Free One Simple Step (Journey Series) by C.A. Williams Page B

and he obviously liked me, so if we were going to play the friends card for the time being, that was fine with me. He was right. We had both come out of sticky situations pretty recently and needed to get our heads on straight before jumping right back into a relationship. Everyone and their mom knows I had already made that mistake once, with my shotgun wedding to Teddy, and we all saw how that one worked out.
    I tapped on the glass with my free hand, and I heard Nick yell for me to come in. “Hey,” I called out, before I stepped into the kitchen and opened the fridge to unload my bags. “Hope you don’t mind, but I decided to come over anyway.” I heard paws padding on the hardwood floor, and soon enough, I was getting attacked by Gunther.
    “Gunther, leave her alone,” Nick directed in a low warning tone as he stepped into the kitchen, leaning back against the counter, elbows resting on the hard surface. “I thought you were staying in tonight. You should have called.”
    I shut the fridge, and turned around, crossing my arms over my chest, as I suddenly felt uncomfortable. “I changed my mind, but I can leave if you want me to.”
    He pulled out his phone and tapped on it a few times, before looking up to give me a distracted smile and a quick shake of his head. “Of course I don’t want you to leave. You wanna watch some movies or something? I didn’t pick anything up to eat.”
    “I have that all taken care of.”
    I shoved a six-pack of beer at him, and he smiled. “Ah, a girl after my own heart.”
    “Well, I figured I should bring some kind of bribe so you would build me a fire out on the beach. Hot dogs and s’mores sound good?”
    “Ally, you’re killing me here. Beer, hot dogs, and marshmallows?” He dropped down to his knees in front of me, and I giggled when he pulled me down with him. “Will you marry me? Because, seriously, I think you might be the most perfect girl ever.”
    “Very funny.” I shoved him in the chest as I stood up, and began pulling things out of the cabinets. “Now, go get to work.”
    We stayed up way too late, eating endless amounts of hot dogs and marshmallows. By the time we were done, I felt like I had gained at least fifty pounds and could barely move. Nick insisted that he could out eat me, since I was a girl and all, so I had to take on the challenge, and sadly, I just couldn’t win.
    “Where do you put all of that?” I teased as I poked him in his flat stomach.
    “It’s all muscle, baby.” He flexed an arm, winking at me as he jumped to his feet and threw the last of his hot dog bun into the low fire we were left with.
    He leaned down quickly and, before I knew what he was doing, scooped me up into his arms, slinging me over his shoulder. “And where did you put all of it? Light as a feather.”
    I squealed as he held me upside down, and beat on his back to try to get him to put me down, but it was a lost cause. He began running in the sand through the darkness. I knew exactly where he was going, and I held my breath just as the cool water hit both of our bodies. His arms wrapped around my waist, and goose bumps instantly spread across my skin at his touch.
    “Was that really necessary?” I asked when we both reached the surface, his arms still tightly around me, causing our faces to be just inches from each other.
    “Definitely,” he replied, voice low, eyelids fluttering open and beads of water dripping from his lashes. He moved an inch closer, and my legs had a mind of their own, instantly moving to wrap around his waist.
    He let out a grunt at the contact, and I smiled at the effect it had on him. He licked his lips slowly, causing the sexual tension between us to grow even more. For me at least.
    “You were a sticky mess, I figured you needed some help washing it off. I’m a genius, you’re welcome.” The moonlight glinted off of his eyes as his mouth twitched in amusement, and I wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, pulling him even