“We’re gonna sunbathe topless, the boys be damned?”
An amused groan leaves her and she sits up, shaking my shoulders. “I didn’t say try to get them to murder us,” she teases with a grin. “But yeah, same vibe.”
The two of us laugh.
“So real eighteen-year-old fun, swim, layout, barbecue, drink, dance, flirt…” I lift a brow.
“Make out with a couple of beach boys we’ll never see again,” she adds with a shimmy and ends in a shrug. “The boys are going to, so if we want to do the same, we should. And the best part is no one here will be afraid of ‘big brother and his boys.’” She grins.
Chuckling, I pull myself up, walking backward toward the door. “No overanalyzing, no second-guessing, just go with the flow kind of fun that we may or may not have to sneak around the boys.”
“But if we can’t…”
“Invisible middle fingers and we do it anyway.”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Screw these boys and their obsessive need to know! Let’s have as much fun as possible and whatever happens, happens.”
“Whatever happens, happens,” I agree.
Cam squeals, hops up, and tosses her watch onto my bed. “Now, let’s go make some poor fools drool. We didn’t spend the last four months in Booty Boot Camp for nothing.”
She pushes her forehead into mine and we smile at each other.
“It’s game on, bitches.”
We search the beach as we step off of the back deck, spotting the boys about thirty feet down the sand line, so we make our way toward them.
“Looks like Brady’s already found the hottest girl on the beach to keep him occupied,” Cam jokes, nodding her chin in his direction.
I squint, skimming over the small group, stopping on the gorgeous, tan-skinned, dark-haired girl perched on a rock, and a smile takes over my face.
Kalani Embers is her name, and she’s definitely the most beautiful girl around, but she’s not free for the taking. She’s my cousin Nate’s soon-to-be wifey, who we had a chance to meet and hang with when we came down to set up the house at the start of summer. She’s also the only girl to ever beat Brady at sports trivia. He literally bought every game in the book to ‘study’ the answers, so the next time he saw her, he could take back his know-it-all title, but Kalani, or Lolli as we call her, was born into the game, her entire family having been a part of the NFL world, and stats are her jam. Poor guy doesn’t stand a chance.
She’s not only the youngest but the first female franchise owner in NFL history.
“Aw shit, here comes trouble!” Brady whistles, gaining the others’ attention.
Mason groans, shaking his head, shouting across the sand. “You guys tryin’ to see me knock a fucker out?”
“What’s the matter, Mase, afraid someone might take the bait?” Brady throws back with a grin.
It’s no secret Cameron has a thing for Mason, but none of us really know how he feels about her. He does things like running off guys who try and talk to her and will hold her when she cries, but it’s hard because that’s who Mason is. Protective by nature. He looks out for her as he does me, is there for her when she might need him, as are the other boys. As I am. It’s what we do. We’re family, the five of us, and where we come from that little fact trumps all else. It’s also what makes it so tricky to understand. It’s like I said, Mase treats her as he does me, so there’s a chance there’s nothing romantic about it. He doesn’t know how to care a little; it’s always with all of who he is.
It’s a blessing and a curse sometimes, because he stresses and overanalyzes more than necessary, but he can’t help himself.
My brother is the toughest person I know. He’s everything a father would hope for in a son and more than I could ask for in a brother. He’s the most important person in my life, and if there’s one person in this world I want to make proud, it’s him. My twin is the other half of who I am, but that doesn’t mean I understand his every move, even if I wish I did.
Either way, Cameron refuses to think on it to keep herself from getting her hopes up. She’s not lovesick, by any means, and she doesn’t sit around and hope like I might be pathetically known to do, but as it stands, she’d take his hand if he offered it in a heartbeat.
What makes it a bit more difficult is the fact that Mason is the biggest flirt known to man, possibly neck to neck with Brady, but he means no harm and would never intentionally lead her on, so I guess only time will tell.