by K. A. Linde
“You’re a hellion, Savi.”
She nudged him. “Pretty much. Learned it from my big brother.”
“Which one?”
“Well, we both know I didn’t learn to be a hellion from Brady. He doesn’t even know what that word means,” she said with a giggle. “I doubt you’re going to have any fun at this bachelor party. He’s probably going to have one drink, declare his love for Liz, and go to bed by ten.”
Clay snorted. “Oh, joy.”
Savannah giggled and then they headed out to walk around campus situated just off of Franklin Street. Savannah stopped in front of the Old Well for a picture with her half-finished gelato. Clay snapped one with his phone and then they took a selfie.
“Send that one to me!” Savannah said.
Clay shook his head, but did as he was told. “So…you and Easton, huh?”
“Uh…yeah.”
“Seems pretty serious.”
“Ew. Are you going to have a birds and the bees talk with me?”
Clay laughed. “Definitely no. I’m just curious. Politician?”
Savannah groaned and looked away. “I can’t help it that the profession he’s interested in happens to coincide with something I detest.”
“True,” he admitted. “Just doesn’t seem like you.”
“Maybe he’ll change his mind,” she said hopefully. “Law school changes people right?”
“That’s a fact.” Clay was thinking about all the couples who broke up and got divorced while he was in law school. He didn’t wish that on his sister and hoped she knew what she was getting herself into.
“Hey,” she said as they veered back toward the car, “can you try not to fuck it up this weekend?”
“Language, Baby Maxwell,” he joked.
Savannah punched him. “I mean it!”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “I’ll give it a try.”
Chapter 19
BACHELOR PARTY
Savannah piled into Clay’s car the next morning for the drive south. If he’d been in D.C., he would have just flown, but it was good to spend the time with Savannah. They’d argued more than gotten along while growing up. It was weird sometimes to think she was of legal drinking age and would be graduating from college in a year. He still saw her as that little kid, but she clearly wasn’t that anymore.
They spent most of the drive arguing over what music to listen to, debating which nineties band was the best, and dissecting Savannah’s misguided love for One Direction. She insisted that Harry Styles was the best, and Clay could only agree because he’d banged Taylor Swift.
Due to frequent pit stops for snacks and the fact that it was Memorial Day weekend, so traffic was atrocious, their five-hour drive turned into six, and they rolled into Hilton Head Island in the middle of the afternoon. It was already boiling hot, and the air was so humid that he could practically drink it. The smell of sea salt was in the air, and both he and Savannah were jittery while driving through downtown toward the sandy beaches.
Truly, Memorial Day weekend was the worst possible time for them to be here, but it meant they would get to stay here on Monday before driving back home. Traffic was bumper-to-bumper on the little island, and they inched along, fighting to get to their beach house.
Clay had been to Andrea’s beach house nearly as many times as his own. Every summer since he was twelve, they’d skirted the beach that occupied the short distance between their two places, disappearing in and out of each other’s houses, making the other a part of their family, no matter how messed up it became.
Andrea’s mom, Cathleen, had gotten the house in the divorce, and when she’d remarried a year after divorcing Andrea’s father, Rupert, Andrea and Clay had had to deal with her two younger stepsiblings. The only person in her family whom she still talked to was her mother, and Clay knew that was only on her terms. When Cathleen called, that usually meant trouble. Her father had remarried a few years later to someone roughly Andrea’s age, and they’d never reconciled their differences. From the start, she had said that the only thing she got from her dad was her last name.
Having Hilton Head dredge up all these old memories made him uneasy. And miss her all the more.
While he’d always felt like he was in Brady’s shadow, he had never thought about how he had been the one to really give Andrea a family. No rings or big wedding plans, but she had clearly become a Maxwell long before that thought had ever entered her mind.
He pulled into the driveway to Andrea’s whitewashed beach house and parked the car.
