim. “I shouldn’t make fun of her,” she added quickly. “She’s really sweet. And she loves Carter. Not at all like Lily and Will. Oh, and for the record, I like it much better when you take charge. Today’s been perfect.” She pretended to frown. “Maybe a little more fellatio next time, but I don’t want to sound demanding. Not like Wren. Sometimes it’s nice to let it build up. I know that doesn’t make sense—”
“No, I understand.”
“I knew you would. You always do.”
“Mmm.”
She hugged me tight and pressed her cheek to my chest. “I love you so much right now.”
“I love you too.”
Carter and Kim emerged from the clubhouse.
“Ah, sorry,” he said. “Want us to give you a minute?”
“Nah, you’re fine. We were just talking about how much we’ve enjoyed today.” Christy and I slid apart and turned to face them.
Carter grinned. “Us too. Kim said she told Christy what you and I talked about.”
I nodded.
“You don’t mind that I still want to take things slow?”
“Not at all.”
“I want to sleep on it.” He chuckled and nodded at Kim. “She’s ready to go—”
Her eyes widened in surprise, and her cheeks flushed with a combination of embarrassment and arousal.
“—but I’m being cautious.”
“No problem,” I assured him.
“In the meantime, I picked out a wine. White, to go with dinner. I thought I’d do chicken cordon bleu with French-style green beans, sautéed in butter.”
“Oh, yum!” Christy said. “Très délicieux.”
“Regular for us,” he added, “sans jambon pour toi.”
“Merci beaucoup.”
“Showoff,” I muttered with a smile.
“You’re just jealous,” she said airily.
“Of course I am,” I laughed. “I can’t even speak Pig Latin!”
Carter chuckled and opened the first bottle of wine. He emptied it into four red Solo cups.
“You need to get some of those acrylic ones,” he said. “At least, something that looks like a wineglass. Never mind. What am I complaining about?” He raised his cup. “To good friends.”
We echoed the toast and drank.
“Oh, that’s nice,” Carter said. “You have really good taste in wine.”
“I still can’t take credit for it,” I said. “But thanks.”
We took our cups into the pool to cool off. Christy swam and frolicked like the water nymph she was. Then she begged until I finally joined her.
I handed my cup to Carter and said in my best Georgia redneck voice, “Here, hold my beer.”
He snorted a laugh.
I lunged toward Christy, who shrieked and kicked away. She put on a burst of speed and beat me to the deep end. She climbed out, scampered along the diving board, and launched herself over my head.
I flipped around and swam after her. She wasn’t quite as fast as Wren, but the difference was purely academic. I didn’t have a minnow’s chance of catching her. She finally took pity on me after a couple of laps. She swam into my arms and kissed me.
“Happy, my little selkie?”
She frowned in amusement.
“A mythical creature,” I said grandly. And with an air of mystery, “A shapeshifter. A beautiful maiden on land, a seal in the water.”
Her eyes flashed. “Ooh, I like it. What do these selkies do?”
“They steal men’s hearts.”
“Do they seduce them?”
“Of course!”
“Oh, goody.” She wrapped her legs around my waist.
“Don’t mind us,” I said to Carter and Kim. “Just go about your business. Pretend we aren’t having sex.”
“Go for it. You mind if we watch?”
“Not at all,” I laughed.
Christy knew I was kidding, but she kissed my neck anyway. Then she kissed her way up to the sensitive spot under my ear.
“I need your cock,” she whispered.
The cock in question filled with blood so quickly that I grew lightheaded.
“We should go,” Kim said automatically.
“No, don’t,” I said. “Sorry, we’ll behave.”
Christy buried her face in the hollow of my neck. “Do we have to?”
“Yes, Selkie, we do.”
“Don’t behave on our account,” Carter said.
“No, you said you wanna take things slow.”
“I’m having second thoughts.”
“It’s up to you.”
He considered it. “Yeah, you’re right.”
Christy whined in frustration. My dick swelled painfully. Even Kim looked disappointed.
“Let’s start dinner instead,” Carter said.
“If that’s what you want.”
“It is. You wanna be my sous?”
“Oh, no,” I laughed. “I know what that means. ‘Kitchen slave.’”
“Something like that,” he agreed.
“I am getting a little hungry,” Christy said.
“Oh, that’s right,” I said. “You didn’t have a snack this afternoon.”
“I was having fun. So sue me.”
“On what grounds?” Carter joked.
“Oh, Carter,” Kim said, “seriously?”
He chuckled. “Sorry. Lawyer humor. Not funny. But I’m serious about dinner. I need to get started if we want to eat.”
“Yeah, I’m coming,” I said.
“Mmm, you said come,” Christy whispered.
“Later.”
“Yes, sir.”
* * *
The girls drank the second bottle of wine while we were cooking dinner. Christy walked into the clubhouse with the empty one. I glanced at my watch, but she waved away my question and met me for a kiss.
“You’ll thank me later,” she said quietly. Then she said in a normal voice, “We decided to get drunk. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Fine by me,” I chuckled. “Carter?”
“What? Right. Whatever.” He turned down the heat on the green beans. “Would you take the chicken out of the oven? It needs to cool.”
“Sure. Hold that thought,” I told Christy.
I removed the pan from the oven and set it on a couple of dishtowels.
“Smells yummy,” she said.
I opened the fridge for another bottle of wine, and she playfully held up the corkscrew. I sent her on her way with a kiss and a swat on the bottom. She shot me a kittenish grin over her shoulder as she walked out the door.
Carter and I finished plating dinner. He wasn’t as artistic as Wren, but I wasn’t going to complain. And I had a good chuckle when I realized that I kept comparing him to professionals, Sara the photographer and Wren the chef. The fact that he was even in their league was a serious accomplishment. I certainly wasn’t.
The girls abruptly fell silent when we emerged from the clubhouse with dinner. They leaned together and giggled. Christy wasn’t the best conspirator in the world, and Kim wasn’t either, especially tipsy.
“I bet I know what you were talking about,” I said.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Kim teased. “Mr. Big.”
Carter’s eyebrows flew up when he realized she was flirting with me. He recovered quickly and set her plate in front of her. I set Christy’s in front of her and slid into the chair next to her. Carter topped off everyone’s wine.