Last One to Know

by Sharon Coady

  “I’ll make you the best one ever.” Heather laughed, grabbing a marshmallow off the platter. “Alastair, where are the sticks?”

  “Right there.” He pointed to the sticks neatly laid around the edge of the fire pit. “If they had teeth…” He shook his head.

  Hope laughed at him. “Don’t be a prick, Alastair.”

  An hour later, sated on their gooey treats and a couple of glasses of wine, the gang sat around laughing about past escapades.

  “How we didn’t end up getting in trouble is beyond me,” Heather said as soon as she was able to talk. “If my parents knew half the stuff we did, they would have grounded me until I was thirty.”

  “Mine would have never allowed me to talk to you guys again.” Hope giggled.

  “Oh come on, we weren’t that bad,” Leona said, holding her sides. “We were kids.”

  “We were bad, Leona. We were very bad.” Alastair smiled. “Of course, if my dad saw me now, he would kick my ass.”

  “Right!” All three of the girls said at once, looked at each other, and burst into a fit of laughter again.

  Alastair picked up his guitar and started strumming, tuning a couple of the strings. “Heather promised you’d sing for us tonight. What do you want to do first?”

  Leona’s eyes gleamed. “Just start our regular set.” She closed her eyes as he started the first chords of “Before He Cheats.” Everyone stopped and sat back as her beautiful voice belted out the words to the song, never missing a beat. As soon as the song ended, he immediately went onto the next one in the set. I missed this so much.

  Forty-five minutes later, Alastair glanced at his phone. “I hate to do this, ladies, but it is almost midnight. I know we don’t have class or jobs to get to but I’m tired. Leona, lovely as always.”

  She felt the heat of a blush spreading across her face and was glad the darkness and firelight hid it. “Thanks. I’m a little rusty, I think.”

  “You could get a recording contract right now if you showed up in Nashville. Hell, if you walked on stage, they would welcome you with open arms. Quit being so modest.” Hope’s eyes swam with tears. “You do this to me every time you end with that song.”

  “Aw, thanks. I get so wrapped up in the music, I often forget I have an audience.” She hugged Hope then turned to Alastair. “You’re flawless in your transition to each song. It’s like we haven’t missed the last four years.”

  “I play all the time, doing our different sets, it just happens. How many years did we do that?” He placed his guitar into the case, closed, and locked it.

  “A lot. We started when you got that guitar at the old age of twelve.”

  Hope slipped her hand into Alastair’s. “We really need to go.” She yawned.

  “You’re getting old. We could stay up for hours still.” Heather laughed.

  “Not me, I’m beat.” Hope stretched.

  “You just want to go back to your room and get it on.” Heather giggled. “You guys are like freaks with your sex.”

  Leona rolled her eyes. “And you can’t freaking stop talking about sex. Jealous much?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted saying them.

  Hope and Alastair looked at her, eyebrows raised in surprise. Alastair smirked as he turned toward Heather. “You going to answer that?”

  Heather stood stock-still, her mouth set in a hard line. “I don’t have to.”

  “Okay, we’re out of here.” Hope grabbed Alastair’s hand and pulled him away.

  Chapter Three

  The next morning, Leona woke to the smell of coffee brewing. What the hell? Did I set the coffee pot last night? She rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom. After brushing her hair and teeth, she made her way to the kitchen to find Heather standing at the counter watching the pot.

  “Morning,” she muttered. “I made coffee. Hope it tastes okay.”

  “I’m sure it will.” Leona reached into the cabinet and took down a coffee mug. “It smells good.” Her smile faded when she saw the sadness on Heather’s face. “What’s wrong?” She touched her shoulder.

  Heather shrugged her hand off and moved quickly away. “Nothing.”

  “Yeah, you act like nothing is up. Fess up, what’s wrong?”

  “You know, I envy you sometimes. You’re this sweet, innocent girl who is holding out for real love. I’m stupid and slutty.”

  “Oh, come on. You’re not that slutty.”

