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Okay, maybedetrimentis a strong word, but it would be overwhelming for them.
It’s not as if they’d be simply meeting our parents. Between the two of us, we’re related to most of the town. And our families not only get along within our family units, but they also likeeach other. Our dads are best friends, our moms are very close, our aunts, our grandmothers…
“Okay, listen,” I say as an idea occurs. “Tell mom and Daphne to plan a bonfire for tonight. That way we can have everyone show up at the beach and it will just seem like a party, a town event. Liam and Ivy don’t have to know that it’sallfamily. They don’t have to know they’re the reason for it. Just have everyone come down and becoolabout it.”
Bill nods. “Great idea.”
“Agreed,” Dad says. “Except for the cool part. I don’t think they can all pull that off.”
Yeah, I’m pretty sure he’s right.
But maybe Liam and Ivy will think the town of Honeysuckle Harbor is justvery, veryfriendly. And nosy. And maybe they’ll think it’s quirky that a tiny coastal town in South Carolina happens to know a lot about polycules. Because I’m certain that piece of information is going to get passed around with the invitation and the search engines are going to be humming before tonight.
CHAPTER 26
Liam
“William! Catch!”Harrison throws me a football without warning from ten feet down the beach.
I drop the towel in my hand so I can jump a foot to the right and reach for the ball.
Sports weren’t really my thing as a kid but I’ll do just about anything to look good in front of Harrison.
It’s a problem.
Or is it?
I don’t know.
“Yes!” he calls out with a fist pump when I manage to catch the ball. “I knew you had it in you!”
I smile in spite of myself. Harrison might drive me fucking insane, but he also makes me feel lighter. I’m starting to figure him out more, too. He presents himself to the world as a carefree fuck boy, but the truth is he cares deeply about the people in his life, Raw, and this town.
Even though I grew up in California, my family was working class, and we lived far enough away from the beach that I haven’t attended a lot of beach bonfires.
None, as a matter of fact.
This is my first.
The fire hasn’t been lit yet because the sun’s still out, but it seems like half of Honeysuckle Harbor has shown up today. We’ve been swimming and kayaking and picking at a massive picnic spread all day with a dizzying number of Harrison’s and Ford’s friends and relatives.
“I’m full of surprises,” I call back. I toss the football a foot in the air and twirl it in my hands, enjoying the view of Harrison shirtless in swim trunks and Ivy sprawled out on the sand to my right in a bikini.
I wasn’t the quintessential California teen partying on the beach that you see in movies. I started working at sixteen as a busboy in an Indian restaurant across from our apartment building to save up to go to community college and studying around the clock for my AP exams.
It was the total opposite of Harrison’s high school experience but I don’t resent him for that or wish my own was any different. I’m grateful for my parents and for the work ethic they instilled in me. I’m thrilled I have my dream job—as long as the show continues, anyway—and I’m damn proud of the life I’ve built for myself.
Harrison has a lot to be proud of as well. Sure, he was given a trust fund, but he’s leveraged it into multiple businesses. He has rental property, the restaurant, and has Raw’s bourbon butter sauce in production for distribution by the new year. He works hard, and he’s generous. I’ve seen how he tips excessively, how he treats his housekeeper like family, and how he’s respectful to his parents and grandparents.
He’s way more than a fuckboy.
In general and to me.
I’ve fallen in love with him.
There’s no denying it anymore.
He jogs over to me. “You’re supposed to throw the ball back. That’s how catch works.” He holds his hand out.