“Anna, wait,” Jaxson protests, his words softer.
Logan turns on him fast. “Back off, or your next words are going to cause a scene in front of everyone that you won’t want.”
I don’t get a chance to gauge Jaxson’s reaction before Logan pulls me out to the ocean with him. The cool water is a welcome relief to my hot skin and hurt feelings. We walk until my feet can’t touch any more and I have to wrap my arms around Logan’s neck. He swims us behind the dock for privacy and holds me close, his concerned eyes boring into mine. “Ignore him, you look fucking beautiful, as you always do.”
“He should know better than to say something like that to me,” I admit quietly.
“You’re right, he should, but he’s not thinking clearly. He’s letting his emotions speak. He loves you; he’s protective of you. He doesn’t want me thinking all the things I’m thinking right now,” he adds with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood.
I quirk a brow at him. “Are you actually standing up for him?”
“No, I’m trying to stop you from hurting. You’re beautiful, Anna, don’t ever think any different.”
I drop my forehead on his with a soft smile. “You make me feel beautiful.”
“Good, because you are. You’re perfect, and if there weren’t a bunch of kids around right now I would show you.”
“Mmm, and what is it you would do exactly?” I ask, lowering my voice to a whisper.
His hands slide to my bottom in a possessive grip. “You sure you want to know the answer to that?”
“Yes,” I reply, my voice breathless.
He leans in and starts nuzzling my neck. “I would start off by removing your top, filling my hands with your perfect tits before sucking your pretty pink nipples into my mouth.” A shiver runs through me at his rough voice in my ear. “Then I would move aside these bottoms of yours and make you come like I did the very first time I got to touch you.”
I moan and rub against him, his words setting my body on fire even in the cold ocean.
“Sitting at the park against our tree with you between my legs, your back to my chest. I had slipped my hand under your pretty dress and between your silky thighs. I touched you, stroked your clit nice and slow. Do you remember?”
“Yes.” How could I ever forget? It was life altering. I was so nervous, but he chased my fear away with pleasure, showing me exactly what my body was capable of. That day he had started erasing the shame from my soul and replaced it with something beautiful.
“Me too, baby. Your cries of pleasure and the smell of your hair invading my senses is something I will never forget. Every moment of my life I spend with you is something I could never forget. Because you, Anna, are unforgettable.”
I still, his words repairing a little more of my soul that was shattered from the day he sent me away. I drop my forehead on his and he takes the opportunity to brush his lips across mine.
Our quiet moment is interrupted a few minutes later when Sawyer calls out to us. “Get up here, we need your help for this.”
Giving me one more kiss, Logan boosts me up on the dock then follows up after. I see all of them, including their kids, lined up at the next dock over, except for Jaxson. He waits for us at the end of our dock, his expression unreadable.
Logan interlocks our fingers and gives my hand a reassuring squeeze before pulling me forward. The closer we get, the more nervous I become. I hate fighting with Jaxson, but I’m really hurt by what he said.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asks as we reach him.
Logan looks over at me for approval and I nod. He walks down to join everyone else, leaving Jaxson and me alone. Without thinking I cross my arms, feeling the need to cover myself.
“Don’t do that.” He reaches over and uncrosses them, bringing them back to my side. “I’m an asshole, I’m sorry for what I said.”
I look up at him and swallow past the ache in my throat. “Out of everyone you should know better. You made me feel really bad about myself, you made me feel cheap.”
With a curse he pulls me against him, hugging me so tight I have a difficult time breathing. “I’m sorry, Anna, really sorry,” he apologizes, his voice thick with guilt. “I could never think that of you. Sometimes it’s hard for me to remember that you aren’t fifteen any more, and it drives me crazy to think of what’s running through every guy’s head on this beach when they look at you.”
“My bathing suit looks the same as all the other girls,” I say again.
“I know, and believe me, I want to bash every motherfucker’s head in who I’ve caught looking at my wife, too. I can’t help it, but that’s all me and my own shit. You should stand proud. You’re beautiful, strong and perfect. I fucking hate that I made you doubt it for a second.”
His sincere tone has me deflating and wrapping my arms around him, returning his embrace. “I forgive you, just don’t ever say anything like that to me again.”
