“I would. Especially if the guy looked like that.”
I shove her and she giggles as she throws out a hand to keep from sliding off the log. “He’s off-limits.”
“What about your brother? His best friend with you. Your best friend with him. Magical.”
“His ex-best friend. And unless you want to be an ex as well, keep your grubby paws off my brother.” Images of them together make me shudder. No way would I be able to handle that. Thank goodness Jay and Shane have been on the outs for years. Should make the whole situation less awkward.
“Hands off, I swear.” She holds one hand up as if she’s taking an oath. “Unless he makes a move on me and then I make no promises. That boy is hot.” She drags out the word hot until I roll my eyes. “Guess hotness skips a generation, huh?”
“Rude!” With a playful smack on the knee, we both fall into a fit of giggles that has a few campers and Shane glancing our way.
This is the fun time I had hoped Scarlett and I would have the full three weeks. Dax and Jason put a damper on the whole thing, but at least we can make up for lost time.
As I’m wiping a single tear from my eye, a shadow falls over us. We both glance up at the same time to find Shane smirking.
“You two are loud enough to wake the dead.”
“At least you’ll be here to protect us. Unless they’re wearing big scary Halloween masks, huh, Shane?” Scarlett puts on her dazzling cheer smile for effect.
I bite my lip to keep from laughing as Shane shakes his head, obviously not amused by her jab.
“Wanna walk the shore with me? One of the campers thinks she left her inhaler down there.”
“Uh, yeah, sure.” I pass Scarlett my marshmallow stick and try to keep the fluttering in my stomach to tolerable levels.
With how jam-packed the days are we haven’t had much time alone.
“I have my eyes on you, Novak. If my girl isn’t back in fifteen minutes, I’m coming for ya.”
Ruffling her hair until she squeaks, I stand, taking his offered hand. “Try not to get on Mr. River’s bad side while I’m gone.”
“Try not to eat his face!” she calls as we walk away.
“You two doing okay? For a while things seemed tense.”
“Yeah.” I lean my head on his shoulder and inhale his uniquely intoxicating scent. I don’t care if I come off creepy either. “We’re good now. Scarlett gets boy crazy sometimes and with no parental supervision up here she just went off the rails.”
“Well, I’m glad you guys are back on track.” His fingertips dance over the bare skin on my upper arm. Even though it’s warm out, I break out in goose bumps.
“You excited to head home?”
“I’m excited to see my mom. We haven’t gotten to spend much time together since I’ve been in Texas.”
“How’s she doing?”
He stiffens at my words. “What do you mean?”
“My mom mentioned to my dad during one of his monthly visits that she’s been sick. Is it serious?”
In the dim light, I can see the deep frown form between his eyes. “She has her good days and bad days. According to my aunt, she’s only had one episode.” Sighing, he runs a hand through his hair. “I didn’t know word got out. She’s a pretty private person.”
“I mean, I’m not sure who all knows, but my mom and her used to be as close as you and Jay. Before, well…”
“I screwed everything up?” He reaches into his pocket and fishes out his phone. When the flashlight comes on, I’m momentarily blinded as my eyes adjust to the brightens.
“Jay is as much to blame as you are. I grew up with him, trust me when I say he can be a total dick.”
“Jay did nothing wrong.” Shane lets go and starts scanning the ground in slow, measured steps.
“Are you saying you did?”
As if I haven’t spoken, he continues his search for the missing inhaler.
“Shane?”
A few feet away, he freezes. “If I said it was all my fault, would that change how you see me?”
“What? Of course not. People fight. They grow apart. But it’s been years. I’m sure you guys can—”
“We can’t.” Shane spins around, blinding me with the bright light of his flashlight. “Especially not now.”
“What does that mean?” I shade my eyes, but I can make out only the rough form of him. “Shane? Talk to me. You can’t keep doing this every other day. You said you wanted to give this a try. That means you can’t just shut me out. You’re also forgetting he’s my brother. I do have a bit of sway.”
“Don’t you get it? You’re the problem.”
My heart hiccups into my throat. “W-what?”
The next second I’m in his arms and his phone is lying faceup on the sand, casting creepy shadows all over his concerned face. “I like you, Ly. I always have and when I told Jay about it, when I asked him if I could ask you to prom he told me if I ever touched you, he’d rip off my favorite body part. And then he never spoke to me again.”
I stand there, mouth hanging open as Shane glances off into the distance.
Well, no wonder he was so torn about starting anything with me. Jay never mentioned this. In fact, when I asked what happened between them, he would throw something at me and tell me it was none of my business.
Turns out it was 100 percent my business.
“So, that’s why you’ve been pushing me away.”
“Jay was right. I’m not a good guy. I’ve never had a steady relationship. Anytime anyone gets too close I shut off because I’m terrified they’ll walk out of my life just like my dad did. Jay and you were the only people I ever let in and look how that turned out.”
“Jay’s an idiot. Of all people, you should know that.” I sigh and cup his warm cheek. “There’s no way I can promise you everything will be okay. I can’t promise Jay won’t actually try to kill you, but I’m not going anywhere. You and me, we’re giving this a try and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll always be here as your friend.” His eyes close as he leans into my palm. “Don’t forget you’re the one who shut me out first.”
“Does that mean I’m as much of an idiot as Jay?”
“Afraid so.”
This gets a chuckle out of him and his eyes pop open, searching my face before he leans forward and plants a soft kiss on my lips.
When he pulls back his frown is gone and there’s a smile pulling at the corners of his lips. “How did I get so lucky that a girl like you would put up with someone like me?”
“I’m mostly here for the good looks.”
His fingers dig into my ribs, forcing a squeaked laugh out of me. He silences it with another kiss, this time not as chaste and brief.
Inhaler forgotten, we remain wrapped in each other’s arms until the crunch of feet approaching pulls us apart.
“Oh, don’t stop on my account ‘cause that was hot.” Scarlett stands off to the side fanning her face. “Don’t let the kids catch you though. Mr. River will throw you out of here before the sun rises.”
“Thanks, Scar.”