He takes a long gulp of his beer, not looking any of us in the eye.  We’re all watching him, smiling, and finally he looks at Natalie and says, “If I weren’t so in love with my girlfriend, and didn’t respect your husband like I do, I’d attack you right here on this table. Those are fucking hot.”

We all bust out laughing, Luke high-fives Nate, and Natalie blushes just a bit.

“However,” Nate continues, “I don’t think I’m comfortable with anyone, but especially you, Natalie, taking photos of me making love. We’ll keep it in the bedroom, thanks.”

“Well,” I add, “Not just the bedroom…”

“Ew,” Natalie wrinkles her nose and I smile smugly at her.

“Not as pretty from the other side, is it friend? Okay, no sex pictures. But I could use some studio time.”

“Absolutely, when?” Nat asks and winks, enjoying our deceiving banter, then looks over at Nate with a frown. I look up into cold gray eyes.

“What?”

“Why?”

I squeeze his fingers and lean in to whisper in his ear, “Your birthday is coming up, ace.”

“Next week work for you?” he asks Natalie, making us all laugh again and I’m relieved to know that he’s going to love his birthday gift.

Suddenly, the band breaks into another hot Maroon5 song and Natalie and I grin at each other.

“Shall we?” I ask her.

“Sure,” she responds.

The boys let us out of the booth and I take her hand as we stride out to the dance floor.  We join the sea of bodies and begin to move. Natalie’s body is gorgeous; curvaceous and naturally graceful, and she moves with ease on her tall stilettos. I’m thankful for many years in martial arts classes that gave me balance, and a natural rhythm, and I swing my hips and arms with the song.  I close my eyes and turn in a tight circle, getting lost in the music.

When I open them again, the boys have joined us, Luke wraps himself around Natalie and moves against her, all tall blonde and sexy, and suddenly Nate is pressed to my back, his hands on my hips, his face in my neck.

“You are so fucking hot, baby,” he growls against my ear.

I grin back at him and he leads me through the rest of the song, then through two more, his body pressed close to mine, sending fire through me.

Finally, the band plays a slow Matchbox Twenty song, and Nate wraps me in his arms and sways me back and forth, his hands on my hips. He kisses my forehead and I lean against his chest, enjoying the slow music and being in my man’s strong arms.

When the song ends, Natalie and I decide we need to get off our feet for a bit, and the guys decide to try their hand at some pool.  They escort us back to the table and then go claim an empty pool table.

“Damn,” I mutter as I take a sip of my drink and watch Nate lean over the table to take a shot. His ass fills out those slacks so nicely.

“Our men are hot,” Natalie comments with a grin.

“Very hot,” I nod and we giggle. “I’m so glad we did this. I’ve missed you.”

“Me too. Who knew a year ago that our lives would be so different?”

“Right? I know that it’s all good stuff, and I’m thankful, but I miss you.”

“Well, we’ll have to make the effort to see each other more.” Natalie checks her phone and I smile at her.

“Why don’t you just call her?” I ask.

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Natalie responds as her phone pings. “Oh! She texted me. Yep, they’re fine.” She smiles widely.

I glance over to the pool table and find Nate’s eyes trained on me. I grin at him and the side of his mouth turns up in a lazy smile, and I feel the hit straight to my loins.

Jesus, he does things to me.

“Well, hello, gorgeous.”

My head twirls and there is DJ, a man I was briefly involved with two years ago, standing at the end of our table. I was so caught up in Nate, I didn’t even notice him.

“Hi, DJ.” I respond unenthusiastically.

“Nat,” he winks at Natalie and she glares at him.

Things between DJ and I did not end well.

“So, how you been, Jules?” he asks, a cocky grin on his too-handsome face. DJ is handsome; tall, toned and dark-haired. He works at the gym I used to work out at, and was my trainer for a while.

“I’m great, DJ.”

“Glad to hear it. And to see that you’re maintaining that sweet body of yours.” He winks at me and my stomach rolls. He’s an asshole. I want him gone, and I pray that Nate is too busy with his game to notice him.

“Thanks for stopping by, but Natalie and I are enjoying our drinks, DJ. Have a good night.”

“Mind if I join you?”

Jesus, no one ever accused him of being smart.

“Yes, we do mind. Goodbye, DJ.”

“Oh, c’mon, don’t be like that.” He runs his fingers down my cheek, and I catch his wrist in my hand and pull it away from me.

“Don’t touch me. Just go away.”

“Or what, Jules?”

“Or I’ll have to kick your ass,” Nate murmurs quietly behind him.

Chapter Twenty Six

Fuck.

I look over and Nate and Luke are both standing behind DJ, Luke with his arms crossed over his chest, watching, and Nate glaring at the back of DJ’s head, his gray eyes hard and narrowed.

DJ turns around and offers Nate his cocky smile, the one he thinks is charming, and winks at him. “Hey, dude, I got this. I fucked her a few years ago, and if I play my cards right, I’m hoping to fuck her again later tonight.”

I hear Natalie gasp, and then everything happens in slow motion. Nate bares his teeth and grabs DJ by the shirt and physically drags him away from our table, past the bar, and right out the front door, with Luke right behind him.

Natalie and I look at each other for a heartbeat, then scramble out of the booth and follow them outside.

Nate has DJ up against the wall of the building, his face inches from DJ’s, and enraged.

“Who the fuck taught you manners, asshole?”

“Fuck you,” DJ spits out and kicks Nate in the shin. Nate grunts, but doesn’t lose his grip on DJ’s shirt. His arms are flexed tight in anger.

DJ looks over Nate’s shoulder at me and smirks. “Hey, baby, did you miss this?” He grabs his cock through his jeans and laughs at his own joke.

“You have no idea who you’re fucking with,” I murmur.

Nate hasn’t moved a muscle. He’s glaring at DJ, breathing hard, but he’s completely controlled, and obviously isn’t hurting the other man, given that he’s able to make rude gestures at me.