by Ruby Vincent
“He refuses and so do my brothers. With them taking over, nothing is going to change, but I don’t see why I can’t be the one out of the five of us to do the right thing.”
“Are you starting a nonprofit?”
“Bigger than that, Belle.” He got up on his knees, gesturing like he was writing his future in the sky. “I’m starting an environmental consulting firm. We’ll work with the private and public sector, teaching our clients how and where to make changes. If I build a big enough name, I can bring in steady funding for research. Someone one day is going to invent the technology to clean up our oceans. Until then, I’ll work toward prevention and hire the best minds to move us forward.”
I smiled through his whole speech.
“What?” he asked.
“I love how passionate you are. You’ve got this energy that makes me certain everything you plan will come true.”
“Do I?” He dropped down next to me and draped an arm around my waist. I laughed as he flipped me on top of him. “It’s more accurate to say I’m vindictive.
“I’m out to get every last cent I can from my father because he’s going to pay for it. For dismissing me. Calling me an unrealistic idealist. Telling me to grow up and accept my duty to my family name while he cheated on my mother and dumped her like hot trash. It won’t mean nearly as much—at least not to me—unless my father pays.”
“I know.” I tangled in his silky strands, winding them around my fingers. “I wouldn’t call it vindictive as I would righteous retribution. And who knows, maybe one day your dad will call on your firm. I heard the pride in his voice when I told him you wanted to be your own man. Show him who that man is.”
Carter kissed the tip of my nose. “I like the way you talk too. It’s always been four against one. When I’m with you, it’s two.”
“It’s four,” I whispered. “You, me, Preston, and Nathan. Connected.”
“By you.”
I groaned, plopping my head on his. “I really hope your grumpy alter ego is taking a permanent holiday. Because you can’t be this sweet to me and go back to calling me a crusty ass barnacle.”
His laugh shook both of us. “You are my crusty ass barnacle. You want to hang on, baby, you have to take all sides of me. Our love story is going to be one bumpy hell of a ride. Filled with screaming matches, misunderstandings, wrong turns, hot make-up sex, building our dreams, and weaving those futures together. What do you have to say about that?”
“I say... do you want another grape?” I asked softly.
He scrunched up his face, then he nodded.
I plucked one from the stem, but didn’t hold it out. Eyes on him, I placed it between my teeth. He looked faintly surprised and then another emotion crossed his face.
Carter closed the distance and soft lips touched mine. The grape disappeared and tart sweetness filled my mouth, shared between us as the treat burst on his tongue.
Plates and glasses clinked as they were knocked aside. Carter flipped us, pressing me onto my blanket, linking our hands and holding them over my head. The kiss was a million first kisses in one. All the excitement, anticipation, nervous energy, and attraction bottled, and exploding between us.
His tongue teased mine, inviting me to play, and I was too happy to join in.
It wasn’t a sweet peck of two fumbling preteens figuring out where to put their hands. It was hot, messy, and hungry. Our tongues dueled in a ferocious battle, drawing moans as their captives. We tore at each other. I raked my fingers down his chest and he gripped my ass, grinding me on his hardening ridge.
Carter trapped my puffy lip and pulled it agonizingly slow between his teeth, relishing the fevered cries of my pain-laced pleasure.
Scrambling up, I straddled him as I hurried to undo my buttons. “Tell me you have a condom.”
“I do,” he said, grinning. “A guy has to be prepared. But we won’t need it.”
“Carter, I’m more tempted than I want to admit about riding you bare, but I feel Knight babies should come a little later in our story.”
“Whoa, Belle.” He closed his hands over mine. “Slow down. What I meant was, we’re not having sex tonight.”
“Why not?”
“Because of what you have going on with Preston and Nathan. I can’t do it.”
My heart sank. Throat tight, I rasped, “You can’t share me.”