“Thank God we’re here,” Savannah said, hopping out of the car. She grabbed her purse, slung it over her head, and then started collecting her backpack and bag of snacks from the backseat.
He unbuckled his seat belt and popped his own door open. It felt like a lifetime ago since he had last been here. If only he could go back to that time when he’d been so naive and tell that little kid not to be such an idiot when it came to this beautiful girl…
Nah, it wouldn’t have mattered. He hadn’t been that jaded yet…and neither had she.
Clay pressed the button to pop the trunk and helped Savannah take out her giant suitcase. “What do you have in here?” he asked with a grunt. “Bricks?”
“Just the essentials!”
Clay closed the trunk, and when he glanced back up at the door, two beautiful blondes were staring back at him. Liz was in nothing but a red string bikini and white cutoff shorts that made her curvy body look fucking amazing. But Andrea was what stole his breath.
Fuck.
She had on a hot-pink strapless bikini. Her blonde hair rippled down over one shoulder. Even from a distance, he couldn’t help but admire every inch of her milky-white skin. And it took a lot of self-control not to storm right over, throw her over his shoulder, and take her upstairs to fuck her brains out until she forgave him. The caveman inside him begged to be unleashed.
Fuck it.
Savannah put her hand on his arm and shook her head almost imperceptibly. How the hell did she know what I was thinking? Is it written all over my face?
Because, right now, all he could think about was Andrea. All the old familiar emotions and memories sprang up between them. He didn’t understand how she could just stand there and not feel the heat radiating between them. It was like a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode.
Their eyes met and, fuck, if he didn’t want to make things right with this woman. He’d been sure that all was lost. But how could it be lost? How could all this history just disappear?
He hadn’t slept with anyone the night of the inauguration, and he hadn’t slept with Gigi. He didn’t know what he had to do to prove to Andrea that he was the man for her…but he’d do it.
Andrea seemed taken aback by the intensity of his gaze, bit her lip, and then slipped back into the house. He deflated, but Liz was already barreling down the stairs toward him.
“I’m getting married next weekend. I’m getting married next weekend!” she cried.
“So I’ve heard,” Clay said, pulling her in for a hug.
Savannah started wheeling her massive suitcase over to the front of the house, leaving Liz and Clay alone to talk.
“Gah, how excited are you for the wedding?” Liz leaned back onto the trunk of his car and tapped the back twice. “Kind of a downgrade from your normal ride, isn’t it?”
Clay laughed. “The car is for trips. Better gas mileage and good for the environment. I heard you’re big on that.”
Liz brightened. “That’s true. Good for you!”
“And, to answer your question, it’s clear I’m not as excited as the bride.”
“Bride,” she breathed. “That word. Can you believe Brady and I are tying the knot?”
“Nope. Not at all. Pretty sure I tried to prevent that at every turn.”
Liz laughed and just shook her head. “So, what are your plans for Brady? You’ll watch over him, right?”
“Yeah, yeah. He’ll be fine. We don’t really have pl
ans.”
“Strippers?” she asked curiously.
Or was it interest in her voice? He never could tell with Liz. Things that might piss off most girlfriends would go over her head. And then, sometimes, things that didn’t bother anyone else would piss her off.
“You volunteering?”
Liz rolled her eyes. “You wish.”
“Got me there.”
“It would be Victoria, if any of us,” Liz said about her crazy voluptuous best friend whom he’d heard was wild in bed.
“I’ll have to give that a go.” He winked at her.
“One, she’s taken, and two, you couldn’t handle her.”
“We’ll see about that. I bet I could give her a run for her money.”
“Hmm…” she said, assessing him, “Maybe.”
“I gave you a run for yours,” Clay joked.
Liz shook her head and bumped him with her hip. “You’re ridiculous. Get out of here, and take care of my fiancé.”
“I’ll do my best.”
She followed him back to the driver’s side and gave him a pensive long stare. “Hey, Clay?”
“Yeah?”
