Pris screeched her name and dropped into the space between them. “Do you have my piña colada?”
Dev laughed and handed her the glass. “Drink this first. Isn’t this place incredible?”
“I’m obsessed,” Bailey said, draining her own cup. “Hey, why don’t you guys go dance while we hold down the fort?”
“Oh, I think we’re good.”
Hawke stood up and held out his hand. “I think we both need to lose some excess energy. What do you think, Dev?”
All her shyness about being a bad dancer faded away. After all, did she really care? She was with an interesting, gorgeous man at a club in Italy. So, she sucked. Dev doubted he—or anyone else on the floor—would notice. She reached out, and his grip was warm and strong around her fingers. “Let’s do it.”
They danced. They lost their seats, but it didn’t matter, because the music kept luring them back, along with the energy of the crowd, the gorgeous view, the echo of waves hitting rocks, the sultry night air beckoning them to lose control just this once.
Dev did.
They made their way back hours later. Hawke led them home, and even though her ears had a slight ring in them, she felt light and airy inside, like there were all these lovely spaces where before it had been cramped and tight. They broke into a rendition of “That’s Amore,” singing at the top of their lungs, collapsing into giggles when Pris’s voice cracked on the high notes and Dev repeated the same line twice.
When they reached the cottage, Bailey and Pris went inside and left Dev and Hawke outside alone.
“Thank you for inviting me with you tonight,” he said.
“Thanks for coming.” Dev was tipsy but not drunk. She knew she wanted things, but she was the careful sort. But tonight, with a sky full of stars, daring buzzed in her blood. “Hawke?”
“Yes?”
“I really like you.”
He didn’t laugh. Just leaned forward, his breath a sweet rush over her lips. “I really like you.”
“And I’m thinking I’d really, really like to kiss you.”
“Dev?”
“Yeah?”
“That’s the exact same thing I was thinking.”
And then he kissed her. She looped her arms around his neck, and pressed her body against his, and fell into kissing him. Slow and sweet, lazy and thorough; there was no rush and no sense of time. No ending or beginning. Just her and Hawke wrapped up in each other and a moment in time she sensed she’d never forget.
Drunk on him, on Italy, on her newfound feelings, she was swept up until the moment when they finally broke apart.
His breath came heavy. His voice was gravelly and sexy. “Get some sleep. Can I see you tomorrow?”
“We’re heading to Capri tomorrow for most of the day.”
“Tomorrow night? After your day with your sisters, will you have coffee with me?”
She smiled. “Yes.”
“Buona sera.”
A sigh spilled from her soul. “Buona sera,” she whispered.
Dev floated back inside, where her sisters were waiting on the couch for her. Pris was flat on her back, legs up in the air, stretching her bare toes back and forth, with a silly grin on her face. “You were kissing!” she announced. “I just know it!”
Dev broke into laughter and squeezed in next to Bailey, who laid her head on her shoulder. “I agree with Pris. I think there was kissing tonight.”
“We did.”
“Was it good?” Pris asked seriously. “ ’Cause I remember my first kiss with Garrett. It was different from anyone else I’d ever kissed and I knew in that moment I was going to marry him.”
Dev wrinkled her nose. “I’m not there yet, but it was good. Very, very good. He’s special.”
Bailey hummed under her breath. “Romance is so magical, isn’t it? Do you think Mom felt like this? When she fell in love with R?”
“I think so,” Pris said. “It showed in that letter we found.”
“Do you still love Garrett like that?” Bailey asked.
Pris scissored her legs and frowned. “Yes. It just got lost in responsibility and marriage stuff. Maybe we’re crazy to believe things can remain the same, but the core is still there for us. Isn’t that enough?”
“I hope so,” Bailey mused. “What do you think, Dev?”
She tugged at Pris’s long blond hair, beginning to braid it. “I’ve never really been in love before,” she admitted. “Not grown-up love. I mean, I thought I loved Liam, but now I know it wasn’t the real thing.”
“How come? Were you afraid?” Pris asked.
“Nope. I just wasn’t interested. I liked work better. Relationships feel awkward. I hate first dates and the getting-to-know you phase.”
“But you did so well with Hawke. He jumped right over Bailey straight to you!”
They laughed at Pris. “True, I finally won a hot-man competition,” Dev teased. “But it was different with Hawke. It was natural.”
“That’s how you know it’s right,” Pris said. “You deserve this, Dev. Try not to overthink it. Just enjoy him and how he makes you feel.”
Before this week, those words would have sent Dev into a flurry of panic, or off on a major defensive mission. She didn’t do flow, or romantic interludes that made no sense. It wasn’t who she was. But lately, Dev wondered if it was time to take a chance on something bigger. Riskier. But with bigger rewards.
Hawke’s face drifted past her vision, and she gave a girly sigh. “Yeah. Okay.”
“Oh, she’s a goner,” Bailey said. “Did he ask you out again?”
“Tomorrow night. For coffee.”
“Perfect. We get your days, and he gets your nights! Don’t you love when everything falls together?” Pris said.
Dev finished the sloppy braid and tied it into a half knot. “Perfect.”
“Perfect,” Bailey recited, yawning. “How about we get up early to see the sunrise? Won’t that be exciting?”
“Oh yes, let’s do it!” Pris said. “I’m not sleepy at all.”
“Neither am I,” Dev murmured, the solid warmth of her sisters pressed against her a bit like being in a pack. The memory stirred, bringing her back to when they were young and would play hard, then collapse into a pile together, out of breath and energy and ideas for the moment. “Sunrise it is.”