Wanting It All: A Naked Men Novel by Christi Barth Page B

Swift and simple.
    If only this next conversation could be so simple. Knox knew his friends were about to go ape-shit once he made his announcement. A big part of him could barely believe it himself. But last night hadn’t scratched his itch for Madison. It’d just made him desperate for more.
    He picked up a glove from the mat and crammed it on. “Actually, I’ll be checking out of the club scene for a while. I’ve got a hot one on the line.”
    Blue, gray, and green eyes swiveled to him with an almost audible snick.
    “Riiight,” drawled Griffin. “And the whole reason the Nats didn’t go all the way last season is because I forgot to wear my lucky jersey to their game against the Phillies.”
    Josh just kept blinking at him like a damn owl. “You don’t do repeats.”
    “No,” Riley corrected, “what he calls it is his No Leftovers policy.”
    “Is she a gymnast? Does she have a twin you’re trying to talk into a threesome?”
    “Look, I didn’t get my fill of Madison. No big deal.” Knox punched the bag for emphasis. Then he kept going, because it was better than watching his friends stare at him like he was a zoo animal. “I’m not turning into a walking heart-on like Griffin. I just think we could have some more fun together.”
    He heard scuffling behind him. A bunch of shoe squeaks. Knox wasn’t tempted in the slightest to turn around and see what it was about.
    Finally, Griffin cleared his throat. “Why don’t you bring her to the Nats game on Friday?”
    They sure didn’t have anything like Nationals Park in Alaska. Madison would probably get a kick out of adding something else to her new experiences list. He stilled the bag and faced them. “You guys’d be cool with that?”
    “You’d be doing me a favor. Chloe would love to have someone to talk to in the box. Last time she hassled me about”—Griff made air quotes—“ ‘ignoring her to watch the game.’ But she was so cute pouting, I didn’t have the heart to tell her that was the whole point. You know, the stuff happening on the field.”
    “That’s six whole days from now. No way Knox is still—” Josh cut off abruptly when Riley’s arm flew into his stomach with a soft thud.
    Knox didn’t like the thought of Chloe being bored and lonely on Friday. The least he could do was set her up with some company. That wasn’t at all the same as synchronizing calendars with Madison, for God’s sake. Beer, babes, and baseball. Nothing out of the ordinary. “Good idea. I’ll ask her.”
    “Got something else for you to add to your to-do list. How’s about you send up a satellite to find Logan?” Riley grabbed a pair of dumbbells from the rack along the wall and started a set of bicep curls. “He’s been off the grid too long.”
    Ry worried more than all of them put together. In fact, if Riley woke up one day with nothing to worry about, he’d worry about
that.
Still, he brought up a good point. One that had been scratching at the back of Knox’s brain for a while now, too.
    A frown set up residence across Griff’s forehead. “Nobody’s heard from him?”
    Knox looked around the group. Met eyes that looked as clueless as he felt. Thought back. “Not since that phone call I got…what…six weeks ago?”
    “Where was he then?”
    “Tibet. Earthquake leveled a village.”
    “Which means he could be anywhere by now, helping to clean up another natural disaster.” Griffin snapped his fingers. “Anyone checked the news to find out the latest hot spot?”
    “I will,” Riley offered. He’d probably go to work and use all the resources of the NTSB. Their computers weren’t quite as good as what Knox had jury-rigged to perfection with his three at home, but they got the job done.
    With a grunt as he restarted his set, Josh said to Knox, “Then you could send one of your snazzy modified drones to poke him in the ass.”
    Knox whipped his head around. “Not here, okay? Still sort of classified. Not that drones exist,