She let me pull off her shirt, then unbutton her shorts. Even though she was kissing me back, there was a question on her face. “Everything…all right?” she asked, when she was just in her bra and panties. Moisture was beading up on her skin, making it an irresistible draw. I couldn’t wait until our bodies were sliding together.

I sucked the hot air down in sharp pulls while I got to work on my jeans. “Yes. I just need to fuck you.” Then everything will be perfect. “Make me come, baby. Make me come all over you.”

Her eyes lit up at my suggestive words. She pulled my jeans down as she sank to her knees. “Baby, I’ll make you come so hard it will be a week before you can do it again.”

I laughed at her remark, then her mouth was on me and every thought in my head vanished. Yes, take it all. I don’t want it. I explored her body for twenty minutes before I finally drove inside her. The heat and the sweat nearly made me nauseous, but it only amplified the release. Our orgasms echoed around the room, sizzling as loud as the rocks steaming in the center of the space.

Fuck, yes, that’s what I needed.

When I was spent, I climbed off her and lay down on the bench. Closing my eyes, I flopped my arm across them. Now I needed a nap. I felt Anna stand and hover over me. “Babe?” I mumbled some incoherent response. I just wanted to stay in the void awhile longer. Anna sighed, and I heard her pick up her clothes. “I’m gonna go rinse off and check on the girls. Gibson is probably picking on Onnika…who is probably freaking out that I’m gone…And dinner is probably done now, so don’t be too long, okay?”

I held my thumb up, and she tenderly kissed my forehead before she left the room. I shivered when the sudden chill of the outside air hit me. I should get out, I just didn’t want to move yet…The D-Bags are better off without you.

And I was better off without them.

When I finally got my lazy, relaxed ass up to join the family for dinner, I noticed that Anna wasn’t as refreshed as I was. “What’s up?” I asked her, as Alfred set a plate of steak and potatoes down in front of me. Yes. Sex, steak, and starch…every day should end this way.

Anna sighed as a smaller plate was sat in front of her. “It’s just…I know we haven’t been here long, but…the people here are so fake, it’s already driving me crazy. I can’t tell who is being nice to me because they like me and who is being nice because they want something from me. And it sucks not having someone around here I can hang out with.” She looked over at the girls. “An adult who doesn’t pick on her sister every minute of the day or need something from me every five seconds…” She sighed again as she looked over at me. “It just makes me miss home.”

She had a frustrated expression on her face, and even I understood the real meaning behind her words. “We are home, and we’ll make new friends, Anna. Actor friends who are almost as successful as me. They won’t use us for anything. It’ll be completely legit. Just give it time.” We’re not moving back to Seattle.

Like she heard my silent addition, Anna frowned and let out a small sigh. I wasn’t sure if she was purposely trying to hate it here, but she refused to get into L.A. life. I think she would have before we had kids, when she was a little more wild and carefree, but now everything just seemed to annoy her. Even the near-constant sunny weather. More than a few times, I’d heard her sigh and say, “I miss rain.” It was weird to me. Who actually missed rain?

“Actors as friends,” she muttered. “Yes, I’m sure they’ll be completely real, all the time. Nothing fake there…” She looked out the window while I cut up my perfectly cooked steak. Gibson beside me was picking up pieces with her fingers while Onnika was helping herself to some baby oatmeal. Everyone was content but Anna.

Wondering what could perk her up, since the awesome sauna sex hadn’t done it, I tossed out, “Well, we could invite some friends down? Maybe…” My voice trailed off as I ran through Anna’s list of friends. Not Jenny, she would bring Evan. Not Rachel, she would bring Matt. Not Kiera, she would bring Kellan. Why the fuck did all of Anna’s best friends have to be in relationships with my best friends! Well, my ex–best friends. Irritated, I finished with “Troy and Rita?”

Anna snapped her gaze back to me. “Troy and Rita? That’s the best you could come up with?”

I shrugged. “Some of your Hooters friends then. I don’t care, invite whoever you want. Have a girls’ weekend.”

Anna turned thoughtful, so I knew she was considering it. Good. Maybe she’d like it better here if she realized it wasn’t a life in solitary imprisonment. We had the means to make most anything happen. For now. God, I hoped the full season got picked up soon. Anna would flip if she found out I was making minimum wage, or damn near it.

Right at that moment, Onnika decided playing was more fun than eating. With a mouth full of oatmeal, she blew a raspberry right in my face. The sticky, half-eaten shit went all over me. “Goddammit, Onnie.” She laughed while I wiped oatmeal mud off my face. Anna laughed with her. “Hilarious,” I told them both.

Handing Anna the spoon, I walked over to the counter to get a towel for my face. And hair. And behind my ear. How the fuck did it get back there? While I worked, Anna said, “Okay, Griff…I’m going to take you up on your offer and have some girls over this weekend. Could you find something to do for a few hours?”

I gave her a thumbs-up. I could handle myself for a night, and besides, I think Anna really needed this.

When I left that Friday night to hang out with the cast at Elijah’s, Anna was all smiles. I wasn’t sure who she’d gotten to come over on such short notice. Maybe Kate? She’d probably come down just to see Justin.

After saying good night to the kids—reading Gibson a princess story, while we both wore tiaras, of course, and singing a lullaby to Onnika—I gave Anna a long, savory kiss. “I’ll be fucking you later,” I murmured in her ear, “girlfriends or no girlfriends.”

She bit her lip and pulled on the waistband of my jeans, until our hips met. “Yes, you will,” she matter-of-factly stated.

Fuck me running. Why couldn’t this party be over with already?

Elijah was a crazy alcohol pusher, and I was three sheets to the wind by the time my driver took me home. I was also horny as fuck. I started stripping in the car so I would be ready for Anna. The driver glanced at me in the rearview mirror and cleared his throat, but he didn’t say a word. Dude was silent as stone 99 percent of the time. I appreciated that.

By the time he stopped the car in the driveway to let me out, I was in my birthday suit. I grabbed my house keys but left the rest of my crap in the car. I’d have Alfred get it later. The night breeze was cool on my bare skin, but it only made me stiffer. Fuck, I couldn’t wait to ravage my wife. I stroked my shaft while I unlocked the front door. I’d be balls-deep inside her in five, four, three…

When I opened the door and stepped inside, my hazy brain instantly remembered that Anna had out-of-town guests with her. Maybe attracted by my noisy, drunken attempts at unlocking the door, one of them was in the entryway. “Oh my God, Griffin!”

She spun around so her back was facing me, but I’d already seen her. And recognized her. “Kiera? What the fuck are you doing here? Is Kellan with you?”

Over her shoulder, she stuttered, “Why are you naked? Did you leave naked?”

Letting go of my cock, I scratched my head. “No…I don’t think so…”

“Well, put something on…please.”

Even though the lights were off, I knew her cheeks were flushed. Girl blushed over every damn little thing. Grabbing a vase nearby, I dumped the flowers and water on the outside step, then closed the door and covered my junk with it. “There, I’m decent.”