“Never, I promise.” I nod against his chest. “Come on, let’s go join the others. Evans, Cade and I have a little competition we need help with.”
“Uh oh, am I going to want to witness this?”
“I know, usually if Evans has an idea it’s a bad one, but not this time. Trust me, you aren’t going to want to miss this because I am going to kick some serious ass.”
I roll my eyes at his arrogance but become even more intrigued at what’s about to go down. My gaze gets drawn to Logan as we make our way down the beach and I can’t help but take in his half-naked perfection. With his black board shorts and lean muscular body on display, it’s a sight I will never tire of seeing. It seems to be the same for others as I watch a few girls walk by him, eyeing him with interest, or rather, eyeing all the guys up. I can understand it, these guys separately are lethal to girl’s hormones but all together…well there is no word for it. I bite back a chuckle when I see Kayla flick her hand at the girls to move along. None of the guys notice the attention though, especially Logan because his eyes are trained on Jaxson and me.
“You know I really want to hate him, right?” Jaxson mumbles as we get closer, bringing a smile to my face.
“Which I find funny because he’s so much like you.”
“I know, it sucks.”
His response has me laughing. “Well I think I could do a whole lot worse. Or actually, I could never find better,” I say truthfully.
He grunts but gives my shoulder an affectionate squeeze. Once we make it to the group, I break away from him and throw myself at Logan.
He catches me with a smirk. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s good.”
“Good.” He responds with a kiss.
“All right, this is how it’s going down,” Sawyer starts. “Knight, you’ll take Jaxson’s jet ski and Cooper will take mine and you’ll go to either side of those buoys out there.” He points far out in the distance to the orange buoys floating on a rope. “We’re swimming our way over so pay close attention and watch which of us makes it first. Not that it should be hard to tell because I’m going to kick aaa—butt.” Everyone rolls their eyes at his smug remark. “Anna, you come help load the kids on our backs and count us off.”
Grace gasps. “Oh no you don’t, Sawyer! You are not taking my babies into the middle of the ocean with you on some sort of stupid competition.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s dangerous. What if there are sharks out there?”
“Oh jesus, there are no sharks, we aren’t going that far out.”
“I agree with Grace,” Julia cuts in nervously. “I don’t want Annabelle out there. Why don’t y’all just go?”
“Baby, I’m not going to let anything happen to her.” Jaxson attempts to assure her. “This is what we do, it’s what we’re trained in.”
“Yeah, Mama, and I want to go with Daddy, it’ll be fun.”
She relents with a sigh. “All right, just be careful.”
Grace, on the other hand, is still not looking convinced. “Sawyer Evans, if anything happens to you or my babies I swear to God—”
He cuts her off with a long, drawn-out kiss. “I got this, Cupcake, I’d never let anything happen. Now be waiting for me with my winning kiss.”
She pushes him away with a scoff but a smile hints at her lips.
Logan hops on the jet ski while Cooper gets on the other, allowing Beckett to join him before heading to their locations.
We all walk with everyone else to the end of the dock. Annabelle jumps on Jaxson’s back excitedly before Julia can even help her. Then it’s the twins—Hope gets on first then Grace helps Parker on top of her.
“Now hold on tight to Daddy, all right?”
“Don’t worry, Mom, Dad and I won’t let anything happen to Hope.”
Grace’s expression softens with a smile. “I know, baby. Y’all take care of each other, okay?”
Parker gives her a thumbs up.
“Let’s do this, Big Guy,” Ruthie shouts before jumping on Cade.
Faith chuckles. “Hold on tight to him, Ruthie.”
“Don’t worry, we got this,” she replies, and gives Faith a thumbs-up.
“All right, Anna, count us down,” Sawyer calls out.
“Oh my god, I think I’m gonna be sick,” Grace mumbles, placing a hand on her tummy.
Faith rubs her back. “Don’t worry, Grace, the guys got this. They’ll be okay.”
She blows out a heavy breath then nods with a smile, though not a convincing one.
“All right, here we go.” I yell, “On your marks, get set.” The kids join in with me: “Gooo!”
In a blink of an eye they’re off. I’m actually shocked to see how much speed they have and how graceful their strokes are with having kids weighing them down. Right now they all look close, really close, but the further they get the harder it is to tell.