  The corner of Heather’s mouth quirked up. “Not that slutty? Nice. Slap a girl when she’s down.”

  “Well, I learned from the best.” She turned and grabbed the carafe, filling both their cups. “Can we check out this beach today?”

  “Sure. Hope and Alastair were heading into town to do some shopping. We can catch some rays and take it easy today, if you want. They might come over later tonight. I told her to call and to make sure he brought his guitar. I didn’t realize how much I missed your singing.”

  “I’d like to just stay here and chill today. The sound of the waves is so soothing. Maybe there will be some surfers out there today.”

  “Now, there is the fun-filled Leona I want to see.” She squealed and threw her arms around Leona, hugging her tight.

  They chatted while they fixed breakfast, talking about their friends from childhood. When Leona brought up Andrew and Bastian again, something flashed over Heather’s face.

  “Okay, what’s really going on with you and those two?” She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms.

  “What?” Heather averted her eyes everywhere but at Leona as pink colored her cheeks.

  “This is what. Why are you blushing and looking everywhere but at me? When Hope brought them up you had a strange look on your face. What’s going on?”

  Heather sighed. “If you must know, Andrew and I hooked up for a few months. It didn’t work out.”

  “You and Andrew? Wow. In the words of someone I know well, spill it.”

  Heather glanced at the ceiling, tears welling up in her eyes. “There isn’t much to tell. We got together one weekend when they came to visit. Things got hot and heavy pretty quickly. It was great while it lasted.”

  “If it was great, what happened?”

  “He said I was getting too serious. He wasn’t ready for a serious relationship.” She put her head down. “He actually said, ‘I thought you were just that good time girl’.” Tears streamed down her face. “He doesn’t think I’m good enough for a serious relationship.”

  Leona was stunned. “Well, screw him. What a stupid thing for him to think.”

  Heather’s eyes snapped to hers. “Really?” She sat up a bit straighter. “You don’t think he’s right?”

  “No, he isn’t right. Come on, Heather, you’re a pain in the ass at times, and you are a freaking sex maniac, but you are not ‘that girl.’ When you fall in love, you are going to be the girl who sticks to it. Anyone should be able to see that.”

  “I was worried you would agree with him.” A tear slid down her cheek “I am a sex maniac, I don’t know why. But I don’t just hook up with random guys, you know that right?”

  “Yes, I do. You at least go out with them for a while, and I’ve never known you to just pick someone up and have sex. What a moron he is. That explains why you haven’t talked to him, but what’s going on with Bastian?”

  “He took Andrew’s side. So I told him he could fuck off too. I’m not going to be friends with pricks like that.”

  “Sometimes people change way too much. Don’t worry about them. At least we still have Hope and Alastair.” She walked over and stooped down in front of Heather. Taking her face in her hands, she whispered, “Look at me. Just forget it, okay?”

  Grabbing a paper towel, she wiped her eyes and blew her nose before turning back to Leona. “Let’s clean up and get down to the beach. I want to see if we can find a couple hot surfers to ogle.”

  And just like that, she’s back to sex on the brain. “Sure, let’s go check out the hot guys.”<
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  Thirty minutes later, they made their way down the sand path to the beach. The waves were rolling in as perfectly spaced sets. “Nice. If we surfed, these would be the kind of wave sets we’d want to catch.”

  Heather giggled. “What do you know about wave sets?”

  Leona stuck her tongue out at her before responding, “My mother watches the surfing contests all the time. I think she wanted to be a surfer when she was young. I watched it with her.”

  “They have surfing on TV? Why didn’t you tell me? I would have watched it with you guys. Oh crap.” She stopped dead, grabbed Leona’s arm, and turned her. “Look at him,” she whispered.

  Leona’s breath caught. There, facing the waves, was a tall, dark haired man. His shoulders were broad and his back showed definition she didn’t know a man’s back could have. Her eyes wandered lower to an ass that was well defined and had to be rock hard. He was holding a surfboard, and the muscles in his arms rippled as the waves hit the bottom of the board. Shielding her eyes, she saw he had a tattoo around the upper part of his right arm from the shoulder to the elbow. It only added to his sexiness.

