Page 63 of Mark

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Freya

Laughter spills out of me as I let Imogen—another cousin of Mark’s—spin me around. Hope joins in, taking my free hand. A song I don’t know blares from the speakers, but it doesn’t stop me from dancing.

We ditched the wedding party over an hour ago. Once the food was gone, none of the Carters wanted to stick around, so we all gathered up on deck, where the barman was happy to turn up the music.

My sister and her fiancé did everything to get rid of the Carters from the room. Esther even threw a hissy fit and demanded the room manager remove them. None of it worked. She didn’t realise all she had to do was feed them.

Hope, who is as drunk as I am, wobbles into me. “This party is awesome.”

I twist my hips, smiling wide. “Why is Hayden trying to drown her dad?” I yell over the music.

She glances over to where Hayden is forcing her dad’s head under water. “We stopped trying to figure them out as infants.”

Lake, Hayden’s mum, storms over to the pool. “Hayden, get off your dad now.”

“He ate my cake, Mum,” Hayden hisses. “He knew what would happen.”

“Your family is amazing,” I laugh, gripping Imogen as we continue to dance.

Imogen leans forward, her mascara running down her cheeks from when she got thrown in the pool earlier. “I don’t know why she’s so shocked. Everyone knows you don’t put Taylor Swift on after seven when it comes to Max. Or feed him.”

“Or get him wet,” Hope adds.

I grin. “He’s not a gremlin,” I tease.

“I think he was sent here to test people’s patience,” Imogen whispers, hiccupping.

Her gorgeous significant other steps up behind her, his expression serious. I don’t think I’ve seen him smile once. He reminds me of Hayden’s brother, Landon. The guy only smiles at his girlfriend. The rest of the family get grunts and glares.

“Babe, I think you’ve had one too many,” he tells her, slipping the drink out of her hand.

She swings around, throwing her arms around his neck. “Tell me you aren’t excited for drunk sex.”

He leans down, his lips twitching. “Babe, I like drunk sex, but the rate you are going, you’ll be incapacitated, and I’m not into that.”

“Then I’ll drink water,” she sings.

He kisses the tip of her nose. “I’ll go get you a bottle of water.”

Hope grins as Imogen turns back around. “You have it bad.”

“Can you blame her?” I ask. “He’s well fit.”

“And he knows how to make a woman feel good,” Imogen blurts out. “I just said that out loud, didn’t I?”

I nod, laughing. “Yes.”

“Uh oh, Mark is coming,” Hope sings under her breath.

I spin around to see those tantalising hazel eyes drawn on me. He is now wearing clean shorts and a fresh T-shirt since I accidentally pushed him into the pool earlier. He was undressing me with those eyes and I needed to step back. But I’m stubborn so I made sure he did the stepping back. Which ended up being in the pool.

I stumble a little, grinning. “You got changed.”

He stops, his eyebrows pinching together. “You are drunk.”

I pat his hard chest, letting out a breath. “And you are observant,” I tease. “Dance with me.”