Page 23 of My Ex-Best Men (Ex Marks the Spot #4)

***Claire***

C aptain Avery came through on his promise and sent a little floating board into the water for me.

Grateful that I didn’t have to cling to anyone to stay above the water, I happily laid across the board and used my snorkel to stick my head under.

I got to watch a few fish swimming around and something about having my head in the cool water actually helped me feel better.

I was starting to really feel good about my choice of excursion.

My goggles got a slight leak after I’d been playing around for a while and I awkwardly tried to fix them without coming out of the water since I was watching a school of fish move together so gracefully.

Grunting when more water got into the mask, I was just about to give up and lift my head out of the water when a heavy weight hit me from behind and someone yanked me off my float.

Panicking, I swung my elbow back, unsure of what was happening. I felt my bone connect with something and then I heard Will grunt. Gasping, I stopped freaking out and looked back at his bloody nose. “What the hell, Will?!”

He pinched his nose while shoving the float into my hands. “You were flopping around. I thought you were fucking drowning.”

I winced. “I am so sorry. My mask was filling up with water. I was okay. You scared me but I didn’t mean to hurt you!”

He was breathing through his mouth and he sounded terrible. “I scared you? You scared the shit out of me. I forgot all of my training and I nearly jumped straight on top of you. Don’t do that. Don’t scare me like that.”

I looked away and swallowed. “I’m surprised you noticed with how well things seem to be going with you and Madeline.”

“What?” Will swam closer and dropped his hand from his nose, letting it bleed freely. “You’re kidding, right?”

I felt my face burn with embarrassment at having shown my jealousy. I lightly pressed my hand to his chest to keep him away as I looked anywhere but at him. “Ignore me. The sun must be getting to me.”

“Claire, I-”

“You’re bleeding?!” Anthony swam up next to us and his eyes went wide as he looked at Will’s face. “Are you trying to get Claire eaten by a shark?! You can’t just bleed into the open ocean and not expect a shark to show up! They can smell blood from miles away!”

I shuddered. “Get me out of here.”

Anthony grabbed me and swam backwards towards the boat. He all but tossed me onto the boat before crawling on himself. “Are you okay?”

Will was on the boat just as fast. He grabbed me under the arms and picked me up. “You and I need to talk.”

Sophia gasped when she looked over and saw Will’s face. “Will! What happened?”

“He tried to call the sharks, that’s what happened.” Anthony wedged his body between mine and Will’s and then he led me over to the bench to sit.

Zane appeared in front of me, hands on my knees as he squatted. “You looked like you were having fun out there until the meathead jumped on you.”

Madeline moved past Zane and shot me a dirty look. “Way to go, Claire. Now no one can enjoy the water.”

“Then how about you get some sun on your pale skin, Madeline, and stop being a-” Uncle Sal saw my expression and cut himself off. “What? I’m not allowed to call the duck a duck? She’s being a little bitch.”

Zane reached over and fist bumped Uncle Sal. “When you’re right you’re right.”

I lifted my chin and stared at Will, waiting for him to come to her defense again. He wasn’t paying attention to her, though. He was staring back at me while Sophia dabbed at his bloody face. My breath caught at the intensity in his gaze.

“ You’re being a little bitch.” Madeline huffed at Uncle Sal and crossed her arms under her chest, making sure to shove her chest up. “I was just pointing out that because Claire hurt Will none of us can enjoy the water now.”

“Don’t try to outbitch this old queen, honey. You won’t win and you’ll go home crying with nothing to show for it. Be nicer to my Claire or I’ll show you my claws.” Uncle Sal rolled his eyes and waved her away. “Anyway. Did I ever tell y’all about the time I met Hugh Hefner?”

I tuned him out as Will came over and sat next to me. I was all too aware of his body next to mine as he leaned in, bracing one arm behind me and the other on the bench between my thighs. I sucked in a sharp breath and looked at him with wide eyes. “W-what are you doing?”

He lowered his voice and leaned in even closer. “I had to hear about you getting spanked by some random asshole in London earlier and you’re concerned about the way I’m acting with her? The things I want to do to you, Claire… You have no idea.”

I searched his face and slowly licked my lips as the promise in his voice set me on fire. “Will… I-”

“You got jealous. If you knew how little space there is in my head for anything else but you, you’d know how ridiculous that is.

” He leaned in even closer and brushed his mouth over the shell of my ear.

“I’m just doing my best to make sure I’m not humping your leg in front of everyone all day long, baby.

Watching you with these two assholes, hearing about other men touching you, seeing the fucking captain making eyes at you…

I’m close to throwing caution to the wind. ”

Zane cleared his throat and rolled his lips into his mouth as he struggled to not laugh. “If anyone’s going to hump our baby’s leg, it’s going to be me.”

Warmth erupted from my core outwards. Not only was I enjoying stealing away with three different men, the way Zane called me their baby had me nearly shaking with desire. The flash of heat scared me, especially if I thought about what it meant. So I wasn’t going to. At all. Ever.

Will brushed his thumb up my inner thigh as he pulled away. “I’d pay good money to know where your mind just went.”

Anthony trailed his hand down my spine. “I think we all know where her mind just went.”

Before they could force me to spontaneously combust I was saved by the captain. He pointed to the food I’d had dropped off before we left the marina and winked at me. “We can go ahead and have lunch now. I want to move to a different location so after we finish up here, we’ll head out.”

I saw my chance to get some space and got up to pass out the lunches. The t-shirt I had on wasn’t drying fast enough and every breeze chilled me to the bone so I peeled it off and settled next to Sophia to eat.

She chewed a giant bite of the specialty sandwich from one of her favorite cafes and wagged her brows at me. “Someone has the hots for you.”

I’d worn contacts since I knew we were going to be in the water but I still reached up to push my glasses up my nose, a nervous tick that I couldn’t kick.

“No one has the hots for me. I just passed out delicious food. If anything, you’re seeing the happy glazed expressions of hungry men being given a thick sandwich. ”

“Captain Avery.” Sophia stood up suddenly and motioned for the captain to sit next to me. “I have to do something somewhere else. You two chat.”