Page 27

Jackson, Rad, and Cade are already at the beach because we’re women who took ‘too long to figure out which suit to wear,’ as Jackson put it.

He’s right. It’s not like there’s a beach full of single, hot guys waiting for us.

“What took you so long?” Rad calls to us.

I take that back.

Cammie runs and jumps into Cade’s arms, sending him to his ass under fits of her giggles.

I tighten my sweater around me. The bonfire surrounded by red Adirondack chairs nestled in the sand is a welcoming sight to behold. Next to me, Marlow holds two bottles of champagne.

“I brought reinforcements,” she says, her sleek black suit and sweeper sweater hanging open.

Jackson holds up two bottles of bourbon. “So did I.”

“Great minds.” She smiles at Jackson as she sits next to him.

After tossing another log on the fire, Rad finds me. His smile is set just like his gaze. “Where’s your suit?”

“In Manhattan.” I shrug. “I knew I forgot something.”

Marlow pops the champagne. “I offered her one of mine, but she refused.”

“There was no way in Hades I was going to wear that . . . body floss . Nope, no way. I didn’t want to scare the sharks.”

Rad furrows his brow, giving me a look like I’m crazy. Before I can read too much into it, Marlow shoves a red cup of champagne in my hand, and says, “Maybe you’ll change your mind if we get you drunk, and you can show off that great body of yours.”

“It will take more than a cup of champagne to get me naked.”

“Shots?” Jackson asks, already filling a line of cups.

“I’m good,” I reply, holding up my cup.

He hands Rad and Marlow a glass. “Here’s to spending time with my best friends on a Friday night,” Jackson says, holding his shot in the air. Liquid sloshes out the side. “Time with you is almost as good as a random swipe right.”

“That’s disgusting,” Marlow says right before downing hers.

Settling into the chairs, we sit around the fire, Rad plopping down next to me.

The heat of the flames licks the air as we revel in tales of the past. Drinks are poured.

And refilled. And topped off again. Laughs are shared and, in the case of Rad and me, too many glances and brushes of our hands when we reach to warm them by the fire are exchanged to be written off as accidental.

Heat builds between us. I’m not sure if it’s the alcohol that’s making me think he’s watching me with an intensity that’s usually reserved for work, or if it’s really happening.

Before I can make sense of it, Cade picks up a squealing Cammie and heads for the water.

Jackson pulls off his shirt and peers down at Marlow. “I’m going in. Wanna come?”

“God no,” she replies, waving him away. “It’s freezing.”

“Then why’d you wear your suit?”

“Because I look damn good in it.”

He laughs. “It will look better wet.”

She cocks an eyebrow. “Whatever you’re thinking, don’t, Jackson.” But she starts laughing, kicking up sand with her feet. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” He shrugs.

Pointing at his face, she says, “Like that.”

“How about a five-second head start?”

“What? No.” She glances at me. “Save me, Tealey.”

“Don’t look at me. This is between the two of you.”

She pleads, “Rad?”

“Nope,” he says, hands in surrender. “But if I were you, I’d start running.”

“Damn you, Jackson!” Pushing out of the chair, she takes a sharp right and laughs as she starts running down the beach.

The night is quiet, disturbed only by the crackling of the fire and the laughter of our friends in the water. I tug my sweater around me and watch Rad pour another shot of bourbon. There’s something written in his features that I can’t quite name.

Damn champagne.

He sits back in his chair, sipping the amber liquid.

“Are you having fun?” I ask him.

“It’s only slightly disappointing.”

“Why is that?”

A slow, sinful smirk crosses his handsome face. “I was hoping to see you in that body floss.”

I burst out laughing. “Yeah. Right.”

“I was.”

“You’re so flirty.” I laugh, but my cheeks heat anyway. “Must be the bourbon.”

“Maybe it’s the company.” He nods toward the ocean. “We could freeze our asses off in the ocean.”

The flames cast shadows over his face, making his jaw look more angled and his cheekbones higher. Even his lips look more kissable.

“We could go freeze, or you could keep me warm,” I say before I realize that I’m even saying it.

Wasting no time, he moves his chair even closer to mine, and his arm comes around me as if he’d been waiting for the invitation. “You’re flirting now. Must be the champagne.”

“Probably.”

We exchange a smile that simultaneously fills me with warmth and sends a shiver down my spine.

Rad trails his fingertip along the back of my neck, dragging it slowly down my shoulder. He watches me with a satisfied smile on his face.

“I really was hoping to see you in that swimsuit, Bells.”

Emboldened by both the look in his eye and the alcohol, I smirk back at him. “And I was hoping to see you shirtless. Guess we both lose.”

The fire crackles in front of us. It’s as if it spurs Rad to life, and he leans forward. My breath hitches in my throat.

His lips part, but before he can say—or do—anything, Cammie runs from the water.

“I need a hot shower.” She grabs a towel from a chair and keeps running to the house with Cade close behind her.

“Night,” he says.

I look at Rad again, the moment we had now lost.

“I think I’ll head back, too,” I say, climbing to my feet and ignoring the way my stomach clenches. It demands a release to the tension we just built.

If only . . .

“I’ll see you in the morning,” I say, giving him the best smile I can manage under the circumstances and turn toward the house.

“Bells.”

I pretend I don’t hear him and keep walking.

I don’t know what just almost happened between us, but I’m sure it’s fueled by the alcohol.

Just keep walking.

I don’t want to embarrass myself and lose both a place to live and my best friend all in one night.