“Is it terrible for me to hope Sawyer doesn’t win?” Grace whispers. “I’ll never up hear the end of it and his ego is big enough.”
We all burst out laughing because it’s the truth. Far off in the distance we see them come to a stop. They stay out there longer than we’re expecting and it starts to make us nervous.
“Why aren’t they coming back?” Julia wonders, chewing on her thumbnail nervously.
I’m about to throw out guesses when Logan and Cooper come speeding back and line up on either side of the dock, their expressions amused.
“What’s going on?” Grace asks once they cut the engine.
“It was a tie,” Cooper tells her with a chuckle.
“No way! Really?” Julia asks in surprise.
“Yep, and they’re pissed. So now they’re coming back this way, racing it again.”
We turn to see the guys headed for us, their speed and agility almost seeming unreal. You can hear the kid’s laughter as they hold on for dear life, cheering on their dads the closer they get.
They all look neck and neck again. We move up to get a good look at the finish line, and sure enough, all three hands slap the dock at the exact same time. The guys bob up from the water, out of breath.
“Who was it?” Sawyer asks, his breathing heavy.
Cooper is the one to tell him. “All three of you again.”
“No way! You’re full of shit,” he accuses.
“No, I’m not, ask the girls.”
“It’s true.” We all agree at the same time, chiming in on Cooper’s laughter.
“Damn it!” Jaxson grumbles, clearly hoping for a different outcome.
Annabelle gives him a big kiss on the cheek. “It’s a good thing, Daddy. You’re all heroes,” she says with a smile.
Jaxson grunts then flips her around and throws her in the air, making her scream with laughter. Cade tosses Ruthie next then Sawyer starts with his, holding Hope in the air while Parker clings to his chest. “Hey, Knight, catch,” he shouts before throwing Hope in the air.
Grace screams and the rest of us girls gasp in fear. I swear my heart literally stops beating. Only Sawyer doesn’t throw her to Logan and ends up catching her himself. All the guys laugh at our expressions; clearly knowing he wouldn’t have thrown her.
“Sawyer, I’m going to kill you.” Grace leans over to hit him, but he ends up grabbing her wrist and pulls her in headfirst.
I jump in after her and take Hope from Sawyer so she can deliver the beating to him that he deserves. Everyone else comes in, including Cooper and Logan. I keep hold of the dock since I can’t touch. Logan comes up behind me and encircles my waist before swimming Hope and me over to a more shallow area.
“Thanks,” I whisper, turning on him with a smile.
“Yes, thank you, kind sir,” Hope adds with a giggle.
Logan smirks. “You’re welcome.”
“Hey, Logan, catch me!” Annabelle yells from the dock behind him.
As soon as he turns to see who called him she launches herself at him.
“Oh shit!” He jumps forward just in time to catch her.
“Annabelle,” Jaxson shouts from the other side of the dock with Julia in his arms, “don’t do that again! You have to wait until people are ready for you,” he scolds.
“Don’t worry, Daddy, he caught me!” she yells back, then looks at Logan. “Don’t mind him, he’s a worrywart.”
I burst out laughing and watch as she crawls over Logan’s head and situates herself on his back. He stares back at me, looking unsure of what to do. Following Annabelle’s lead I move Hope to my back, then take Logan’s hand and pull him to swim with me.
The rest of the time flies by with laughter, fun and memories that will last a lifetime, which is exactly what I needed—what we all needed.
The sun has started to set by the time Logan and I leave. As we drive home I stare out the window with my heart feeling lighter than it has in years. Everything finally feeling as it should—minus the upcoming fight, but I shove that thought away, not wanting anything to ruin my happy little bubble.
Logan’s thumb strokes my fingers from where our hands are clasped together on the console. “You’re really good with kids,” he says quietly, breaking into my thoughts.
I look over at him with a smile. “Thanks, I love them all so much. I’ve been babysitting them since they were born; it’s hard to believe how fast they’re growing up. It actually makes me sad to think about.”
He gives my hand a squeeze. “You’re going to make an amazing mom one day, Anna.”
My tummy dips at his compliment, and I can’t help but wonder if he means in general or for our children. Does he even want kids? Does he want a future with me? The latter is something I’ve been dying to ask, but I’m terrified for his answer. He did say he would never leave me again, surely that must mean the same thing, right?