Page 25 of Theo (Stone Brothers #6)

"Talk to who?" Cormac asked. We ignored him.

"Great. Are you two working as a tag team or something?" I asked.

"Who two?" Cormac asked again. "What tag team?"

"Go skate, Mac!" Jules and I yelled in unison.

"You're both fucking crazy, do you know that?" Cormac stomped off with his board dangling from his fingers.

"It's not a tag team, and Lacey didn't say a word to me. I saw the whole disappointing interaction through the window. First, there was the holy shit there he/she is gaze clash and then the magnetic stare and then she smiled and then you walked off like a grump."

"Stay the fuck out of this, Jules."

"Well, fuck you then. Excuse me for wanting you to be happy."

"Maybe happiness is overrated." I walked away, leaving Jules with one of her infamous pouts. She'd perfected the look when she was little and not getting her way, and she was so damn cute, it was impossible to let her pout for long without giving in.

I sat on the short retaining wall along the skating area and watched Cormac regain his status as top skater with a perfect trick. Nina, an on-again, off-again friend walked over and sat close enough to me that her leg was pressed against mine.

"So, I see that Lacey Michaels is back in town. Didn't you guys used to be a thing in high school?" It was a stupid question because you had to have been from a different planet not to know that Lacey and I were a thing.

"Yep," I said curtly to let her know I wasn't interested in this subject. Nina didn't get the hint.

"She looks good," she said, almost angrily. "Thought she married some hotshot doctor or something, but here she is back in pathetic, dry and dusty Trayton."

I glanced over at her. "If it's so pathetic and dry and dusty, then why don't you move? Last time we talked, you had a remote job."

"Sure do and it's awesome, but every time I think about leaving this town, it pulls me back.

Like gravity." She rubbed her shoulder against mine.

"Guess it's too hard to leave all these gorgeous Stone boys behind.

Besides, there just aren't that many cool places to live.

But if I'd married a rich doctor, well that would be a whole different thing.

I noticed you two aren't talking? Not interested in catching up on old times? "

"Nope," I said dryly.

Nina sat there for a few more minutes and realized this chat wasn't going anywhere.

"You're very boring tonight, Theo Stone.

" She got up with a huff and marched off.

She nearly crashed into Lacey as she walked around the corner.

They just missed each other, but Nina took the time to glance back at me with a smug grin before walking out of sight.

Lacey and I slammed into another one of our stuck gazes.

She smiled again. I pulled my gaze away and pretended to be interested in the skating, even though Cormac could have flown fifty feet through the air with his board on fire, and I wouldn't have noticed.

My entire body tensed as I saw the glow of Lacey's white dress from the corner of my eye.

She sat down next to me, but not close like Nina.

Even so, I could feel the heat of her body wash over me, and I had to work hard not to react.

"Thought we could talk," she said softly enough that the skateboard sounds nearly drowned out her words.

"Not sure what there is to talk about." It was such a fucking predictable response, but having her so near was wiping my brain of thoughts.

"You know I had to go. Joan Plunkett was basically going to extort a million dollars out of my parents and me. I couldn't let that happen to them. I was in too deep. There was no clean way out."

"And yet, here you sit," I said and got up. I walked toward the sand feeling like a toad, a toad with a broken fucking heart.

"Theo, shit, let's just talk a second. You're acting like such an asshole," she called as the two of us made our way through the crowd.

Other conversations stopped, and it seemed that everyone had turned to listen.

I stopped when I reached the sand. Everyone was looking at us.

Stella and Jules were standing together whispering something to each other, and Lacey stood ten feet away with a look that bordered on tears.

"What do you want to talk about, Lacey? Do you want me to just say it out loud, to everyone, all these people we grew up with?

You broke me. There. And you didn't just break me once.

I'd pushed you out of my mind and heart.

It wasn't fucking easy, I can tell you that.

But then you texted and you called and you fired up all the same feelings.

Then bang, you fucking broke me again. Well done.

But I'm not going to go for three." All eyes were still on us.

"And the rest of you, mind your own fucking business. "

Lacey spun around and ran toward the house. Jules and Stella followed her. Crusoe had been making out with someone near the firepit. They'd stopped to watch too. I waved to him as I marched past to let him know I was done with the party. I was just fucking done period.