Their clothes are in heaps on the shore, and they’re wrapped in blankets. I wave at them, and they wave at me.
“See you tonight!” Hale calls out.
“Fish fry and we’re invited,” Killian adds.
My aunt just shakes her head like she’s annoyed, but she smiles when her back is to them.
Benson’s arms tighten around me as Deacon finally starts the boat. He’s been paddling us way away from the dock. Yes. Paddling us. In a bass boat.
It’s a good thing he doesn’t live here. The guys would mock him mercilessly.
Deacon manages to make it across the lake—what feels like an hour later.
Benson gets up, depositing me to a seat in the back, and moves toward the front when Deacon gestures for him. Deacon still can’t dock a boat—in case you’ve forgotten.
Benson pulls into his lift instead of tying off, and he presses the button that slowly cranks us up.
I climb out the second I can, and Deacon follows. Benson is the last out, but his hands are on me the second he’s out, and his lips find mine.
I’m not sure how long we stand on that dock and kiss like we haven’t seen each other in years, but I know I’ve forgotten everything by the time he finally breaks the kiss.
“Come on,” he says on a sigh. “I want you to meet my family.”
When I tense, he grips me tighter, making sure I can’t run.
“I’m in love with you. I should have told you about Sadie being in our family, but I had no idea how to make that okay with our relationship so new.”
I narrow my eyes. “I’m literally a Wild One. I could have handled it if I had been prepared, Benson. That’s a fraction of the reason why I have to fly that damn flag in my yard when I’m home—because we can handle anything thrown at us. And to warn the neighbors I’m in—town rules and all that—but that’s not the point. The point is that I can handle complicated and crazy. I just need to know you won’t keep me in the dark when things are uncomfortable for you.”
I’m looking up at him as he frowns down at me.
“You’re right. And I’m sorry. But you kept on about not settling down for years, and then—”
I kiss him, dragging his head down to shut him up. He groans as he pulls me closer, and one of his hands goes to my hair, angling my face up even more. Finally, I smile against his lips.
“I didn’t know how much fun settling down could be,” I say against his lips, smiling.
He smiles back, and I start to tell him I love him…when I see his family is all on the deck and staring down at us. Sadie included.
I’d rather my first confession of love not be in front of his ex.
Benson looks over, and he takes a deep breath, his touch on me tensing.
His mother has tears in her eyes for some weird reason.
“So, do you guys want to go to a fish fry tonight?” I ask them.
Benson goes absolutely stiff, and Deacon grins at him.
“We’d love to!” his mother squeals. “Benson never lets us join him with townies.”
I let it slide that she just called us townies.
“No one tells our last name,” Benson says, pointing a finger at the little boy who looks over, confused.
“We’re now the Nolans family,” Deacon affirms.
“But why?” his dear, sweet mother asks so innocently.
“Because it’s Tomahawk,” I say with a smile, even as Benson’s eyes narrow on me. “And in Tomahawk, there are four corners of crazy to represent the Wild Ones. They’d never leave him alone if they found out Benson—our beloved, bearded, awesome, manly Benson—was secretly the heir to a body wash empire.”
A muscle jumps along Benson’s jaw, but his eyes are smiling at me.
“What’s wrong with body wash?” his stepfather asks.
I’ve always loved how Benson smells. And because I love him, I won’t let the other Wild Ones know his secret. At least not until he’s married to me and gains exemption that way.
“It’s Tomahawk,” Benson and I both say, only confusing everyone more.
“Unless your profession is as manly as they get, you keep your fucking mouth shut,” Benson grumbles. “And I’m not an heir. I’m a shareholder in the family business that our mother started and turned into an empire. We’re proud of her.”
His mother beams, and I realize insulting the body wash empire would be devastatingly disrespectful.
“I love the way he smells,” I say with a shrug. “But the other Wild Ones would never leave him be.”
She nods determinedly, still rolling with the punches. I really like her.
“What’s a Wild One?” Sadie asks, her eyes on me.