Free A SEALed Fate by Nikki Winter

laughing. “But so fucking necessary, you drama queen!”
    “Hey, hey, hey!” He popped her on the ass and grinned when she yelped. “There is nothing feminine about this beautiful hunk of man meat you have beneath you.”
    Zuly blinked. “This conversation ended the moment you decided to use the words man meat in a sentence.” Rolling off him, she stood and lent him her hands. “Go shower.”
    Lips twitching, he started in that direction before pausing and asking, “Wanna come scrub my back?”
    “Oh, no, sir. We’re still on the subject of you confessing your undying love for me, wandering off into a completely different city, drinking yourself into possibly needing a new liver and then drunkenly calling me.”
    “So is that a no or...”
    “Fitz. Gerald.”
    Wincing, he walked toward the bathroom. “I know that tone.”
    “Damn right you do.”
     
    ***
     
    “You just saved me from possiblygetting commandeered. I’m not quite sure if I’m grateful or disappointed,” Gabriela stated as she answered her phone.
    Zuly snorted as she placed their food on the small dinette table in the suite and waited for Fitz to come out of the bathroom. “I found Fitz.”
    There was a pause, then what sounded like a door closing. “Is he all right?”
    “As well as can be expected,” Zuly replied. “He was drinking, though.”
    Gabriela’s sigh was heartfelt. “He needs a counselor.”
    “We’ve come to that conclusion.” She chewed the inside of her cheek. “How’s Riley?”
    The other woman chuckled. “Sulking.”
    “You know Fitz would never–”
    “Stop,” Gabriela cut in. “Riley got exactly what he deserved for being a tactless dick in front of everyone and he knows it–which is why he’s been climbing the walls for the last few days. My wonderful husband is a lot more sensitive than he looks. He won’t say it but he’s worried. He was always worried.”
    “They need to talk.”
    “In a room without breakable shit.”
    Zuly’s lips curled. “With foam bats and Oprah playing in the background.”
    “And a possible cameo from Iyanla.”
    Laughing softly now, Gabriela added, “Reality dictates that the most they’ll do is grunt at each other in that extremely awkward way, shrug then go sit down to watch something that involves more grunting and awkward shrugging.”
    “Because neither have any idea what to do with actual emotions.”
    “I think we should sort of be grateful for that.”
    Zuly grimaced as she thought about the damage done to the Carrigans’ coffee table. “We really should.”
    “Where’s he at now?”
    She cut her eyes toward the bedroom. “Hotel suite shower.”
    Silence descended and then, “Zuly...sweetheart...my love...I think your vagina needs to be checked for malfunctions.”
    Pulling the phone away from her ear, Zuly stared down at it. “And this conversation just took a turn for the worse.”
    “Pumpkin, if you’re on the phone with me instead of playing Sacagawea all over Fitz’s Lewis and Clark...something is terribly wrong here.”
    “I’m...I’m hanging up now,” Zuly said softly. “Because we can’t be friends anymore.”
    “Are you breaking up with me because you’re bi-curious? Is my loving not enough for you?”
    “I simply refuse to continue this. Good day, ma’am.”
    “But Zuly–”
    “I said good day!” With that she hung up, laughing hard enough to draw a curious stare from Fitz as he finally emerged from the bathroom in a robe, hair wet and curling around his nape.
    Humina humina...
    “Please tell me your amusement doesn’t have to do with the fact that I may or may not find videos of myself naked, wet, and singing on the Internet,” he said, moving slowly toward the small dinette table to sit.
    “On the Internet? No,” Zuly answered. “On one of my many electronic devices? Mebbe...”
    Smirking, he sat back and that damn robe spread, distracting her with all the naked, hard flesh in between. They should be talking,