Seaside Nights Part 21

"You're both getting long in the tooth," Roach teased. "Sawyer, give me fifteen minutes of rope work, one hundred abs, and stretch."

"You got it, Roach." He went to grab a jump rope.

Roach followed him over. "How's Sky?"

Sawyer couldn't temper his smile. "Man, I've never met anyone like her. I think I'm going to introduce her to my folks."

"Seriously? That's a big step. It signals a future to women." Roach grinned.

"No s.h.i.+t, Coach? Teach me something else." He grabbed a rope and began skipping.

"I saw it the other night, you know. When you were singing to her." Roach crossed his arms and lowered his chin. Sawyer knew he was a.n.a.lyzing his skipping, his steps, his quickness, his hand movements. Roach was always a.n.a.lyzing. It's what made him a superior coach. "You wiped your heart all over that stage."

"So what?"

"Don't let it f.u.c.k you up in here."

Sawyer smiled. "Has it f.u.c.ked me up yet?" He knew he was too focused, too strong, for Roach to see a detriment.

Roach shook his head, then rubbed his chin. "Worried about what the doc said?"

"They've been telling me that s.h.i.+t since I was nineteen." He knew Roach was just feeling him out. Making sure he was solid, and as he a.s.sured him, he realized he was also a.s.suring himself. "No one can touch me, man. I've got this."

SKY AND AMY carried food for a spur-of-the-moment barbecue over to Bella's cottage, while the guys set up tables and chairs in the quad and began making a fire in the fire pit. The sun was setting, promising a cool evening for their gathering.

"I still can't believe the renovations on my apartment will be done soon and in a few weeks I can move in. I'm going to miss living here," Sky said to Amy.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you want," Amy said.

"Thanks. I'll have to really think about it. There are benefits to living above the shop, but there's no chunky-dunking." She laughed. Chunky-dunking was what Sky and her friends called skinny-dipping, which they did in the pool at Seaside when they could get away with it.

"Where's Jenna? I didn't see her car when I drove in."

"She and Pete went to get something from their beach house. They'll be back before dinner." Amy stopped walking and pressed her hand to her belly. "Sorry. Baby wants out." She blew out a breath. "Okay, I'm good."

Sky held the gate to the deck open for Amy to walk through. "Your baby looks like it has dropped. Are you sure about the due date?"

Amy rubbed her belly. "As sure as I can be. The doctor seems to think I have another few weeks. But I have no idea how they really know. We were going at it like rabbits, making up for lost time." She stopped talking as Caden walked out the door.

"Hey, girls. Let me take that." Caden smiled as he took the groceries and they followed him inside, where Bella was busy seasoning chicken and steak. Evan hovered over Bella, watching her every move.

"Don't touch the raw chicken. It'll get you sick." Evan's voice had deepened over the last two years, and he'd filled out since he'd begun college. At almost nineteen, he no longer looked like a teenage boy, but a young man.

"Ev, I've been cooking longer than you've been alive," Bella said.

Evan patted her head as if she were a child. "But you weren't carrying my baby sister or brother."

"Evan, come over here and give Auntie Amy a hug h.e.l.lo." Amy opened her arms. "Let's give your stepmom a break from all the nagging."

Evan laughed. "Auntie Amy?" He embraced her, then hugged Sky. "Gotta love a woman without a baby in her belly. How are you, Sky?"

"I'm doing well, but when did you turn into a man? Gotta love a woman...?"

"College does that to a guy," Evan said. He'd completed his first year at Harborside University, which was about an hour away from the Cape.

"I take it you're enjoying college life," Sky said. "Why are you home? I thought you were working down there this summer."

"I am. I've made a bunch of friends and I'm working at Endless Summer Surf Shop. It's owned by this supercool guy, Brent Steele. You should see the place. There are tons of hot girls there all summer long." He smiled at his father, who shook his head. "I came home to grab a few things from the house, but I'm heading out now. I'll be back when Bella has the baby."

"In other words, he came to make sure I wasn't doing anything I shouldn't be while carrying his sibling." Bella patted Evan on the back, then kissed his cheek. "You're going to be a great big brother." She leaned toward Sky and teased, "I hope we don't have a girl."

"Can you imagine Evan around a baby sister?" Sky teased. "He'll be as protective as all of my brothers wrapped into one."

"She'll be one lucky sister," Bella said. "At least we'll always know she's cared for."

"You can count on it." Evan picked up his keys from the counter. "I'll teach him or her to surf, like Tony taught me." He hugged Caden and Bella, and with one hand on the door said, "And if it's a boy, I'll teach him how to get laid." He took off out the door, laughing.