“No,” he said. “I can share the crap out of you. Those guys see you as beautiful and amazing as I do. They’d do absolutely anything to protect you, and I want your life filled with people like them and only them.
“What I can’t do is this ‘one last summer’ thing,” he said. “I warned you, Belle, that if we started this, I wasn’t walking away. We’re not going to be together till the end of the summer. We’ll make us real after the summer. We’ll figure out school, where we’ll live, and when exactly my fake proposal becomes not so fake. September first in the damp coastal city of Bracknell—that is when and where our love story starts.”
My eyes swam with tears. It was the sweetest, most impossible thing he ever said.
“But Mal—”
“Fuck Mal,” he spat. “Fuck him up the ass with a fist covered with spiked rings. He’s not in our story anymore. He doesn’t factor into this decision. Tell me you want after the summer with me, and I’ll drop my pants right now.”
“I...” My lips trembled, carrying a tear on its ridge. “I can’t. He can’t hurt you again, Carter. Not you.”
He cupped my cheek. “But he can keep hurting you? Controlling your life?”
“He’s not controlling this. Us. Right now,” I said. “And right now I just want to be on a date with you.”
Taking a deep breath, I wiped my face. “You will be taking your pants off, Knight. After dinner and more than intense making out, you and I are going skinny-dipping.” I popped the final button, letting my romper fall around my waist. My bra went with it. “Do you have objections?”
His tongue darted out, licking his lips like they should be doing to me. I didn’t bother to hide my pleased smirk as he feasted.
“My self-restraint doesn’t cross to masochism. I do not have objections.”
“I thought you’d say that.”
“You mentioned intense making out.” He crooked a finger. “Come back here.”
“Catch me.”
I raced down the beach, shedding my clothes as I went. Carter was on me as the surf swallowed our ankles. Shrieks, laughs, and moans filled the night.
We may not agree on if this was our first date, but I desperately hoped it wouldn’t be our last one.
The stars shrank our world. Sealing us in a place where nothing existed but the sky above and Carter’s hands keeping me from the depths. I closed my eyes as his tales of Greek tragedies washed over me.
There is no after the summer for us. Don’t let this be our last. I’m not ready to walk away from you again.
“YOU LOOK GREAT, BELLE. Vintage was the way to go.”
I did a little twirl, basking in the admiration. “Thanks, Z. And may I say, you look hot in that white tux.”
“You may not,” Owen said. “You’ve got three of your own. Hands off mine.”
“Oh yeah?” I ran my hands all over Zion, making his ticklish self squirm. “Do something about it.”
“Okay.” Owen snapped Zion to him and planted an ear-smoking kiss on his mouth.
Mila, Hazel, Nathan, Preston, Carter, and I hooted and wolf-whistled. One night at our favorite local dive, we stumbled outside and caught Owen and Zion going at it behind a stack of crates. Wasn’t much point hiding it from us after that.
Our group was hanging out in my room as I finished getting ready. They weren’t being patient about it.
“Belle, you look amazing,” Mila said. “At this point, you cannot improve upon perfection.”
“You’re flattering me to get me out the door,” I said, “but I can’t step foot outside until I decide between these earrings. Should I do the pe
arls or the diamonds?”
Someone knocked on my door. Preston opened it to Delilah, resplendent in a black, off-the-shoulder dress, and the scowl didn’t lessen her beauty.
“Why are you all in here?” she demanded. “The party started twenty minutes ago.”
“We’ll be down in a sec,” said Preston. He let her in and shut the door. “Belle’s almost ready.”
“Just picking out my earrings. Diamonds or pearls, guys?”
“Diamonds make me want to jump you,” Nathan said.
“Diamonds it is.”
“Oh, so that’s how we speed you up,” Mila crowed. “The white leather pumps make me tingle in all the right places.”
I slipped my pumps on, winking at her. Mila nearly fell off my bed laughing.
“Ugh,” Delilah cried. “Can we go already? It’s concerning if it really takes fifty people to help this girl dress.”