  “Wow. I wish he would turn around,” Heather whispered.

  “What?” Leona replied, not sure if her brain was registering anything Heather had just said. She’d never felt this attracted to the back of a man before. Hell, she’d never found herself remotely attracted to anyone other than Johnny. Now here she was, checking out this complete stranger. She found herself wanting to close the distance between them and run her hands down his skin. Where the hell did that come from? Shaking her head, she turned to gaze to Heather. “What did you say?”

  “Huh?” Heather’s chin hung somewhere around her chest.

  “Heather. Close your mouth before you start drooling.” She giggled, the spell broken.

  Heather snapped her mouth shut. “What the…” Her eyes were wide. “I’ve never seen anyone that built before.”

  “Me either. Do you think all the surfers around here look like that?”

  “We didn’t see anything like him yesterday. I hope he lives around here and isn’t just passing through, so we can watch him more. Come on, let’s put our chairs closer so we can watch him surf.”

  “Okay. If he’s as hot from the front as he is from the back, I don’t want to miss anything.” She groaned as soon as the words left her mouth.

  Heather glanced at her, a twinkle in her eyes as the corner of her mouth turned up. “Well, she has some girly parts waking up now, doesn’t she?”

  Leona rolled her eyes. “And there you go again. Can’t I just look without you making comments?”

  Heather just smirked, clearly not deterred in the slightest.

  “Look, there are a couple more surfers coming in now.” She pointed to the two surfers riding on a large wave, hoping to distract Heather from any more comments about her girly parts.

  The girls moved closer and sat down in their chairs as they watched the men riding the wave, while the guy with the super-hot body stood waiting for his friends.

  The surfers expertly maneuvered their boards on the wave, riding it in almost to the shore. Leona heard them laughing as they motioned for the man standing on the beach to join them. He ran into the water, threw his body on his board, and paddled behind the other two.

  “What are they doing now?” Heather sat up straighter, mesmerized by the men.

  “Making their way out past where the waves break, so they can watch the sets and get ready to ride the one they choose.”

  “Oh, any of them can choose to ride me.” She laughed and grabbed Leona’s arm.

  “It’s like our earlier conversation never even happened.” Leona laughed. “What am I going to do with you?

  “If it involves any of them, I can think of a lot of things we can do together.”

  Leona rolled her eyes and looked back at the surfers. Hot Body was set up watching over his shoulder as a nice wave roared toward them. She sat up straighter, waiting for him to turn around so she could see his features. He surged forward and effortlessly stood on the board in one fluid motion. Her eyes followed his muscled legs up to his well-defined abs and on to his face.

  “It can’t be.”

  “Leona, is that? No, it can’t be. Can it?” Heather leaned forward, shielding her eyes. “I don’t believe it!”

  Leona rose to her feet. “I think that’s Johnny.” Her feet moved her forward as he moved off his board and onto the beach laughing with the other two men. “Johnny? Is that really you?”

  He glanced over his shoulder, a smile spreading across his face as the corners of his eyes crinkled.

  Leona scanned his face; his eyes were still the same glacial blue she remembered. He still had the same angular cheekbones and chiseled jaw. But his hair was a lighter toffee brown, and he wore a few days growth of beard. However, his body was not the body she remembered. She liked this new improvement.

  “Leo! Look at you.” He pulled her into a tight hug. “I missed you,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Look at me? Look at you. What did you do?” She ran her hand over his tattoo. “When did you get this?” She glanced up at him, her eyes squinted against the sun.

  He shrugged. “A while back. You like it?” His eyes held hers.

  “Yes, I do. It’s beautiful.” She traced the delicate lines of the music notes that flowed through the artwork. “I never knew a tattoo could be so intricate.” She pulled her hand away. “When did you get here?”

