by Lex Martin
When we eventually pull into the condo complex at Port A, I scan the parking lot, looking for his truck.
“Your boy’s over there,” Brady says and gives me a wink in his rear view mirror.
If Brady’s teasing me, everyone must know I’ve got it bad for Logan.
I feel a flush burning up my neck, and then I’m embarrassed for being embarrassed, but I’ve never really done this before. I’ve never had a boyfriend or even come that close to having one. Taking care of my grandmother sucked up most of my energy and time, and the little I had left, I wanted to spend with Logan.
Hanging out with Trent in Florida didn’t make me feel like this, half crazed out of my mind if I didn’t see him, which is why the friends-with-benefits thing we did sort of worked because my heart wasn’t invested.
Well, it would have worked had I not started crying.
Staring hard at my phone, I re-read Logan’s messages. I miss you, Bitsy.
It’s not like he hasn’t told me he’s missed me since I’ve been back, but for some reason, this feels different. Like we’re crossing some invisible forcefield we’ve always stood behind.
Unless I’m totally misreading him.
It wouldn’t be the first time.
Kat twists in her seat. “Amiga, I’ve been Team LoJo for ages. You boot those girls outta his truck and take what’s yours.”
God, she’s observant.
She holds out her fist, and I laugh and bump it with mine.
We’re a few parking spots over, but there aren’t any cars between ours and his. All this talk about me and Logan has made me nervous, and I’m not sure what I should do when I hop out of the truck. Suddenly, I feel like I’m fifteen all over again when I liked, well, Logan.
I take a few deep breaths, the ocean air calming me. We’re so close to the beach, which is on the other side of the dunes, I can hear the waves crash along the shore.
But when Logan slides out of the driver’s seat, I don’t have to guess what I should do because he heads straight for Brady’s truck, and the moment he reaches me, he wraps me in a hug and kisses the top of my head.
“Sorry about that misunderstanding,” he murmurs against me.
I swallow past the lump in my throat and nod. “Sorry I got upset. I should’ve told you I was going with Kat.” Tentatively, I rest my hands on his hips.
“Wrong answer.” I lean back to look up at him, confused. “You should’ve kicked Renee’s ass out of your seat and come with me.”
A bark behind him makes us turn, and Renee is standing there, looking irritated, holding Rambo against her hip like he’s a fashion accessory. Yikes. I wonder if she heard what he said.
But Logan doesn’t seem worried. He shifts, keeping an arm around my shoulders. “Hey Renee. Can you give Joey her dog?”
Her frown deepens, her eyes darting between us and narrowing on Logan. “I thought this was your puppy.”
“Nope. I bought it for Jo as a welcome home gift because I missed her so damn much while she was in Florida.”
Dead. For real this time, I’m dead.
I only hope there’s at least a kernel of truth in his words.
13
Logan
After being trapped in my truck for hours with Renee and her yappy friend Wendy, I’m grateful for the comfortable silence between me and Joey as we unload her truck and then mine. Rambo trots happily at her feet, his black leash occasionally jerking one direction and then the next when he gets excited by the commotion.
Our party has commandeered the lawn in front of the condos, which consist of five houses on enormous stilts. We’ll be occupying three this weekend. Tori’s friends are in one, Ethan’s in another, and mine in a third.
Tori is handing out room assignments and keys to the houses when Jo and I finally get a chance to talk to her and figure out where we’ll be staying.
“Okay, guys, I have two options for you.” Tori taps her chin as she studies her clipboard. “Jo can have the couch at my house and Logan can have a twin bed at Ethan’s, or you can share a room at Patrick’s. He just told me there was space.” She winces at me. “I know I said I’d get you both rooms, but one of Ethan’s college buddies showed up out of the blue with his girlfriend, and I’d feel weird making them sleep in the living room. So I had to shuffle everyone around. I’m so sorry. Don’t be mad.”
Joey shrugs. “No big deal. I’ll take anything. You know you don’t have to stress about me. This weekend is about you and Ethan. Don’t worry on my account.”