“She misses you,” Liz said quietly.
Clay frowned. Andrea missed him. It was like Liz was offering him a small sliver of hope. Andrea had said she missed him at his house, but then he’d fucked it up. If Liz was telling him again, it had to be because she thought he still had a chance.
“I love her,” he told Liz.
She immediately broke out into barely suppressed laughter.
“What?” he demanded.
“Clay Maxwell…in love.” Liz shook her head. “When I first met Andrea, I thought you two hated each other. But I was so wrong. You just hadn’t realized how much you loved each other yet.”
“You think I still have a shot?” he asked.
She bit her lip and then glanced back up at the house. “You just might.”
“Thanks”—he brushed a kiss on her cheek and laughed—“sis.”
“Oh, get out of here,” she said, shoving him into the front seat of his car.
He revved the engine at her as she walked back toward the house. As he drove the short distance to the Maxwell property, he had a smile plastered on his face, and a plan was forming in his mind.
He could win Andrea back.
He could be the man she wanted.
He could make her see how much he loved her and that flushing fifteen years of history down the drain was the worst idea she’d ever had.
He could do it…
He had to do it!
Brady, Chris, and Lucas were already outside at the pool, decked out in swim trunks and drinking beer, when Clay finally made it to the house. He’d dropped his stuff off in his room and changed into a pair of Carolina blue swim trunks before entering the pool deck.
“The party has arrived,” he said, walking out to them and grabbing a beer off of Lucas.
“Hey, man,” Lucas said. He extended his hand, and Clay shook it.
Brady and Chris nodded their heads at him and said, “Hey,” at the same time.
“Had to drop Savi off with the girls,” Clay said. He sank into a chair and took a long swig of his beer.
“How was the drive down?” Brady asked.
“Yeah, I can’t believe that you actually drove,” Chris said. He had his ever-present smile plastered onto his face.
The dude was as tall or taller than Brady but lacked all the seriousness of his brother. Brady finally relaxed when he was around Chris. He was actually able to kick back and have a good time rather than always acting so uptight.
“Well, I wanted to visit home first. Then, Savi forced me to drive her.” He shrugged. “It was all right even though she’s a fucking handful.”
Lucas snorted beside him. “That’s the truth.”
Clay wondered what the fuck was up with Lucas and Savannah. Andrea had mentioned that they had been a thing at one point, but it couldn’t be the case if she was attached at the hip with Easton.
“How’s Vanderbilt treating you?” Clay asked instead.
Lucas had just finished his junior year, like Savannah, and played on the Vanderbilt basketball team.
Lucas swiped his shaggy hair out of his eyes and grinned. “Pretty epic. We made it to the Final Four this past year. I can’t believe I only have one more year.”
Brady raised his beer to him. “Enjoy it while it lasts. Nothing else like it.”
“That’s right, man. I’m definitely enjoying it.”
Clay had a feeling he knew just what Lucas meant by that.
“What about you?” Clay asked Chris. “How is New York treating you?”
Chris worked at some marketing firm in New York City. Clay wasn’t exactly certain what he did, but he must be making bank because he had a nice apartment in Manhattan even if he couldn’t seem to hold down a girl to save his life.
“Didn’t you hear?” Brady asked.
“What?”
“I got a promotion,” Chris said with a slightly delirious laugh. “I got a job in D.C.”
“Fuck, tell me you’re not working with this dipshit,” he said, pointing at his brother.
“Nah, the company is expanding. They want me to head the new office in D.C. Offered it to me, knowing I had connections on the Hill, of course.” Chris shrugged. “It’s a great opportunity, and I get to be near you two assholes more. Plus, higher pay in a city with lower cost of living.”
“Who are you trying to convince?” Lucas joked.
“Hey, hey!” Chris said, holding his hands up. “We’re here to celebrate Brady getting hitched, not ragging on me!”
“The old ball and chain,” Clay said.
