Page 130 of Connectio

I want to lick them.

“Elizabeth,” he warns.

“Yes, William?” I smirk, but I’ve no doubt it’s nowhere near as good as Bryce’s.

“Stop fucking me with your eyes.”

“Me?” I touch my chest. “I’d do no such thing.”

He stops rowing, and we drift, the boat all of sudden rocking more than I’m comfortable with.

“What are you doing?”

He goes to stand, steadying himself with his arms, before reaching for the waistband of his shorts. “I’m repaying the favour.”

“What?”

“You fuck me, I fuck you.”

“Will!” I try to tug him back down to sit. “Okay! Stop it! Sit down. Please! I’ll stop eye-fucking you. I promise.”

He deliberately rocks the boat before sitting, and I scream.

“Why did I agree to this?”

“Because I’m very convincing.”

He is. Too convincing. I need to get on top of that.

Clasping the oars, he continues to row when the sound of bongo drums and a violin fill the air, the tune overly familiar.

I tilt my ear toward the sound. “Can you hear that?”

He nods, a smile lifting the corner of his lip.

I twist, trying to pinpoint the origin. “It sounds like ‘Kiss the Girl’ from The Little Mermaid.”

We row around a corner past a weeping willow, the tune growing louder, and I gasp when I spot Derek, Bryce, Alexis, Carly, Charlotte, and Lucy standing on the bank of the lake, all of them dressed as various water creatures.

Eyes wide, my hand shoots up to cover my mouth. “What on earth?”

Alexis is a flamingo with her newborn, Brayden, in one arm, a microphone in her other hand. Charlotte is a turtle, also with a microphone in hand. Derek is a crab, again with a microphone. Lucy’s a fish, positioned behind a keyboard. Bryce is a guitar-wielding frog. And Carly is an obnoxious seagull with two Golden Retriever pups on leads.

I burst into laughter. “Did you do this?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

My heart swells; it’s the fakest most pathetic shrug I’ve ever seen in my life.

Laughing again, I choke and blink back tears as Derek sings about kissing the girl, Alexis and Charlotte on back-up vocals, Carly twisting in circles as the puppies play at her feet.

“Oh my God!” I point at her. “She got more puppies! She’s insane!” I slap my palm to my head. “She really must miss me.”

Will belly laughs. “Yeah, she must.”

Charlotte waves as she dances, so I wave back then cover my face with my hands, peeking through my spread fingers. “I can’t believe you got a billionaire to dress up as a frog.”

Will puts down the oars, pulls out his phone, and snaps a photo. “I didn’t. Alexis did.” He slides the phone back into his pocket. “That will be used as blackmail one day.”