I’m not entirely sure what I paid for when I gave Tori a check earlier this week. While I don’t want to make any trouble since she’s busting her ass to make this fun for everyone when it’s her own damn wedding party, I’m not excited about Jo sleeping on a couch.
Before I let myself think too hard about it, I opt for the easiest solution. “I’m not mad, Tor. You’re doing your best, and this place is awesome. We’ll share the room at Patrick’s.” She gives me a grateful smile. I turn to Joey. “You okay with that, Bitsy? I promise not to steal the covers.”
A pretty pink rushes across Joey’s cheeks. “Yeah. That’s fine.”
Rambo jumps between us, and Tori bends over to pet him.
When she stands, she grabs Joey’s arm. “Please tell me Logan finally confessed he bought this puppy for you.”
Jo’s blush deepens. “He might’ve mentioned it a few minutes ago.” She bites her lower lip to hide her smile.
But I see it and smile back.
Time seems to stand still as tendrils of her hair flutter around her. She licks her lips, and I watch her tongue swipe her skin, leaving it slick.
Tori looks between us and laughs. “My work here is done.”
The minute Joey and I are alone, I pull her close to me and whisper in her ear. “I meant what I said about why I bought him for you. Missed you, Jo.”
She’s warm and curvy in the right places, and after that car ride from hell, I’m dying to figure out what’s going on between us.
Her arms wrap around my waist, and I rest my chin on her head, loving her sweet floral scent.
“Missed you too, Logan. Thank you for the puppy. I love him so much.” Her words get muffled against my chest, but I don’t care because she’s exactly where I want her to be.
Now more than ever, I wanna know why she left last December. What did I do? Because the other day she basically confessed I hurt her somehow, and that fucking wrecks me. I’ve tried to put it out of my mind since she’s been back because I didn’t want to pressure her. She might act like she can handle anything, but I know she’s been through a tough time with her grandmother passing. And we’ve been getting along so well this week I didn’t want to rock the boat.
But maybe now’s the time. Maybe tonight, once we’ve had time to relax and unwind, we can finally clear the air.
After one more squeeze, I let her go. “Let’s drop off our stuff in the room and head for the beach. We have two hours before the barbecue.”
She agrees, and we grab our duffle bags and head up to Patrick’s condo. Except when we reach the front porch, she tugs on my shirt and brings me to a stop.
“Is this going to be weird?” She lifts her chin, motioning to the voices coming from the living room.
“Why would it be weird? You know everyone as well as I do.”
She gives me a look that says really?
I stare back at her until it sinks in. Renee.
Fuck.
All I was thinking was Joey and I could share a room together. Not that we’d be staying in a condo with Renee. This is what happens when I don’t think things through.
“Babe, that was a long time ago. It happened once when I was in a bad place, and I swear to God it didn’t mean anything.”
With her lips pressed together, she nods but still doesn’t look convinced, and it’s suddenly imperative that she believe me.
Feeling like she’s too far away, I grab her by her slender hips and pull her against me
and graze my lips across the shell of her ear. “Jo.” She shivers. It’s not cold. It’s a breezy eighty-five-degree day. I’m doing this to her. “Are you jealous?”
Silence stretches between us until she finally asks, “Would it bother you if I was?”
Smiling against her neck, I shake my head. “For some reason, it’s sexy as hell.” She laughs, and I pull her tighter until I’m sporting wood against her stomach. “Well, we’ve never done this before.”
I cough, wondering if I should let her go, but she winds her arms around my neck, pushing those perfect tits against my chest. With a growl, I kiss her neck and breathe in the sweet warmth of her skin. She gasps, and that sound rocks me.
Now that I’ve started touching her, I can’t stop. I run my palm over her back, wishing we didn’t have so many clothes between us.
She whispers, “Guess there’s a first time for everything, huh?”
Fuck, yes.
