Free The Cornerstone by Kate Canterbary Page B

leaving now,” she announced.
    Her hair was wild, her lips kiss-swollen, and her expression told me there was only a slim chance that she’d let my cock change her mind.
    “Here I thought check out wasn’t until noon,” I said.
    “And I thought you’d be a grower, not a shower,” she said. “Guess we were both wrong.”
    “Hmm,” I murmured, scratching my chin while I stared at her. “You need me to tie you to the headboard again, don’t you? Maybe a good, hard fuck to start the day? We can bend that bratty attitude of yours into shape.”
    Shannon murmured to herself, a small smile lifting her lips, and she narrowed her eyes in my direction. “That’s a charming offer,” she said, “but I don’t think your dick can reach my attitude , let alone bend it. I’m also leaving for Boston soon, and I’d like you to get the fuck out of my cottage.”
    I kept my eyes on Shannon while stepping into my wrinkled clothes. “Have you ever met anyone with bigger balls?”
    She tilted her head and offered a smile intended to eat my soul. “Hate to break it to you, but I’ve seen bigger blueberries than the set you’re rocking.”
    “I meant you,” I said, pulling her against my chest. “Have you ever met anyone with bigger balls than you ?”
    She requested that I fuck off, and slammed the door behind me.
    I stood and stretched out my hamstrings. “Where’d you find yourself last night? You weren’t with the little sister long.”
    Wes laughed and leaned back in the sand on his elbows. “That crew knows how to have a good time. They give each other a ton of shit, and they could drink with any Team guy,” he said. “It pains me to say this, but I like them.”
    With that thought, I dove into the waves and swam to the sandbar and back. I didn’t want to think about the Walshes, and I really didn’t want to think about my burning abs and quads either. I didn’t want to think about Shannon anymore. I lost my fucking mind with her, and the problem was, I wanted to lose it again.
    When I emerged from the water and plunked my ass on the sand, Wes threw a peculiar look at me. “Did you take some shrapnel?”
    “What? No,” I said. He nodded at my back, and I glanced over my shoulder to find half-moon punctures and long, shallow abrasions. “It’s nothing. Just a few scratches.”
    Shortcake. Another reason to keep her tied up next time.
    Yeah. Next time. She might have kicked me out of her bed before sunrise, but that didn’t mean this was over. It was fucked up beyond belief considering we got off on taunting each other, but it wasn’t over.
    He eyed me while a slow smile twisted across his lips. “That’s one way to taste the local flavor,” he said, laughing.
    I tried telling myself this was a one-time thing—sure, technically it was more like multiple times but all in the course of one weekend—and she annoyed the shit out of me. But there was no reason to pretend I wasn’t coming back for more of Shannon Walsh.
    I didn’t know when and I didn’t know how, but I wasn’t nearly finished with that peanut.

Chapter Six
    SHANNON
    Fifteen months ago
    I didn’t know whether I should be proud or embarrassed that I didn’t learn to drink tequila until I was in my thirties and met Lauren. I’d always thought it involved worms and the most heinous hangovers in life, and I stuck with my beer, wine, and whiskey.
    “To the last weekend of the summer,” Lauren said, lifting her margarita glass in salute.
    “I’ll drink to that,” I said. I leaned back in the massaging seat and sipped my beverage while the technician scrubbed last month’s dark plum paint from my toes.
    Lauren knew how to find all the hidden gems, and this cozy spa with its happy hour pedicures was the best of them. Neither of us was particularly good about taking time for ourselves. We gave everything to our careers and our people, but we were good about forcing each other to breathe once in a while.
    Our version of breathing