Page 234 of Titus
“Well,” Mark said, giving that usual sly look he wore before smarting off with a joke, “I did consider letting you sit in there and stew for a while longer to pay you back for that time you stole Gabriella from me on our ski trip to the Alps.”
I chuckled. “Damn, that was a long time ago.”
“Too long,” he said with a smile. “Seriously, man. I’m glad it helped.”
“I am too,” I grinned. “Coming out of hiding had to be worth it.”
He laughed. “Well, like I said, there was much to consider before bailing your ass out.”
“Well, well,” Collin said, joining the group, “if it isn’t the man who became an internet sensation after sailing his yacht across the high seas, only to find himself wearing an orange suit a few weeks later.”
I shook Collin’s hand before taking the empty seat next to him and Jake across the table from Jim, Sebastian, and Mark. “Good to see you, and the suit was gray, not orange.”
He shook his head. “Forgive me. I imagined all those places had some form of a universal dress code.”
I smiled at his mockery of the prison system. “You and me both.”
I glanced up, my eyes meeting Catalina’s sparkling ones, and could only smile at her beauty. She gracefully raised her glass to her lips and smiled back at me. Then my heart damn near stopped when she mouthed the words I love you before her attention was stolen by whatever conversation the ladies were having.
I already knew this evening would keep us on opposite sides of the room until our friends finally called it a night, which was why I’d called her on the way here. Tonight, I planned to make up for every minute spent apart when we were finally alone in my penthouse suite.
And if everything went according to plan, I intended to ask if she would seriously consider moving in with me.
The thought should’ve terrified me. Six months ago—hell, six weeks ago—I’d have called any man insane for rearranging his entire life around a woman.
Yet here I was, looking across the rooftop at Catalina, and all I could think about was how right it felt to see her in my future.
“So, that’s a yes, then?” Jake said with a laugh.
“Huh? Yes, of course,” I said, having no idea what he’d asked of me.
“No shit?” he responded with a humored expression. “Really?”
“How large, though?” Collin said as my eyes moved to the men around the table wearing sympathetic grins.
“Are the rumors true?” Mark Aster questioned.
“What the hell are we talking about? What rumors?” I answered as Sebastian laughed into his drink.
“The rumors that the male G-spot is in his ass,” Mark said with a laugh as Sebastian and Jim nearly choked on their drinks.
“What the fuck?” I answered, looking between Jake, Collin, and Mark, unsurprised that their minds went there at the mention of jail. “Jesus Christ. Is this genuinely what you people discuss when I’m not around?”
“And you thought they were bad before you went in?” Jim said with a laugh. “Having this dipshit join their bullshit,” he pointed a thumb at Mark, “has only made them worse.”
“I think it was the other way around,” Sebastian said, smiling at his brother. “Mark was the angel of the family before he met Jake and Collin.”
“Are you idiots having threesomes now?” I teased Collin.
“Why wouldn’t we?” he answered, sipping his scotch. “Look how cute he is.”
“His casual, laid-back way of looking at life keeps things exciting in the bedroom,” Jake added while I rolled my eyes and looked at Mark.
“You’re seriously hanging around these two?” I arched an eyebrow at him. “No one warned you?”
“Well, I’m already the black sheep of the family. I figured, why the hell not?” Mark said, taking a sip of his mojito.
I shook my head, knowing that the three of them together over drinks would inevitably become an official public nuisance if the rest of us didn’t police their asses.
