“Oh shit. I’m sorry, I said that all wrong. She was just having bad reflux, and we all know how protective Mav can be of the women in his life. He wanted to take her to the hospital, and Sadie was protesting. Long story short, he got Dr. Rhodes to come check on her, and he said it was reflux. Sadie and the baby are both fine. It was a long night. I’m sorry. But I guess in a way it was a good thing, because it means he and Sadie are both still sleeping, and you have time to fix that account of yours, Clo.”
I sink my shoulders in relief as Clover squeezes my hand. “Well, thank God she’s okay. And you really think they haven’tseen it?” I ask, not just for Clover, but also for myself.
“Really. You’ve got maybe an hour before he’s fully awake and functional. You can delete everything, and I won’t say a word. Well, except that you looked beautiful and happy. Because you did. You really, really did, Clo.”
I watch Clover’s face as she processes this—the relief, the gratitude, the love for her best friend who’s covering for her.
“Rhyan,” she says softly. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I have questions.Sooomany questions. Starting with…” Her voice drops to a whisper, like she’s worried someone might overhear. “Does this mean you’re not a virgin anymore?”
Clover’s eyes go wide, her face turning bright red. She lunges for the phone, but I’m faster, hitting the end call button before she can stop me.
“Phoenix!” She gasps, mortified.
“What?” I say, trying not to laugh. “She was getting a littletoopersonal.”
“That’s my best friend. She tells me everything about her sex life with Montana, I’m supposed to tell her about—” she stops talking, realizing what she’s saying.
“About what?” I ask, leaning closer. “About how I made you feel? About how you came apart at my touch? About how you said my name when you cam—”
“Stop!” She laughs, covering her face with her hands. “God, you’re terrible.”
“I’m your husband,” I point out, stabbing the straw of her juice box, and hand it to her. “I’m allowed to be terrible.”
She peeks at me through her fingers and reluctantly takes it. “That’s going to take some getting used to.”
“Yeah,” I agree, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “But I like the sound of it. Now drink your juice. You know the alcohol will have affected your sugar levels.”
She smirks, rolls her eyes, then continues deleting the Instagram posts, her fingers moving quickly across the screen while drinking her juice like a good girl. “We should probably get up and shower before Maverick calls to check in.”
“Should we?” I ask, trailing my fingers down her bare arm. “Or should we celebrate our first morning as a married couple properly?”
She shivers under my touch, her breath catching. “Phoenix—”
“What?” I say innocently, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. “I was thinking of room service. Maybe some champagne. Toast to our new beginning.”
“That’snotwhat you were thinking,” she says, but she’s not pulling away. A loud, obnoxious suck on her straw tells me she’s guzzling her juice as quickly as she can.
“Prove it.”
She turns to face me, desire clear in her eyes, the way she’s looking at me as if she wants to devour me all over again. Then she tosses her juice box over her shoulder, a salacious grin crossing her face. Last night was incredible, gentle, careful, and perfect for her first time. But there’s something different in her eyes now, something bolder.
“Actually,” she says, her voice husky. “I was thinking about what you said last night. About being gentle because it was my first time.”
“Yeah?”
“Well…” she says, sliding closer, her hand trailing down my chest, “… it’s not my first time anymore.”
“Clover…” I growl, my body already responding to her touch, to the promise in her voice.
“What?” she answers, echoing my innocent tone from earlier. “I was just wondering… are you going to pull my hair and choke me now?”
Fuck me.
I let out a small cough, choking on thin air. The words hit me like a physical blow, going straight to my cock. She’s challenging me, daring me to show her the side of me I held back last night.
“You want me to?” I ask, my voice rough.
