Bathroom counter.

Stairway landing.

Lounge chairs.

Patio table.

Fence.

Hood of a car . . .

Basically, if I can sit or lean on it, Huxley can fuck me on it, and he has.

And it’s been amazing. So amazing that I admitted to Kelsey yesterday that I’m embarrassingly addicted to his cock. So bad that anytime I see him, I can practically feel him already between my legs. Yup, I’ve lost it completely.

And yet . . . it’s not just that. In fact, it’s making me see how superficial my previous boyfriends were. Especially Ken. God, I dated an idiot. I knew Huxley had a deeper soul than it seemed when I first met him. And I’ve gotten to know him. Yes, he has pretentious business goals and aspirations, but he’s also generous with his time. He looks for opportunities to grow his employees by offering his expertise when that benefits them. He encourages growth in employee skills. He shared some of his drive with me, and it got me even more excited about opportunities for Kelsey’s company. And for what I’m actually capable of. He complimented me for my business acumen, and that felt extraordinary. He is extraordinary.

Grabbing me by the hips, Huxley asks, “Do you have any regrets?”

“Are you serious?” I ask. “The only regret I have is not stripping down for you on day one.”

He laughs. “Pretty sure you hated me too much to strip down.”

“Angry sex is better than no sex.” I reach up to kiss him just as the doorbell rings. I stiffen in his arms and whisper, “Oh God, they’re here.”

“They’re going to love you. I promise.” He kisses me one last time, then takes my hand in his and brings me to the front door. When he opens it, he reveals Breaker and JP, both holding Tupperware and flowers in their hands.

“There she is,” Breaker says, pushing through the door. “The girl who turned our brother into a walking pile of lusty mush.”

“Jesus,” Huxley mutters.

“These are for you.” Breaker hands me flowers and then pulls me into a hug.

JP follows behind him, handing me flowers as well. “You’re a goddess,” he says, giving me a hug as well. “We want you to tell us everything.”

Huxley inserts himself between his brothers and separates us. “That won’t be necessary. You know enough.”

“You can’t protect her all night. We will get her alone, and we’ll ask her embarrassing questions. We need as much ammo as we can get,” JP says.

There’s a knock at the door.

With a warning glare, Huxley says, “Be on your best behavior.”

His brothers roll their eyes—which I think is hilarious—and they walk toward the kitchen as Huxley answers the door. “Maura, Jeff, Kelsey, welcome.”

Huxley swings the door all the way open, revealing my family on the other side. Mom made homemade churros and Jeff brought a fruit salad I know he spent at least an hour making. He takes his fruit salads seriously. It shows. They’re positively beautiful and really freaking delicious.

“Thank you so much for having us. I’ve been itching to see where our Lottie has been staying,” Mom says as she steps in and gives Huxley a hug. Jeff offers him a handshake and Kelsey gives him a fist bump, which I think is kind of funny. We’ve had two meetings with Cane Enterprises, and even though Huxley is extremely professional, Breaker and JP have made the business relationship more easygoing. I can see that in the easy manner Kelsey has around Huxley now.

I give them a quick hello before we all head back to the kitchen. Reign prepared a spread of food, which he arranged on the kitchen island while Huxley and I were busy doing . . . other things.

The sliding glass doors to the backyard are open, and there’s music playing softly in the background.

“Wow,” Mom says in awe. “Your place is spectacular.”

“Thank you,” Huxley says while taking the food Mom and Jeff brought. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

Over the past week, I’ve come to know the real Huxley. The Huxley I thought I met when we ran into each other on the sidewalk. Easygoing, fun. The once stiff and unapproachable man I knew is no longer in sight. Actually, the only thing stiff about him is his cock.

After we’re all settled, pleasantries and introductions behind us, we head out to the patio with our food and take a seat at the large patio table on which Huxley and I have had sex three times. But no one needs to know that.

Huxley leans into my ear and whispers, “Your mom is sitting in the exact same spot where you came so hard, you squirted.”

“Can you not?” I whisper back, feeling my face go red.

He chuckles and kisses my cheek.

“What are you whispering about over there?” Kelsey, who’s sitting across from me, asks. The glint in her eye tells me she knows exactly what we’re talking about, because I told her about our patio table escapades.

“Nothing,” I say, glaring at her.

“So, Jeff, are you going to tell them the news?” Mom asks, thankfully changing the subject.

“What news?” I ask, glancing down the table at Jeff, who’s partaking in some of his fruit salad and Reign’s homemade macaroni casserole.

The table grows quiet as Jeff sets down his fork and lifts his head. “I received a letter in the mail yesterday. Apparently, someone contacted the beautification committee and suggested they take a look at our house. They came by last week while visiting the other properties and congratulated me on a well-preserved yard with exquisite definition and color selection in our planters.” Mom squeezes Jeff’s arm.

“Seriously?” I ask, in complete shock.

Jeff nods, his smile so large that it’s contagious. “Unfortunately, the house isn’t within the boundaries of the contest, but they did give me an honorary award and said they’d be working with the city on expanding the boundary line so I can possibly be included in the future.”

“Holy shit,” I say. “That’s amazing, Jeff. Oh my God, you’ve worked so hard.”

He nods again and his eyes well up. He looks at Huxley and says, “Thank you, Huxley. I’m not sure you know how much this means to me.”

Huxley?

I turn around to look at him, and he offers Jeff a simple nod. “I just made a phone call. You did all of the work.”

“Wait, you called the beautification committee?”

“Nothing to make a big deal about,” he says under his breath. “Congrats, Jeff. It’s a well-deserved honor.”

In the most sincere voice, Jeff says, “It means the world to me to be recognized, Huxley. Thank you.”

And then the table falls silent as my mind swirls with this new information.

Jeff heard from them yesterday.

But they did their rounds a week to two weeks ago.

Which means . . . Huxley must have called them before we were together, when we were at each other’s necks with anger and frustration.

And he did that. He called.

He put that smile on Jeff’s face.

“Huxley,” I whisper.

He picks up my hand, places a kiss across my knuckles, and says, “We’ll talk about it later.”

“Please tell us you have some embarrassing stories,” JP says as he takes a seat across from me on a lounger. Breaker joins him.

I glance over at the patio, where Huxley is in deep conversation with Jeff and my mom. Kelsey left a while ago because she claimed she had another engagement, but I saw right through her. She was avoiding JP and his flirtation. Frankly, I was enjoying the show, but Kelsey could only take so much.

Hunkering down with the boys, I say, “I’m not sure the man is capable of doing anything embarrassing.”

“Obviously he’s been able to hold it together so far in front of you. Trust me when I say, the man can embarrass himself.”

“Oh yeah? Why don’t you delight me with a story?”

Breaker and JP exchange glances. “Did he mention the time he did a presentation at NYU about entrepreneurship, and the entire time, his fly was undone?”