Only…
“Babe, we have to stop before I’m walking hunched over from this chub.” Her shoulders shake with laughter, and reluctantly, I pull back. Her fingers fly to her neck, absentmindedly touching where I just kissed her. “Tell me something not sexy.”
She thinks for a second. “Remember when you taught me how to farmer snot? I was eight, and I went home with boogers running down my face.”
My lips tilt up in a grin. She was this pocket-sized blonde sprite with a tangled mess of hair, enormous gray eyes, and ratty overalls. About the cutest thing I’d ever seen in my life. “Who needs tissue, right?”
Shaking her head, she gives me a playful nudge. “My mother marched me straight into the bathroom and hosed me down.”
I don’t know what’s come over me, but I wanna stare at her all day, except I’d rather get her in that swimsuit. “Come on. We’re not gonna let anyone ruin this weekend for us.” She smiles as I thread my fingers through hers and tug her toward the condo.
When we walk in, everyone stops talking, but this is my brother’s wedding celebration, and fuck them if they pull anything on me. I’ll just find us another place to stay if my friends give us any attitude. We’ll probably spend most of our time with Ethan and Tori anyway. We just need a place to sleep.
I nod at Patrick and he nods back. “Hey, man. Heard we could stay here. That okay?”
His attention is drilled on our linked hands. He swallows. “Of course. But there’s only one room left.”
I give him the biggest shit-eating grin, since I’m pretty sure he wanted to tank things with me and Joey before they started because he wants her for himself. “That’s okay. We only need one room.”
14
Joey
The bathroom door closes behind me with a quiet snick. I’m freezing with the air conditioner, but it’ll be warm once we hit the beach in a few minutes.
Taking a page from Tori’s playbook, I grabbed some old cutoffs to ease myself into wearing a two-piece in front of my friends. I tug down my bikini top to make sure it’s covering the vital parts.
I’m still putting my hair into a messy ponytail when I stop in front of the queen-sized bed where Rambo wags his tail. Logan stares at me from the other side of the small room.
Slender board shorts hang off his trim hips, and he smiles, looking like my teenage dream, the one I spent way too many nights fantasizing about. His hair is disheveled, messy from pulling off his T-shirt, and there’s nothing more I want to do than run my fingers through it.
Sweet blue blazes, I’m really rooming with Logan.
All of his tan muscles are on display. Those shoulders I want to lick. Those arms I’ve been lusting over since forever. And holy guacamole, those abs.
My mouth goes dry as I’m slammed with the possibility of what’s happening between us.
I think… I think he wants me. That’s what’s going on here, right? Because he’s never put his hands on me like he did today.
I didn’t imagine that erection he pressed against my stomach fifteen minutes ago on the porch or the way he dragged his lips across my neck. Elation and terror spiral through me. Taking things further with Logan will either be the smartest thing I’ve ever done or the dumbest.
Everything in me heats with desire, but I can’t deny this might be lunacy. We could obliterate a lifetime of friendship.
One of the reasons I left for Florida was because I was done chasing after him, hoping for whatever scraps of time he had for me. Too often, I felt like he didn’t see me. That I was this fixture in his life he was so used to, I was almost invisible.
I don’t feel invisible now.
His eyes travel down my body, and chills break out on my skin.
“Thought that swimsuit was hot, but damn, Jo. Now you got the whole farm girl vibe going, and it’s kinda killing me.”
My whole body buzzes when his words settle over me.
“I got the swimsuit you liked.” He wasn’t looking at what I had in my cart when we wrapped up my shopping trip because he was too busy arguing with me over who was going to pay for it. I won, eventually. I’m glad, especially now that I know he bought me Rambo, the sweetest puppy on the planet.
Logan eyes my top like he has x-ray vision, and an ache takes residence between my thighs.
“Ready to go?” If we don’t get away from this bed, I’m likely to fling him down on it. And yeah, I’m nervous about that too. It’s not like I have much experience in that area.