  He laughed and placed his arms over her shoulders. “I was going to call you after I surfed today. I got in late last night.” He stopped abruptly. “Hey Heather, how are you?” he asked as she gave him a huge hug from behind.

  “Great. Who are your friends?” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and licked her lips.

  “Hey guys, come meet the girls.” He motioned for them to come closer. “Alex and Sebastian, meet Heather and Leona.”

  Alex had long blond hair, a stocky build, and was about five feet eleven. His eyes were a dark, chocolate brown; a square jaw and Roman nose defined his classic look. Sebastian had short brown hair, angular cheekbones, and smoky grey eyes. He was almost as tall as Johnny, with well-defined muscles, and skin that was bronzed from the sun. Leona figured he was a military man from his haircut.

  “Nice to meet you both.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Sebastian replied in a deep Southern drawl. Leona liked the way his eyes sparkled.

  “How are you today, ladies?” Alex winked at Heather. “You know how to surf?”

  As soon as he spoke, Leona knew he was from Jersey. He had the telltale accent. She glanced over at Heather and saw her looking Sebastian up and down. Leona rolled her eyes and grabbed her arm. “Heather, Alex said hello and asked if you surf.”

  “Oh, sorry. I’m fine. No, I don’t.” She gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “So, Sebastian, where are you from?” She placed her hand on his arm and batted her eyes.

  Johnny shook his head. “She hasn’t changed, has she?” His deep voice rumbled through her as he spoke softly into her ear.

  “Not really. You know Heather,” she whispered. “So, what are you doing here, besides surfing, I mean?” She felt heat rise to her face.

  “I met up with Sebastian just to hang out for a bit, and riding the waves happens to be what we like doing best. He’s in the Army with Tom. They were in Afghanistan together.” He put his arm around her shoulder. “Where are you staying?”

  She pointed at the roof of the beach house. “There. You want to see it?”

  “Sure. How’d you score a place right on the beach?” He glanced over his shoulder. “Sebastian!”

  “Yeah?”

  “Going up to check out the house. I’ll be back. You okay?”

  “Yep. Have fun.” He turned his attention back to Heather.

  “Okay, lead the way.” He dropped his arm from her shoulders and took hold of her hand.

  “Heather’s parents got it for us. We have i
t for the whole summer. I guess they felt bad since they were flying to Europe without Heather. Where are you staying?” She knew she was rambling, but she didn’t seem to be able to think straight with him holding her hand.

  “I stayed with the guys last night on the other side of town. They have their place until mid-week. I guess I’ll take off when they do.”

  “Do you have to leave? We have room, if you can stay a few extra days.” Good grief, girl. Get a grip. She tugged her hand out of his, instantly feeling the loss of his touch.

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to put you guys out or anything. I actually don’t have to be back for a few weeks.”

  “I’m sure. Wait until you see this place. It’s awesome.” She grabbed his hand again. “So, what made you get the tattoo?”

  “I’ve always wanted one. I found this awesome artist, Stefan Meisse. He owns Crawling Panther Tattoos in Ocala, Florida. I had to wait for months before he had an opening. He’s always booked. So I scheduled, flew down, and got inked. He does great work, doesn’t he?” He flexed his bicep as his smile grew.

  “It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen such detail or colors. I never even knew you wanted one.” She was disappointed not to know these details about him. She thought they were good friends and found it bothered her that he hadn’t shared this.

  “Well, it’s not something we ever got around to talking about. It’s not a big deal, is it?” He turned her around. “Leo, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she muttered, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

  “Hey, it’s me, I know better. So fess up, did I say something wrong?”

  “I don’t know.” She sighed. “Everything is changing, you’ve changed since I saw you last. You didn’t look like this the last time we were together.” She couldn’t stop her eyes from grazing over his body again.

  He put his hand under her chin and tilted her face up. “I did look like this the last time you saw me. I didn’t have the tattoo, but I haven’t changed that much.”

  “You didn’t have facial hair, and I don’t think you were this...” She waved her hand up and down.