“You inspire me,” she says simply. “And I have no doubt, by the way, that your name will end up in a book like this someday.”
“Maybe.”
At the beach, Wyatt and the rest of the crew have already claimed one of the volleyball nets. Nearby, the girls are set up on the sand with an umbrella. Steph reads a book, Heidi tans on her stomach, and Alana looks characteristically bored with all of it while she sips a concealed cocktail from a water bottle.
Evan and I greet the guys with fist bumps. We’ve barely finished saying our hellos before Wyatt starts shouting at everyone to break up into teams.
“Getting dumped turned him into a real dictator, eh?” Tate mutters as we watch our buddy order us around like a drill sergeant.
I chuckle. “She still hasn’t taken him back?”
“Nope. I think it might actually be over this time—” Tate stops, narrowing his eyes.
I look over to see Wyatt tugging Alana out of her beach chair. She sighs and takes his hand. I guess she’s on his team. Although what’s up with the way he’s whispering in her ear?
“What’s that about?” I ask Tate.
“No clue.” His jaw is tight.
Okay, then.
The volleyball tournament gets under way. And since we’re all a competitive bunch here in the Bay, it turns intense fast. Mac’s on my team, and I’m pleasantly surprised to discover she has a killer serve. Thanks to her, we take an early lead that has us winning the first game. Wyatt’s crew wins the second. For the tiebreaker, Mac tags Steph in and walks down to the water.
“I’ll sub back in,” she calls to me. “Just cooling off for a bit.”
I nod and return to the task of crushing Wyatt and Evan’s team into the sand. It isn’t until an hour passes that I realize Steph’s still playing in Mackenzie’s place.
“Dude!” Tate grouses when I miss a spike.
But my focus is now on finding Mac. My gaze roams up and down the beach until finally I spot her. She’s at the water’s edge talking to someone.
Despite the sun beating down on my head and bare chest, my entire body runs cold when I recognize who she’s with.
Kincaid.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
COOPER
“Coop, it’s your serve,” Steph says expectantly.
“I’m out,” I tell the group, throwing up my hands. I seek out my brother’s eyes on the other side of the net.
“Evan” is all I have to say for him to jog to my side. When I nod in Mac’s direction, his expression darkens.
“Fuck,” he curses.
“I know.”
Trying to look like we’re not in too much of a hurry, we make our way over there to protests from our teams for walking off the game. Screw the game. My ass is about to be in deep shit if this goes sideways.
“How are we playing this?” Evan murmurs.
“Not sure. Follow my lead.” As we approach the water’s edge, it occurs to me that it might’ve been better if I’d pretended not to notice Kincaid and kept my distance, camouflaged myself in the group of volleyball players. But there’s no way in hell I’m leaving Mac hanging with that asshole around.
“There a problem here?” Putting my arm around Mac’s shoulder, I square up to Kincaid, who is conspicuously alone.
A moment of confusion crosses his face as he recognizes me. It was probably too much to hope he had forgotten all about me.
His eyes narrow as he does the math in his head.
“Hang on, this is the guy?” he demands, his head swiveling back to Mackenzie.
Mac shoots me a frustrated glare. She notices Evan lingering nearby and lets out a sigh. “Yes, this is the guy. And now we’re leaving. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, Pres.”
“Hang on a minute.” He sounds incensed as we start to walk away. “This is goddamn convenient. I know this loser.”
I feel Mac stiffen slightly. She stops, turning toward her ex. “What are you talking about?”
Kincaid meets my eyes with a pompous smirk. “She has no idea, does she?”
I have a split second to decide. Deep down, though, I know there’s no choice, at least not with Kincaid here providing an audience.
So I say, “Am I supposed to know you?”
No one plays dumb better than a kid who pulled the twin swap on damn near every algebra test in school.
“Yeah, nice try, bro.” He returns his attention to Mac. “Let me guess, this guy showed up right after you got to town? Some friendly townie you happened to run into on a night out with the girls. Stop me if this sounds familiar.”