“Mm.”

“I’m not gonna be available every night next week,” I say regretfully.

“Oh?”

“It’s summer, so I have events every night next week. Except Wednesday.”

“I have an event at the vineyard on Wednesday,” he says with a sigh. “We’ll survive five days apart, cara.”

His hand travels down my back to my ass and back up again, into my hair, then down once more, lulling me into sleep.

“Tesoro,” he whispers in my ear as he rolls me onto my back. His fingertip brushes down my temple and cheek. “Wake up.”

“Hmmm.”

“We slept another hour.”

“We did?” I ask groggily and stretch, still not opening my eyes.

“We need to get ready to go.”

“Okay.” I don’t move. I simply lay here and enjoy his hands on me, in this space right between sleep and wakefulness.

“This isn’t waking up,” he says dryly.

“I’m awake.”

“I wish we could just stay here all day, cara, but it’s kind of a big day for Matt and Nic. We have to go.”

“I want to go,” I reply and crack open an eye to find Dom hovering above me, that dimple winking at me, his blue eyes happy and pinned on mine. “Hello, handsome.”

“Ciao, bellissima,” he replies and flashes that charming grin at me.

“Dear God, I love your Italian. It’s sexy as hell.”

“It is?” His voice is heavy with sarcasm.

“You know it is.”

He brushes his fingertips down my chest to my stomach. “Hai la pelle più morbida.”

“What was that?”

“You have the softest skin,” he whispers and plants a kiss on my shoulder.

“We don’t have time for this,” I warn him with a grin. Jesus, his lips are incredible.

Instead of answering me, he grins wolfishly and suddenly stands, pulling me with him. He tosses me over his shoulder and stalks into the bathroom, starts the shower and when the water is warm enough, sets me down in the large stand up shower.

“I could have walked,” I inform him.

“But then I wouldn’t have carried you,” he replies, and reaches for my shower gel.

“Are we conserving water?”

“Smart girl.” He lathers up his hands along with a wash cloth and begins to drag both over my skin, cleaning me up.

“That feels nice,” I murmur, watching him.

His lips twitch as his hands glide south, over my belly, over my smooth pubis and into the most sensitive part of me.

“Dom!” I gasp and grip onto his arms, holding on tight.

“Yes?”

“Holy shit, you’re good at that,” I groan as his free hand glides down my ass, and now he’s reaching me from both sides, rubbing my clit from the front and plunging fingers inside me from the back, and it’s the most incredible sensation. He plants his lips on my neck, then bites me there, licks his way up to my ear and says in a firm, direct tone, “Come.”

Jesus, who could refuse him? I come hard, shuddering against him. If he weren’t holding me up, I’d fall into a boneless mass on the tile floor. With my forehead leaning on his chest, I struggle to find my breath, and my legs.

“Damn, babe,” I say with a laugh. “That was fun.”

“Yes, it was. Now, no more distractions. We have to go.”

“But, what about you?”

He winks and slaps my ass playfully. “I’ll collect later. Trust me.”

***

“Heyyyyy, batta, batta, batta!”

“Um, Bryn, this is batting practice. You can’t heckle the players during practice.” Matt shakes his head at his sister-in-law playfully.

“I can too. It’s the freaking White Sox, Matt.”

“Hey! I love the White Sox,” Nic says with a frown. We’re all here, all of the siblings with their spouses, and Nic is the only one wearing a White Sox shirt. The rest of us are in our Mariners gear.

“I didn’t know you were so into baseball,” Stacy says to Nic with a grin.

“I like it more than football,” Nic admits, and then laughs. “And I can only say that because Will and Meg are still on their honeymoon.”

“I’m so telling,” Jules says.

“No, you’re not,” Nate says, and kisses his wife square on the lips.

These men seriously never stop touching their women. It’s awesome.

As if to prove my point, Dom wraps his arm around my shoulders and leans in to kiss my temple. They’re an affectionate lot, that’s for sure.

“How did we get these seats?” Meredith asks, looking out at the field from our front row seats. We’re right between first base and home plate, and we have a prime view. “I can practically smell the sweat.”

“Ew,” Sam says, wrinkling her nose. “No one said anything about sweat.”

“You’re married to a rock star, Sam.” Stacy shakes her head at Sam. “You should be used to sweat by now.”

“I’m married to a rock star,” Sam repeats proudly. “My husband is a rock star.”

“It’s still new,” Nat murmurs.

“I still get a kick out of calling you my wife,” Luke says to her. “And it’s not so new anymore.”

“It’s getting really girly around here,” Mark says with a scowl.

“We have connections,” Jules says to Meredith. “It doesn’t suck.”

“Not in the least,” Meredith agrees.

“It looks like the Sox are almost done with practice,” Matt says and pulls Nic to her feet. “Come on, we’ll go get a ball signed.”

“Rhys O’Shaughnessy is playing,” Nic says, and claps her hands excitedly. “He’s my favorite.”

Matt leads her away, and everyone springs into action, pulling out their phones to capture photos.

“I’m getting Will and Meg on FaceTime right now,” Jules says, and then grins when their faces appear on her screen. “Hi guys! He just took her down to the field.”

“Jules, turn the camera. I want to see my brother get engaged, not your face.”

Jules sticks her tongue out at her brother, then turns the camera around so Will and Meg can watch.

“He got her favorite player in on this?” I ask excitedly.

“He did,” Dom confirms, gripping onto my hand, as if he’s as nervous as his older brother.