Rambo runs circles on the bed, and Logan grabs his leash. We load up with a few provisions and head out. The living room is empty, which is a relief. I don’t want to have problems with anyone this weekend. Renee looked like she wanted to claw out my eyeballs earlier.
As Logan and I step outside, we wave to Ethan and one of his buddies, who have fired up the grill and are kicking back with a few beers.
“We’ll be back soon to help you with the barbecue,” Logan calls out.
“We got this. Go have fun.” His brother returns to his conversation.
My flip-flops slap against the wooden path between the condos and over the sand dunes until we reach the beach.
“I feel bad Ethan and Tori are doing so much. Shouldn’t they be the ones who relax?”
Logan shrugs. “I think they’re excited to have their friends here. Besides, they’ll be leaving for their honeymoon soon.”
“Where are they headed?”
“Cancún for five days. They don’t want to leave the kids or the ranch for too long.”
“Who’s gonna watch Cody and Mila while they’re gone?”
“Who else? Me.”
If I had been in town when Ethan was planning his trip, he probably would’ve asked me to pitch in so Logan didn’t have to do everything by himself.
“But your mom will help, right?”
“Uh…” He shoves his hair out of his eyes. “No. She’s going out of town.”
That’s odd. Bev’s usually glued to the kids if their dad has to go away on business. “Where’s she going?”
He pauses to point at Kat, who’s relaxing on a beach chair with a few of her friends. “Come on. Let’s see if they’ll watch Rambo for a few minutes while we check out the waves.”
We set up a dog bowl with water and hand Kat the leash. Rambo hops in circles, excited to have more people to charm. While Logan chats with them, I prop my beach bag on a towel and debate sliding off my shorts.
A dozen women on the beach are wearing bikinis. No biggie. I can do this.
After a quick look around to make sure no one is paying attention to me, I slide off my cutoffs.
I shuffle back to Kat’s group of friends and am about to thank her for watching Rambo when I’m in the air.
“What the—”
The earth flips upside down, and I’m dangling over Logan’s shoulder and staring at his muscular backside.
“Time to hit the water, Bitsy.”
“Oh, my God, you lunatic.” Laughing, I wrap my arms around his waist as he goes bounding down the beach. When water laps
at his ankles, I beg him to put me down.
Several strides later, he yells, “Take a deep breath!” as I go airborne.
I scream and clench my eyes shut, and then I’m underwater. With a sputter, I swim to the top and wipe my face. The water is warm and feels amazing, but I need to get even before I can appreciate the awesomeness of Port A.
“You turd.” I choke on laughter as I charge him and try to take him down with a dunk, but he’s too fast, and he flips me into the water again. He may be bigger than I am, but I can’t let him act with impunity.
Staying under, I swim up behind him and leap onto his back, catching him off balance, and he falls over, taking me with him.
We roll under the water, and he wraps his arms around me as he rises to the top. I don’t know how we got out so deep, but I can’t reach the bottom anymore.
“You got lucky,” he chides, hoisting me higher. Instinctively, I wrap my legs around his waist as I cling to his broad shoulders.
“Lucky? You call that luck? That was some badassery if I do say so myself. You weigh, what, like seventy-five pounds more than I do? And you let a little girl take you down?”
His cinnamon breath fans my face, and I smile up at him. He’s still the most handsome man I’ve ever seen, and right now, with water glistening on his body and that unfettered smile on his face, I’m one hundred percent sure no matter what happens this weekend, I will always love him.
Lowering his voice, he whispers, “I wouldn’t say you’re a little girl anymore, Jo.”
I swallow, my heart hammering in my chest. “No?”
He licks his bottom lip, his hands settling on my rear. “You’re all grown up now, aren’t you?”
Staring into his bright blue eyes, I nod as we lean closer. His nose dips to mine, and I can feel it, the way we both recognize how this changes everything.
When his lips gently skate against my skin, I’m breathless. I’ve waited a lifetime for this kiss, a lifetime to love the boy who’s grown into this stunning man.