Brady leaned back in his chair with a smile that Clay could only call dreamy. Normally, Brady was so reserved that there was nothing to see beyond the politician’s mask he always wore, but this weekend, it was gone. He was ecstatic.
“Hottest ball and chain I’ve ever seen,” Brady said.
“I’ll toast to that,” Chris said, holding his beer up.
The guys spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around the pool and drinking. When dusk hit, they changed into more suitable clothes, had dinner at a local restaurant, and then retired relatively early, for all of them were worn out from traveling.
The next day convened like the last. Innocent jabs, lots of poolside beer, and a whole lot of brotherly camaraderie that Clay found he’d actually missed. He didn’t know the last time he and Brady had just hung out like this without him always being wary of the political arena. For once, the politics were off his back, and he was just a man about to marry the woman of his dreams.
At one point, Clay pulled Chris and Lucas aside while Brady had disappeared upstairs, presumably to talk to Liz.
“I know we agreed to take it easy,” Clay said, holding his hands up, “and we’re doing that. But I gave up Vegas for this. The least we can do is get him shitfaced in his last hurrah.”
Lucas just nodded. “I’m down. I’d love to see Brady get turnt.”
“Oh God, the slang just keeps getting worse and worse,” Chris groaned.
Lucas clapped his brother on the back. “Come on! Don’t you remember what it was like in college? I know it was a long time ago for you, but you have to remember—the booze, the women, basketball. Let’s bring that back for him.”
“Minus the women,” Chris clarified.
Clay shrugged. “There are some very hot women right down the beach.”
“It’s a bachelor party. We’re not bringing Liz over here. If we get him sloppy, it’s on us. No one else has to know.”
Clay and Lucas exchanged a glance that said they would both be taking videos of this shit later and then nodded. “Deal,” they said at the same time.
That was how Clay and Lucas piled into his hybrid and rolling to the liquor store later that day. They’d given Brady some bullshit excuse about going to pick up lunch. Guess they’d have to do that now, too.
“So,” Clay said as they walked to the sandwich place next door, “are you and Savannah a thing?”
Lucas grunted and shrugged.
“What does that mean?”
“Dunno. Where’d you hear that?”
“Someone mentioned it once. That the case?”
“Look, man, it’s not a big deal. We were kind of an on-and-off-again thing. But, now, Savi and I are ancient history.” Lucas looked up at him and seemed really unconvincing. “She has a boyfriend, you know?”
“Yeah, I know. I know that don’t mean shit though if you really like her. Or if she really likes you. Didn’t matter for Brady and Liz.”
“Hey, I tried with her. If she really likes me, then she has a funny way of showing it.” He rubbed his jaw, like he was remembering a particularly painful memory.
“Well, that’s good for your health.”
Lucas cocked an eyebrow. “That so?”
“Yeah, because, as her brother, I have to let you know…I’d kick your ass.”
“Cool, man,” Lucas said with a stiff laugh.
They returned to the beach house after picking up enough sandwiches that it looked like they could feed a small third world country rather than four guys all over six feet tall.
Brady took one look at their liquor loot and shook his head. “What’s all this?”
“The party!” Lucas cried, pulling out the tequila and pouring it into the small shot glasses they’d picked up.
“Drink up, big brother.” Clay patted him on the back.
Lucas passed Brady a shot.
“I promised Liz no strippers, but if we don’t finish all this booze, I can’t guarantee I’ll hold to that promise.”
Brady laughed, raised his shot of tequila into the air, and said, “Bring it on.”
Chapter 20
BOOZE & CIGARS
Several hours and a shit-ton of alcohol later, Brady Maxwell was hammered. It was easily the drunkest Clay had ever seen his brother. Not that he had seen Brady get drunk all that often, but Chris had seen him drink all through college, and even he swore, he had never seen Brady like this. Claimed he’d never gotten this wasted at school. Clay thought that just meant Brady had been way too uptight in college.