“It’s always a pleasure, Delilah, but why exactly are you waiting for us? It’s concerning if you really need half a dozen people to escort you downstairs.”
She flipped me off.
“Hackles down, ladies. Retract barbs,” Mila said. “Come on, Lilah. Zion. Owen. Hazel. Let’s go before they clean out the buffet.”
They tromped out, leaving me with my boys.
“What is that girl’s problem?” I asked. “Are you sure she doesn’t secretly have a thing for you, Preston?”
“I’m sure. She doesn’t see me as more than a friend.”
“I guess she just doesn’t like me.”
I finished putting on the final touches and snuck kisses from Preston and Nathan before we had to go down and behave ourselves.
It had been a long summer of parties and repeated themes. This black and white party was our third, yet as we walked in, my mouth fell open.
Black drop cloths hung from the ceiling, adorned by a multitude of fairy lights mimicking the night sky. Atop white tablecloths, sat dark chocolate cakes on a white cake stand. Surrounding them were little white-frosted cupcakes. The best idea for a centerpiece that I’d seen all summer.
All around were black and white couples, mingling and taking a spin on the dance floor to light, soft music. It was the kind of romantic atmosphere that made you fall in love if you weren’t already.
“Dance with me?”
Carter whisked me off as yes crossed my lips.
I laid my head on his shoulder, thinking of the night before and us in this position. Holding each other under the stars.
“Don’t tell Dad and the dame, but I’m so glad they made me come here. There is something about Citrine Cove. It’s like anything can happen here. The universe suspends its rules, and on this tiny corner of earth, allows the impossible.”
“Falling in love is impossible?”
“Between the girl who swore off relationships, the boy she betrayed, the boy who betrayed her, and the boy putting his duty to his family first?” I laughed. “That sounds pretty close to impossible.”
“You’re right.” Carter spun me out to a whirling scene of black and white. “There is something about the cove.”
We danced until our bellies rumbled the demand for food. The two of us cleaned out the buffet and headed to the table our friends snagged near the front. Preston, Nathan, Owen, Zion, and Mila were digging in. Nathan pulled out the chair next to him for me to sit.
“Carter,” Zion said as we sat down. “Break the tie. Can a long-distance relationship work?”
“Nope. That’s why I’m going to the university nearest Belle.”
I gave him a look. It was both the right and wrong thing to say. Wrong for Zion. Wrong for the future it wasn’t safe for us to have. Right for the girl falling in love with him anyway.
“They can work, Zion,” I repeated. “If both parties want it to.”
“Where are you going to school?” Mila asked me.
“I got into Parsons, Academy of Art, and London College of Fashion. The dame is hoping I pick London. They want to move back to England for the time I’m there.”
“I vote you choose Parsons,” Carter said.
“Why?”
“Because Yale, Columbia, and Julliard are nearby.”
I warmed knowing exactly who was going to those schools. “Carter.”
“It’s your choice,” he said. “Going to university abroad works for me too.”
“Is this going to be one of those things you get stubborn about?”
“Yes.”
I didn’t know whether to kick or kiss him. If we last past the summer, I had a feeling I’d be choosing between those options more than once.
Mila reached over and squeezed my hand. “I want you guys to last. It inspires me that you’re discovering the real thing while I lose faith in it.”
“What? Why, Mila?”
She tossed her head, eyes shining. “I agreed with everything you said at the reception, Belle. It’s wrong that they force us to come here. Yes, I’ve had fun, and yes, some of us have found someone. But I can’t help but wonder how many connections are rushed. Relationships that could have unfolded naturally and found its way to a ring after years of being together, not weeks.
“Not to mention the nonstop, constant fantasy of it all. This isn’t dating.” Her voice rose with every word. “Dating is an awkward mess of jokes that don’t land, checking your phone every five minutes, eating food you hate because it’s their favorite, and laughing about it while you lie in bed.”