"G.o.d." Bella laughed. "Are all nineteen-year-old boys like that?"

Caden kissed her with a wide grin. "All teenage boys think about is s.e.x. But I think he's all talk."

They heard Evan's car pull away as Caden walked out the door with the food.

"He hopes he's all talk," Amy said.

"We're going chunky-dunking tonight," Bella said quietly. "You in, Sky?"

"I'm hoping that Sawyer is going to stay over, so..." She wasn't about to leave him to go skinny-dipping.

"We figured," Amy said. "That's why we're going after all the men are asleep. How long after you...you know...does he fall asleep?"

Sky giggled. "I don't know. It's not like I time him."

"Jenna does," Amy said with a smile. "She said Pete's out in seven minutes or less."

"G.o.d, really? Seven minutes?" Sky thought about Sawyer and wondered how long it did take him to fall asleep. "I just a.s.sumed he fell asleep at the same time as me. What about Leanna? Is she staying over and going, too? Oh gosh, and what about Theresa? She's home tonight. I saw her car-and about a dozen pink boxes on her porch, thanks to you, Bella. She must be p.i.s.sed."

"I'm not sure if Leanna is going to stay or not, and I've been watching Theresa. She's had her lights out by nine thirty every night so far this summer. We'll be quiet. It'll be fine." Bella touched her belly. "Another kick," she said with a smile. Then she said to Amy, "It's not my fault Theresa likes adult toys." She handed Sky a head of lettuce with a hint of a smile on her lips. "Can you chop?"

Amy smirked. "Like you're not the one sending her the stuff? You run over to see her face with every delivery."

"That's because I want her to know that we all know what she's ordering."

Amy washed two tomatoes and began slicing them for the salad. "I don't know why you keep pranking her after the whole Bradley Cooper fiasco."

Bella put condiments on a tray and settled one hand on her hip. "If I give up, she wins. You know me better than that."

"Aha!" Amy laughed. "As if I didn't know it was you sending the s.e.x paraphernalia."

"You had your doubts." Bella picked up the tray and looked at Sky again. "You're in for chunky-dunking, right?"

"If he falls asleep, yes, but you may have to go without me. We're-"

"s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g like monkeys. We know," Bella teased. "You're in that honeymoon stage, where you can't get enough of each other." She smiled at Amy. "The rest of us are still in that stage, too, but we know to wear our men out early on chunky-dunking nights. So we expect you to retire to your bedroom early so you can come out and play with us."

"Oh, the pressure," Sky teased. "What if I don't want to leave him?"

Bella got as close to Sky as her belly would allow and narrowed her eyes. "You are not allowed to turn into one of those women who ignores her girlfriends for a guy. That hot hunk will still be in your bed after you come out and have fun with us, but who knows when the next time is that we'll have a chance to skinny-dip without worrying about waking our babies."

"Good point. My bad." Sky secretly loved that Bella was so pushy. Growing up without sisters made her treasure her kins.h.i.+p with the Seaside girls even more.

"I'll bring the cookie dough," Amy sang out.

SAWYER SAT BY the bonfire with Tony, Pete, Caden, Grayson, Kurt, and Blue after dinner, watching Sky and her girlfriends giggling and whispering on the other side of the fire pit. Jenna's head tipped back with a hearty, loud laugh, the kind of contagious laugh that made the others join in. Bella's laugh was husky, and Leanna's and Amy's were nearly silent. But Sky's laugh had a feminine ring to it. Sawyer tuned everything else out and listened to her laughter. It seemed to float from her lungs and radiate outward from her chest, ending in a quick inhalation. And her smile-Christ, her beautiful smile-did funny things to his stomach every time he saw it.

"Welcome to Seaside," Pete said. "Are you surviving your indoctrination?"

Sawyer laughed. "Seems to me like you guys are really lucky to have each other. Thanks again for letting us use your boat overnight, Pete. I'm looking forward to being out on the water again. It's been ages."

"No problem," Pete said. "I'm psyched that Sky's dating a guy who enjoys boating. You'll fit right in with the rest of us. I heard that you're coming to Sky's grand opening. You'll finally get to meet our brother Matt."

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. And I hope to meet your father, too." Sawyer had heard so much about their father that he was looking forward to meeting the man who had built Sky her own art studio and had loved his wife so much that her death had sent his world off-kilter-and loved his family enough to right his ways.

