“And your book recs were on point,” she adds. “I made it through two rom-coms, plus the one about the refugee who started a business in her new country and got all the local women involved. Sogood.”
“I’m glad. Any guys on this trip?” Iprod.
“The winery next door had ason.”
She pulls out her phone and shows me pictures of a guy with dark eyes and curlyhair.
“Pen. Didyou…?”
“Second base. Which I think is only first base in Italian.” She sighs. “I forgot how much I love yourpool.”
“You may be seeing more of it. I’m grounded.” I lift my glass in atoast.
“Wait,what?” Pen’s screech echoes off the house as she grabs myarm.
“I decided to drop AP calc. My dad was not afan.”
“You can’t dropcalc.”
I explain my reasoning, and she finally concedes. “So, is this grounding thing the reason you went out and bought that fuck-hot bikini? To give your dad a heartattack?”
I look down at my bathing suit. That’s not how I would’ve described it, but now that she says it, I can see where she’s coming from. It’s red and cut high on my legs, makes my ass look great, and the magic top pushes everything up enough that it looks as if I have real, live boobs. Cleavage and everything. “I just felt likeit.”
“What about the poolparty?”
The memory has me shivering despite the sunshine. “Kellan hit on me, but when I passed, he turned pissyfast.”
Her face turns thunderous. “I’m going to shove his balls down histhroat.”
“Too late. He had a black eye the whole week.” I nod toward the poolhouse.
She picks up the bottle of wine and fills her glass halfway. “Tyler Adams hit him. I should go away moreoften.”
I nearly drop my glass as Tyler and Brandon come around the side of the house. My throat goes dry, and it’s not from thechampagne.
They’re both wearing shorts and nothing else, but it’s Tyler’s body that has me sitting upstraighter.
His shoulders are broad and deliciously rounded, his pecs defined. Suddenly, I’m remembering how he looked playing at that party. How he smelled. How he felt, that body pressed againstmine.
I hate how girls trip over themselves for musicians as if the fact that a guy can play a chord progression magically predicts his ability to get youoff.
But from the second I walked in the door of the fraternity house and saw Tyler on that stage, I waslost.
They didn’t deserve him, didn’t even appreciate what he was givingthem.
Idid.
Thank goodness for padding because it’s way too hot out for my nipples to be getting hard under this bathingsuit.
“Tyler hit who over who?” Brandonasks.
“Kellan Albright.” Pen pulls her sunglasses down her nose, then reaches for thesunscreen.
“That’s how I heard it.” Brandon cocks his head at my friend. “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose oftanning?”
“If I was trying to tan, yes. If I’m studying,no.”
Brandon smirks. “Doesn’t look likestudying.”