I shrugged but a smile broke through on my face. 揑t抯 nothing.?
揑t抯 not nothing.?She shook her head, watching me and thinking. 揑t抯 cool. Not a lot of people could do this.?
揟h閞鑣e commented,?Max said, showing me the phone.
theresebeauchampofficial: mon dieu, the man should be on billboards The comment had ten thousand likes and several hundred comments in a thread below it. My heart squeezed and I grinned big at my phone.
Max unwrapped his second cupcake. 揥ho else did you ask out??
My gaze snapped from my phone up to him. 揌mm? Oh. Let抯 see. You two, Don,?I counted, starting to laugh at the memory of Don抯 pitying expression. 揂 couple tourists, Holden, Carter, and Beck.?
揅arter??Avery winced. 揙h no.?
揥e went to the bar last night.?I took a bite of one of Veena抯 pop tarts. 揌e did a beer bong and got kicked out.?
Div cringed. 揋ood God.?
揌olden抯 a babe,?Max added.
Avery made a face. 揌e抯 my brother-in-law, dude.?
He shrugged. 揑 don抰 care. He抯 hot.?
I reached for my water on the coffee table and Div slipped a coaster in front of me. 揌olden抯 nice, but I抦 not into him. He抯 a practice date.?
揙kay, but Beck??Avery raised an eyebrow. 揃eck is cute. Paging Dr. Gorgeous, am I right??
Max nodded and fake coughed. 揇octor, I think I抦 sick.?
A giggle ripped out of me, and Avery snorted. This was fun, even if we were covering all the topics I didn抰 want to talk about tonight. I had spent a bit of time with Max and Div leading up to Avery抯 wedding last year, but we had never all hung out like this. Maybe I抎 have them over next time, now that I had the house to myself for the rest of the summer.
揃eck is cute,?I agreed, but when I thought about asking him out, Wyatt抯 face popped into my head, sitting across the table at the bar last night. Any time I had glanced at him during karaoke, he was watching me with a little smile. Even the memory sent zings through my chest.
If only all my dates could be as fun as hanging out at the bar with Wyatt.
Max turned up the volume. 揈veryone shut up right now, it抯 starting.?
8
Wyatt
揑t抯 a beautiful day to ride some waves, bookworm.?
揑 wouldn抰 know anything about that. I抣l probably swallow a bunch of salt water today, though.?
I leaned against the railing behind the surf shop as she approached, pretty hair swinging in a ponytail and eyes bright. She looked different today. I narrowed my eyes at her.
揑抦 wearing contacts,?she explained off my expression. 揑抦 sick of not being able to see anything out there.?
My eyebrows quirked. 揢h oh.?
揥hat??
揧ou抮e catching it.?
揅atching what??She frowned.
揧ou抮e starting to like surfing.?I wiggled my eyebrows at her.
揑 haven抰 even surfed yet.?She laughed and pulled her shirt over her head.
My cock reacted immediately.
It shouldn抰 have. I didn抰 know why today was different. I saw Hannah in her swimsuit all the time. She was changing into her wetsuit, like we had done a few times already. It wasn抰 a big deal.
Today, her swimsuit was a two piece meant for swimming laps at the pool. Functional. No bells and whistles, no strings holding it together.
But today, something about the slight swell of cleavage over the neckline caught my attention. And the way she whipped her shirt off, I pictured her doing that in my bedroom.
She unzipped her denim shorts and tossed them over the railing.
Her ass. It was so cute. Two handfuls. Slappable. I stiffened further in my wetsuit.
Jesus Christ, Rhodes.
I turned around and stared into the forest behind the surf shop, eyes wide open and seeing nothing. It wasn抰 like that with Hannah. I wasn抰 her type. She wanted someone charming, polished, and stable. Hannah was a true love type of girl, not?whatever I could offer. She wanted forever, and I was all about temporary.
She wanted someone like Beck.
Irritation prickled on the back of my neck.
揥yatt??
I snapped to attention. She was right beside me. 揌mm??
揅an you zip me up??She offered me her back.
Even in the wetsuit, her ass was so cute. This must be what people were talking about when they referenced intrusive thoughts. I shoved them out of my head and zipped up her wetsuit before we grabbed our boards and headed to the water without another word.
She yelped when the cold water hit her feet.
揙h, shit, I forgot the booties.?I set my board down on the sand. 揑抣l go grab them.?
She shook her head and put a hand on my arm to stop me. 揧ou were right, they make it harder to grip the board. I抦 going to try without them today. Is that okay??
揙f course.?Her feet were going to get cold, though. 揟ell me when you抮e ready to go in.?