“Hey! It’s my child. How was school?”

I slowly took my book bag off from my shoulder and let it slip from my two fingers. It dropped with a thud to the ground as my eyebrows rose. “I’m popular now.”

He took a long sip from his straw that was adorned with a parasol umbrella and bobbed his head in rhythm with the music. “Never doubted it. How’d it happen?” He turned and flipped the chicken over on the grill.

“I told them to f**k off.” I flushed as I realized it was becoming my favorite phrase.

He chuckled and slid the chicken onto a plate. “That sounds like my kid. Way to go. Did you find the bucket of condoms I left for you?”

I flushed again and averted my eyes. That’s when I saw the table was set with four placemats. “Are we expecting company?”

He shook his head, but let his question slide. “I invited Mason and Logan. They’ll be here in an hour. I guess they’re going to shoot hoops tonight at the gym. They even invited me.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “What do you think? You think this old man could keep up with those young kids?”

I flashed back to when I first met my biological father. He asked if I was training for a marathon. There was no other reason for running that long. I chuckled now. “I think you’ll hold your own.”

He winked and swished around to refill his drink. “Go on.” He jerked his head towards the door. “I know you want to run. Be back in an hour or we’ll start without you.”

Relief flooded me and I took the stairs two at a time. It wasn’t long before I had my warm running clothes on and bypassed the kitchen on the way out. Once I was outside, I hit the pavement hard. Soon my blood flow warmed my limbs and I was sprinting by the end of the block. He said an hour. I was going to make it worthwhile.

When I staggered back through the door, I nearly fell over, panting. I had sprinted the entire hour, but I had no idea how far I’d gone. It’d been worth every breath that ripped through me and every mile I raced across. I knew I had a smile from ear to ear, but I couldn’t shake it. I didn’t want to.

While I heard male voices from the kitchen, I ignored them and headed straight for my bedroom. After I had hopped in the shower and came out in a towel, I wasn’t surprised to see Mason on my bed. He propped himself up and gave me a lazy grin. “Let it drop.”

A rush of tingles raced through me, but I opened my closet and kept the towel on. “Garrett was drinking when I left. Is he drunk by now?”

“Nah.” His voice was husky as he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. He pulled me against him and nuzzled underneath my ear. His lips moved against my skin, causing goosebumps across my skin as I closed my eyes. “He’s having a good time. He wants to get to know me and Logan.”

My head fell back, and I let myself sag in his arms before I twisted to face him. He grinned and pulled me tight against him. My leg was lifted over his and he held me in place at the waist. One of his hands skimmed down my arm to the edge of the towel. Two fingers pushed inside, and he let it drop the next moment. I shivered in excited anticipation and was lifted off my feet the next second.

He swung me in his arms and carried me to the bed. As he laid me down, he held himself over me, his gaze hungrily roaming over my body. I slid a hand through his hair and pulled him down. My lips opened over his as I arched against him, but he still held himself over me. His lips explored mine and took their time in a slow kiss. I groaned. I wanted him against me. I wanted him between my legs as I curled them around his waist to drag him down. He resisted and chuckled into my mouth.

He moved to the side and caressed my body. He went slow as he felt every inch of me. His lips followed in his trail and I was trembling by the time he lifted his head to meet my lips again.

Bang! Bang!

Mason cursed as he flipped to his feet and hurried for the door. When it started to open, he slammed it shut again.

“Mason, dude! Come on.” Logan sounded angry on the other side.

Mason grinned at me as he panted. “Give us a minute.”

“It’s been thirty. Get your asses downstairs.” He waited a beat. “Hi, Sam. I’ve missed you.”

My voice was raspy as I called out, “Hi, Logan. Five minutes, okay?”

We heard grumbling before he left.

Mason bit out some more curses as he raked a hand through his hair. I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one still panting and raised myself up. My limbs felt like they were in thigh-high mud. I groaned and weakly made it to the closet. When I tried to pull on some jeans, my leg kept missing the pants, and I heard Mason laughing as he picked me back up in his arms. He deposited me on the bed again but, this time, bent to help guide my legs into the jeans.

I grinned as my cheeks got warmer. “Thanks.”

His shoulders shook as he bent down and pressed a kiss to the apex between my legs before he skimmed my underwear up and pulled the pants after. Then he teased in a husky note, “You need help with your bra too?”

I slapped him on the shoulder before I crawled off the bed and pulled out a sporty tank. It had a built-in bra, I slipped a white tank over that before I shook my head, still grinning and still with warm cheeks. “I can’t believe you had to dress me.”

His eyes held a dark promise as he stretched. “I have that effect on women. What can I say?”

I was tempted to hit him again, but I pushed him ahead of me instead as we made our way down to the kitchen.