Page 49 of All I Have Left

EVIE

T he next morning, I wake up on the lawn being sprayed with a hose by Josh.

“Holy shit!” I shriek, jumping up.

Grayson must have woken up first because he looks fucking pissed at Josh and is trying to get the hose from him.

Nearly naked and confused, I run up to the house while Grayson and Josh continue to wrestle around on the lawn, fighting over the hose. Josh still has the hose in his hand drenching the two of them.

Before I can make my way to the bathroom, in run into Kelly, who is standing on the deck, coffee in hand.

“So…” She smiles. “Did you have a nice evening?”

“Yes?” I ask softly, knowing damn well my cheeks are fiery red. It’s not lost on me that I shouldn’t be asking her if I had a good time. I stop and stare at her, her expression unreadable.

She takes a sip of her coffee in her hand.

“By the way, if you’re looking for your dress—” My gaze darts to my nearly naked body.

I’m standing in front of her in my bikini that was underneath my dress all night.

“—it’s by the lake, so you might want to borrow one of mine.

” She gestures over her shoulder to a bag on the floor.

“Shit. Thanks. I can’t even remember exactly what happened.” I don’t even remember taking my dress off. I also don’t remember drinking that much beer last night, but judging by the empty beer cans all over the lawn, I’d say that wasn’t exactly the case.

“You didn’t lose it.” Kelly snorts, the sound so similar to Grayson. “Josh threw it in the lake this morning to embarrass you.” Her smile turns sympathetic, knowing her boyfriend too well. And then she quirks an eyebrow at me. “You don’t remember what you guys did?”

“Sorta. Did you see us?” I cover my face in embarrassment. “How embarrassing.”

I knew we got carried away a few times that day and night, and alcohol wasn’t going to help us out any, but with Grayson and the fireworks, I had to do something.

“Oh, we saw all right, but it was also dark so….”

“You watched?” I gasp.

“Uh, you were right in front of us. Anyway, we were stuck on the dock after we all went night swimming and had to walk past the two of you to get to the house. He was all over you all night and the more beer he had, the more the clothes disappeared. Pretty sure he was naked at one point while we were swimming, but somehow we convinced him to put his shorts back on.” Kelly shivers.

“I saw him buck-ass naked and I could have gone my whole life without seeing that.”

I give her a terrified look. “I’m so embarrassed I feel sick.”

“Calm down. We were the only ones who saw,” she assures me. “Everyone had already left, and Ethan and Frankie were in their room. But, you should know, Josh took some pictures. Sorry, I tried to hide the phone, but you know Josh.”

“HE. TOOK. PICTURES!” I shout. “That motherfucker, I’m gonna kill him!” I head for the door, outraged and ready to drown Josh in the lake.

“Wait,” Kelly yells after me, grabbing my hand. “Don’t you want to see?” She smiles, reaching for Josh’s cell phone on the table next to her. “I’ll delete them, but do you want to see them first?”

“Well, of course I want to see.” I snatch the phone from her.

Breathing heavy, I swipe through the pictures.

Most of them are of us just kissing. Grayson is on top in most of them, but a few I had rolled on top of him.

In a couple of them, his hands are cupping my tits underneath my bikini top, my bare skin visible.

Some I’m kissing his chest and stomach everywhere.

And then there are the ones where my goddamn tit is in his mouth.

I sigh, ashamed. I don’t even know how to process this.

“This is horrible.” I hand Kelly the phone back.

With hurried steps, Grayson and Josh race up the steps of the deck, pushing and shoving one another. They’re completely soaked, dripping in water. I glare at Josh. “I hate you.”

He rolls his eyes. “I’ll delete them.”

Grayson’s brow furrows. “Delete what?”

I point at Josh. “He took pictures of us last night.”

Grayson’s expression shifts from confusion to pissed in the blink of an eye. Josh holds up his phone, swipes a few times and then shows him the screen. “Look, deleted.” And then he hits another screen. “Double deleted even.”

“Why would you take fucking pictures?”

“I’m dumb when I’m drunk,” he offers, handing his phone to Grayson to make sure the pictures are actually deleted. “Don’t expect so much from me. I’ve taken too many hits to the head.”

Kelly sets her coffee cup on the table and walks away. “Ain’t that the truth.”

Josh leaves his phone with Grayson and chases after Kelly, trying to wrap his wet body around hers.

Grayson looks from the phone in his hand, to me. “Did you see them?”

I force a fake smile but I know my cheeks are red. Hell, my freaking ears are burning. “I did. You sucked on my boobies.”

He bursts out laughing when I say boobies. When he was little, he would crack the fuck up anytime someone said boobies. He could not keep a straight face. So anytime he was mad at one of us, we’d always say boobies and he’d smile. Looks like that hasn’t changed much.

Smiling at me, water drips from his hair onto his nose. “Do you remember anything?

“Not really, but the pictures put things into perspective.”

He looks down at the phone on the table, his hip leaning into the railing on the deck. “Now I’m kinda bummed he deleted them.”

“It’s for the better, believe me.”

Frankie bounds downstairs, her hand held up as she stares at her ring. “Evie, get your brother out of bed.”

“Why me?”

Sighing, she leans into the sliding glass doorframe, smiling at her ring that’s been hit by sunlight. “Because he doesn’t listen to me.”

“You’re about to be hitched to him. You should know the way to get him out of bed is food.”

Grayson grabs his stomach. “I’m starving.”

Frankie looks up from her ring. “I’m surprised you’re not sick with the amount you two drank last night.”

Okay, so word travels fast. Awesome.

Shoving his sister to the side, Grayson walks inside leaving Frankie and me on the deck. And yes, I’m still in my bikini.

“Somedays, I’m not glad he’s back,” Frankie notes, reaching for the deck railing to keep from falling.

She notices what I’m wearing. “You’re ready for the lake already? Damn, I must have slept in.”

“Yeah, you’re slacking,” I say, laughing as I follow Grayson inside. At least I got out of explaining that one.