I took a fast swig of my cold water when the possibility of sharing things with the man started to lead me down the path beyond the first-base touches I’d mentioned yesterday.
“You okay?” Sutton’s voice was low as he leaned close.
Placing the lid back on the bottle, I nodded. “Just stopping my ears from popping,” I bullshitted and looked past him at the tarmac we were fast approaching.
“When I spoke to Ryan a couple of days ago, he mentioned an Everglades tour that I thought we could check out. It’ll be something low-key we can do.”
“Yeah?” I liked the idea of heading out and doing some touristy stuff. “Please tell me there’ll be crocodiles.”
Sutton’s warm chuckle wrapped around me. “That’ll be a no. We’re too far south, remember.”
“I’m still waiting to see a deadly creature in the wild.”
“We saw that mob of kangaroos when we were fishing.”
“True.” The giant rats were huge too, but kinda fun to watch. “Would you class a kangaroo as a deadly creature, though?”
“Did you not hear Bill’s story?”
I snorted at the memory. “They sound like crazy fuckers.”
“Uh-huh, it makes sense why you’re so fascinated by them.”
I rolled my eyes at him, the wheels touching down jolting me and making me latch on to his arm. “These propeller planes are bumpy as hell,” I grumbled, loosening my grip on his arm. Before I could release fully, Sutton took my hand and held on. Surprise rippled through me, and I held back a smile.
When taking off, he’d held my hand too. I couldn’t help but remember how compelled I felt last night to press my mouth to his. While the kiss was innocent in the grand scheme of things, the connection had sent a lazy trail of heat through my veins. Who would have thought I’d like kissing Sutton?
Realizing I was staring at his lips, I dragged my gaze away, focusing on the movement around me as the seat belt sign was turned off. Sutton stood, releasing my hand. But that was okay. I figured I could hold his hand whenever I wanted. Knowing that was as heady as it was weirdly normal. Something about my palm in his felt right, natural.
“You got everything?” Sutton’s gaze was on me.
“Yeah.” I stood.
“Come on then. Let’s get our bags and meet up with the guys. Don’t forget your cap.”
Even though it was clear he was trying to hide it, his nerves were easy to read. Whether we were doing the right thing or not, I had to remember our hearts were in the right place.Think of Pearce, I reminded myself. Plus, there were thousands of Tweets from fans, so many that I didn’t have a hope of reading them all.
Many made my blood boil, but the ones offering support and the ones sharing their own stories were a hell of a thing. There was no way we could let any of them down.
This wasn’t just about saving face. We knew the significance of coming out as a couple—something we hadn’t officially made a statement about yet. Maybe that knowledge was a little delayed, but it didn’t prevent it from being true.
We headed down the staircase. As soon as Sutton’s feet touched the tarmac, he paused at the side, waiting for me, and I readjusted my cap. Together, we strolled toward the terminal building and followed the signs to baggage collection. Once there, we immediately saw both Nate and Ryan.
They greeted us with pats on the back.
“You’re looking better,” Ryan said, raking his eyes over me. His gaze hovered over the scar on my face. “Badass look you’ve got going on there.”
I laughed and Sutton groaned. “Right.” I nudged Sutton and raised my brows at him.
“Don’t encourage him, Broadwater. He doesn’t need any help in growing his ego.”
“Hey.” I shot my hand out, going for a two-finger dig in his waist. The asshole was too fast for me and caught my fingers before I made contact. Rather than releasing my hand, he turned over my palm and latched on, his gaze never wavering from mine.
Heat flushed through me, and before I made a dick out of myself, I refocused on our friends. Ryan was wide-eyed, while Nate’s smile was soft. “How have you guys been?” I asked, trying to distract them.
“Good. Same old. Busy at work. Nothing much else, really. Ryan looked after Ivy yesterday, and he was in bed by six last night.” Amusement spilled into his words.
“Toddlers are demons. I swear. She’s so angelic when she’s sleepy and wanting cuddles, then in a blink, it’s like she’s possessed and getting into everything,” he grumbled. We all knew he loved taking care of his niece, though, something he’d been doing a lot of since returning to Australia so his sister could concentrate on studying.