"He wouldn't miss Sky's opening for the world," Pete said, then took a swig of his beer.

Tony pointed to Amy and smiled. Each of the girls had a hand pressed to her stomach. "It doesn't get much better than this. It's gonna be a trip when all our babies are born. I think the girls will be sad when Sky moves up to Provincetown."

"She's pretty happy about the renovations almost being done, but we haven't talked much about when she's going to move." Sawyer imagined she would go through a wide range of emotions when she moved, and he hoped he could help when she did. He turned to Blue. "Thanks for taking care of Sky's renovations, Blue. I know she really appreciates all that you do for her."

"No worries. She's a good friend." Blue took a swig of his beer. "And she seems happier than she's ever been."

"Thanks. That means a lot to me, knowing how much you two mean to each other." Sawyer noticed Sky watching him and smiled. She blew him a kiss.

"Okay, enough sappy s.h.i.+t," Grayson interrupted. "Let's get to the good stuff before my sister monopolizes you again."

"Good stuff?" Sawyer asked.

"Your fighting," Tony explained.

"We were wondering if you'd mind if we came by the club to watch you train," Grayson said with hopeful eyes. "We'd love to check it out sometime."

"Would I mind? I'd welcome it. Do you want to come down one day next week? My coach is bringing in a heavyweight for me to spar with to get ready for my t.i.tle fight. I'll let you know when."

"Definitely. Whaddaya say, Blue?" Grayson asked.

"Hey, I'm there," Blue said. "Maybe we can even get Sky to go. If we're all there, she might be willing to give it another try."

"Maybe, but I don't want to push her. It's okay if she doesn't want to watch. I get it," Sawyer said.

"Sky would go if Jenna and the girls went," Pete said.

"Bella wants to see your friend's sister fight," Caden added. "I'm sure she can talk the girls into going."

"I still can't believe you're dating my sister," Grayson said. "She hates fighting, and here she is, dating a champ."

"I'm one lucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Lucky she's willing to look past my career." Sawyer watched Sky as she turned toward him again. The embers of the fire cast an orange glow on her legs as she circled the fire with a seductive look in her eyes.

"I'd also like to hear the songs you've written," Kurt said.

"I'm playing at Sky's grand opening. Will you be there?" He reached for Sky's hand, wondering if her brother and friends could feel the emotions pouring off of her and see the look of wanting in her eyes.

"As long as Leanna's feeling okay, we will," Kurt said, his eyes trained on his wife.

"Is Leanna okay?" Sky asked Kurt. "She doesn't seem like her perky self tonight."

Kurt's brows drew together. "She's been feeling a little off lately. I think she's working too hard. In fact, I'd better see if she wants to call it a night and head back to our other house. She's working early tomorrow to fill those big orders that came in." He rose and held a hand out to Sawyer. "We'll see you at your sparring match."

Sawyer shook his hand. "Absolutely."

"Sparring match?" Sky asked.

"They want to watch me train, so I invited them to watch me spar. You're welcome to come, but don't feel any pressure to. I know you don't like to watch me fight."

"Actually, I was just telling the girls that I want to watch you train again."

"Sky, you don't have to do that," he a.s.sured her.

"I want to support you. It might take me a few baby steps before your big fight, but I want to cheer you on, and I think Bella talked me into at least letting Jana show me a few self-defense moves later in the fall after Bella's baby is born. She seems to think it'll help me understand what you do." She stepped in closer. "No promises, but I'm willing to try."

His heart swelled. "Sky..." He pulled her against him and closed his eyes, unable to believe she would make such a big concession for him. "Thank you."

"Hey, gang, I'm calling it a night," Caden said. Pete followed him over toward the grill.

"Come on, Blue, let's give them some privacy." Grayson pulled Blue up to his feet. "If we leave now, we might get lucky at the Beachcomber."

"Ugh. Grayson," Sky chided him. "I don't want to hear about you trying to get lucky."

Grayson laughed. "Then don't listen. Besides, Hunter's been there for hours. He's probably already scared all the hot girls away." He swatted Sawyer on the back. "We'll see you at your sparring match, if not before. Take care of my sister."

"Hey, you smack him on the back, but you don't hug me or anything?" Sky pulled Grayson into a hug, then reached for Blue and did the same. "I miss hanging out with you. Don't let my brother turn you into a manwh.o.r.e."

"I miss you, too, and Grayson's not a manwh.o.r.e," Blue said with a smile. "He just believes in sharing the love."

Grayson flashed a devilish grin. "And the l.u.s.t, and the-"