“Nope,” they both said in unison.
Anna stood up, her cheeks flushed, the sun glinting over her flawless skin. “I’m going to go swimming now. You coming with me, Brett? I promise I won’t bug you about your private life.”
She looked down at him and held her hand out.
The red bikini she wore barely covered her, and from his vantage point in the sand he could make out the curve to the underside of her breasts.
And if he was looking…
He shot a glance around them, taking in the man to the left of their group who watched Anna with hungry eyes. He was probably thanking the Lord for her small suit.
He was, too, but he was allowed.
Only him.
“Yeah, I’ll come,” Brett said quickly, hopping to his feet.
If God had any mercy at all, no one would follow them.
There was a shuffle of movement, followed by Nina hissing, “Sit back down. All of you.”
“But—” Chris started.
“No. We talked about this, and you’ll sit down.” Nina dropped her voice. “Now. And so will the rest of you, or so help me God, you’ll see a bridezilla fit of the likes that you’ve never witnessed before.”
“Can I marry her?” Brett whispered, leaning as close as he dared. “I just might have fallen in love with her.”
Anna snorted and looked over her shoulder at the group they left behind. “That was pretty impressive, wasn’t it? They all sat back down, too.”
He laughed. “Yeah, she’s pretty high up on my list of favorites right now.” He paused. “Underneath you, of course.”
“I don’t know whether to be offended or not that you forgot to add me until later,” she teased, nudging him with her elbow.
“I’d never forget you. You’re always there in my head.” He stole another glance at Anna. Her hair blew in the breeze, and her cheeks were slightly pink. The bottom half of her bikini barely covered her ass. It would be so easy to reach out and caress her soft skin. He could. He was allowed now. His fingers flexed. “Let’s walk as far away from them as we can manage without hitting Florida.”
“What’s wrong with Florida? I’ve heard it’s lovely this time of year. And it doesn’t have them.” She pointed over her shoulder and headed off to the left. “I’ve never seen all of them stand up so fast before.”
He glanced behind them.
They still watched him, in various degrees of sitting up or standing, with murder written on their faces.
Nina just looked annoyed.
He faced the water again. “I shouldn’t have looked. The combination of all their glowers might turn me into stone.”
Anna laughed, letting out a little snort. When she laughed hard enough, she snorted. And he loved that little snort. He let her mirth wash over him, let her soothe his nerves with a simple sound. “Who do you think they are? Medusa?”
“Perhaps.” He inched closer, letting his arm brush against hers. His gut clenched when her soft skin touched his, and when she swayed closer to him his heart sped up. He’d never felt as attuned to a woman’s movements as he was with her. “If they knew what we did last night, I’d be buried under a slab of stone. Sounds pretty similar to me.”
“Oh, come on. They wouldn’t kill you. They’re not that bad.”
“You don’t know what they’re really like.” He scoffed. “When we were teenagers, I said you were pretty. I got a broken nose from Chris. Just because I said you were pretty.”
She stopped walking and grabbed his elbow, her attention on his nose. It was his least favorite feature on his body. His aunt and uncle hadn’t taken him to the ER, so he’d had to try to align it by himself. It had hurt like hell, and even though he’d tried to do the procedure through his watering eyes by looking in the bathroom mirror, he hadn’t lined it up properly.
As a result, there was a bump on the bridge of his nose that never went away.
It was a constant reminder of how his own best friend thought he wasn’t good enough for Anna. That would probably never change, but damn it.
He didn’t care.
Be mad at me all you want, Chris. I’m done toeing the line.
She reached out and ran a finger over the imperfection he despised. “That’s what you two fought about back then?”
“Yeah. Afterward, we made the blood promise that I’d never touch you.” He brushed her hair out of her eyes, wanting to see all of her. Wanting to see inside her soul. “If I hadn’t, I would’ve never seen you again. He’s my best friend, but you’re his little sister. Blood is thicker than water.”