“Mila.” I rubbed her hand. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay,” she cried. “I don’t want any of this. It makes me sick that the community supports this. If we all truly believe that money and suitable matches mean more than love, why am I fighting it?”
“If this isn’t what you want—”
“It’s not, Belle.” She got to her feet. “I’m done fighting. I’m going home and finding someone who’ll choose me without having to be told that it’s allowed.”
Crash!
We jumped, snapping our heads around.
Delilah stood among her scattered dinner and plate shards. The color bleached from her complexion, matching our white décor.
“Mila?” Her voice shook. “You’re leaving?”
“Yes. I can’t do this anymore, Lilah.” My friend snatched up her purse.
“Wait!”
“Wait for wh—!”
Delilah grabbed her mid-march, whirled Mila around, and kissed her.
If I wasn’t already sitting, I would’ve fallen over.
Mila shrieked into the kiss, shocked, and then threw her arms around Delilah and kissed her right back.
I did fall over then, toppling on Carter’s chest. My eyes were wide as saucers as it all finally clicked into place.
“Wait for that,” Delilah stated. “I’m sorry, Mila. I love you so much. Please, don’t go.”
Mila backed away. “I can’t watch someone else propose to you.”
“You won’t have to.” She faced us. “Preston, it’s over. We’re not getting married.”
“Lilah,” he began. “You know I want this for you but—”
“But my father is an evil, homophobic fuck,” she finished. “You’ve been so amazing, Preston. More supportive than my own family. If I was into guys, you would’ve made an amazing husband, but we both know”—she looked to me—“that you want to be free of this just as much as I do.
“All I can do is promise you I won’t let him carry out his threats. I’ll protect you like you did for me. But I choose you,” she said to Mila. “As my girlfriend, not my fiancée. We’re both leaving this place and going back to the real world where we’ll go to NYU, move in together, fight and make up a million times, and when we’re both sure, I’m going to marry the shit out of you.”
Mila gasped on a sob, beaming from ear to ear. “Are you sure... this is what you want?”
“Of course I’m sure. I’ve been in love with you for six years, Mila Anderson. You’re the only thing I’ve ever been
sure about.”
The girls kissed again—to the sound of raucous applause.
“IT SUDDENLY MAKES SO much sense.”
“I wanted to tell you,” he said.
Preston and I walked arm in arm down the hall, uncaring of who saw.
“August caught her with Mila when she was thirteen. He made up his mind to cut that potential scandal off at the knees and tie her to a wealthy, suitable husband.”
“But you said he didn’t anticipate you giving her freedom.”
“Nope.”
We entered their private wing and Preston drew ahead to draw back the sliding glass. Kimberly and her group could strut around knowing the night before was the best party of the summer. Mila and Delilah were in their rooms packing as we spoke.
“For the last six years, I’ve been her beard. Getting her out of the house for shopping, dates, and that crap, so she could really meet up with Mila. I told her I wouldn’t expect anything of her even after we were married. She didn’t need to hang on my arm at events or drop little Prestons. She could live her life with Mila or whoever made her happy.”
“That’s really amazing of you, Preston.” He reached to pull out my chair but I reached for him, wrapping his arms around me, and sharing a lingering kiss. “Why are you such a good man?”
“Because it gets me sex.” He winked. “I’m hoping the trend continues.”
This guy.
“It will,” I said. “You and I are going to have more sex than you can stand.”
“I don’t have a limit, but we’ll break records testing that theory.”
I nipped his nose. “There’s just one thing I don’t understand. Why has Delilah been so beastly to me? Does she really just not like me?”
“What she didn’t like was you flirting with her girlfriend.”
“Flirting with— I wasn’t flirting with Mila!” I cried.
“From the many rants I had to listen to, you were sharing desserts, taking her out scuba diving, skipping off to the bar every other night, walking around linked at the hip, and putting on shoes that made her tingly.”