Prologue
Charlotte
“Char! Your boyfriend is here!” My brother’s high-pitched, teasing voice assaults me as he bangs on my bedroom door like a lunatic. My eyes pop open as Andrew’s words register in my sleep-fogged brain.
Why in the world is Xander here?
Groaning, I scrub a hand down my tired face. It’s way too early for his stupid mocking about my best friend. When is Andrew going to get it into his thick skull that Xander and I are just friends?
My heart tightens — just friends.
I don’t want to be ‘just friends’.
I want to be so much more.
Everything.
But I can’t — we can’t.
Glancing at the clock, I grumble to myself. It’s summer, doesn’t he realize how annoying it is to be woken up at eight in the freaking morning?
Andrew’s remark starts to register in my drowsy brain even more.
I shove the covers away from me, roll out of my plush bed, and grab my robe from the armchair in the corner of my suite.
“What boyfriend?” I growl as I fling open my bedroom door. Andrew is standing with an ear-to-ear grin plastered on his goofy face. My brother looks way too put together. How long has he been up? His blonde hair even has a little bit of product in it.
Hello, it’s summertime. Is this for real?
“You have company,” he snips, poking at me as I head toward the stairs.
“Why are either of you up this early?” I grumble, raking my messy hair into a ponytail before I hit the first step.
“Early bird gets the worm. Or, you know, the girl,” Andrew sings out as he follows me down to the foyer where my bestie is standing awkwardly in swim trunks and flip flops with a football tucked under his right arm.
Xander’s eyes widen as they lock on me. Embarrassment flows in quickly. I am a train wreck of a mess most mornings, and today is no different.
Still in my pajamas with a disheveled robe barely cinched around my waist.
My hair is a disaster. I’m barely awake yet. And yet here I am, standing in front of my best friend.
The best friend whom I just so happen to be in love with.
“M-morning.” Xander rubs the back of his neck just under the brim of the baseball cap nestled backward on his head.
“Hi.” I swallow hard. “Did we, ah, have plans?”
I try to wrack my brain. I have no memory of anything scheduled at this ungodly hour of the morning. At least, not yet. It’s totally possible that my brain cells haven’t fired just yet.
“The beach,” Xander replies. His glowing smile broadens as the wheels creak around in my head.
“Oh...yeah.”
Crap. How could I have forgotten?
“Give me a minute to get changed and I’ll drive you guys.” Andrew bounced a little on his heels as he invites himself to spend the morning with us. I guess he can’t wait to get behind the wheel of his shiny new car again. He’s looked for any excuse to drive us around since getting his license a few weeks ago.
And I’m not complaining, either.
His ride is sweet as hell.
“I’ll get dressed. Be right back,” I mumble as my eyes betray me and rake over Xander’s t-shirt. My mouth waters as I eye the way the fabric clings to his newly bulging muscles. His dark eyes smolder when they meet mine and I force my gaze in a different direction, my breath hitching.
This is dangerous. Every thought I have about him leads me down a very bad path. I have to stop thinking about the way his shoulders relax the moment I walk into a room, the way his jawline twitches when he teases me, the way his smile lights up a room, how I’d need to stand on my tiptoes to graze his lips with mine…
Yeah. All of it. Bad with a capital B.
Andrew jabs me with an elbow, jarring me from my inward gawk-fest. “Shake a leg.”
“Fine,” I grunt at my big brother as I shove past him.
“Someone is grumpy in the morning,” Andrew chortles, on my heels yet again.
“Shut it, Andrew,” I bite back over my shoulder as I make my way back up the stairs.
“Don’t be all pissy with me.” He snickers, his voice dropping. “Blame your boyfriend for the early wake-up call.”
As soon as my feet sink into the hot sand and the salty air wafts under my nose, the annoyance of being yanked from a deep sleep washes away like a sandcastle at high tide.
Completely erased.
And forgotten.
“This is perfect,” I whisper under my breath.
The beach is practically empty. Just the way we like it.
Xander and Andrew set up our spot with a blanket and towels as I shimmy out of my sundress, revealing my skimpiest bikini because, hey, I like playing with fire.
Hiding behind my sunglasses, I watch as Xander peels off his black T-shirt.
I swallow a gasp as the sun glows on his already-bronze skin. Holy cow. Where did that six-pack come from?
My cheeks and ears flare as I lick my lips for the second time this morning.
Thankfully both of the guys are too preoccupied to notice.
“Catch!” Andrew yells over to me as the football comes whizzing for my chest.
I don’t miss a beat. The pig skin lands perfectly in my arms.
“Nice one!” Xander jogs a little farther away, setting himself up for the game.
As the ball passes between the three of us, I soak in the moment. It’s everything. Mornings like this are my absolute favorite.
Especially when they start a lot later.
No pressure of Hawthorne Manor.
No prying parental eyes.
No riding lessons.
Just the three of us in our little bubble.
“I’m going to hit the water,” Xander calls out, breaking into a jog.
I wave at him. “Sounds good.”
I collapse next to Andrew on the blanket and twist off the cap of my water bottle, chugging the cool liquid.
“Are you going to tell him?” Andrew asks, sinking down next to me before rubbing the sweat away from his brow with a towel.
“Tell who, what?” I cock my head to the side at my brother.
He chuckles. “When are you going to tell Xander that you’re in love with him?”
“I am not!”
“Whatever you say, sis.” Andrew lifts his glasses so I can see him wink at me. “Your secret is safe with me. For now.”
I roll my eyes. “Enough, Andrew. How many times are we going to have this conversation?”
“The fact that we’ve had it more than once should tell you something.”
I lift an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Like what?”
He grins. “Like ‘shit or get off the pot.’”
A huff escapes my lips and I swat at Andrew. “Cut it out. He’s coming back and I don’t want him to hear your kind of crazy, okay?”
I watch Xander’s leg muscles ripple as he trots toward us. It’s mesmerizing and it doesn’t go unnoticed by my brother, either. I catch him smirking at me and I clear my throat, looking away.
A faint beeping noise sounds in the distance, getting louder and louder with every step Xander takes toward us until suddenly, it is deafening.
“Char?” Xander screams at me as I slam my hands over my ears, the ringing like clashing cymbals between my temples. He drops to his knees right in front of me. “Charlotte? Talk to me! Are you all right?”