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“That should be hilarious.” The boys are competitive; not only do they try to win everything they do, but they also try to outdo each other in party planning. Connor might have won the prize with this one.
“Drinks are up on the deck. Grab a beer.” He grins and waves at someone who yelled at him. “One of the perks of being a bartender is convincing my boss to run an open bar with two kegs.”
Harbor walks around the corner of the house with Layla and Kameron by her side, and I almost drop to my knees. She’s wearing faded jeans that are glued to her skin and a peach-colored midriff-bearing T-shirt. Her skin is still kissed from the summer sun.
As if she senses me staring at her, her eyes meet mine. She stumbles before grabbing Layla’s arm to right herself and whispers something to her. Layla zones in on me while smiling and waggling her eyebrows.
Shit. I groan. If Layla knows, that means Kameron knows. Kameron smirks. Great. They both know. This is either a good thing or a bad thing. It was good enough that she told her friends–so that’s a positive.
But it’s also bad because Layla is Miss Suzy Sunshine, and she’s already been shipping us like the Mayflower. If she does it any harder, everyone here is going to know by the end of the afternoon. And that’s the bad thing. Wishes are dangerous because there’s a whole shitload of brothers here that will join Connor in kicking my ass.
“So, what do you think of my party?” Connor puffs his chest out.
“Dude.” I laugh despite my fear of impending doom and shake my head as the trio walks toward us. “You’ve already won. There’s no way the guys can top this birthday party.”
Ledger glares and braces his hands on his hips. “Bullshit. I’m going to take everyone skydiving for my birthday.”
“Kameron.” I shake his hand and introduce him to the guys. “We work together at the station.”
“Let’s hope there’s not a real fire with both of you playing hooky.” Ledger jokes and moves to the next grouping of guests.
“Hello, Cole.” Layla grins and gives me a quick hug. “It’s good to see you with your clothes on.”
Fuck. Right out of the gate.
“What’re you talking about?” Connor frowns as Harbor tries to hide behind Layla. “You’ve been messing with Cole, and you have a boyfriend. What the fuck?”
“Don’t be stupid, Connor.” She rolls her eyes and snuggles into Kameron. “I’m happily taken. Last week, I did the photo shoot with Cole and Harbor.”
“Oh, right.” His jaw flexes as he glares at Harbor. “Pipsqueak, you know your future husband is going to see those photos and think you’re easy.”
“Connor,” I growl as my muscles tighten. I haven’t fought Connor since we were 12, but he’s about to get punched in the mouth.
“Don’t go there.” Harbor jumps around Layla and stabs him in the chest before I can say anything else. “I’m an adult woman, and I can make my own choices. So you can start with not calling me Pipsqueak, and I don’t need my big brothers, any of them, to run interference for me, and if some douche bag is pussy enough to think I’m a slut because I took professional photos with a man, then he can kiss my ass.”
“Harbor….” Connor’s face is flush as he inhales and straightens his back. “I don’t mean it to be an insult, but some guys are judgmental, and I don’t want you to get a reputation you’ll regret later.”
She pats his shoulder. “Thank you, Connor. I realize your boneheaded comments are said out of love, and it’s your birthday, so I won’t grab a glass tray and bash you over the head as my present to you.” She rotates her shoulders. “But I will win your little games and take your money.”
“Do you have a partner?” I ask before I can talk myself out of it. Our eyes lock, and for a second, no one else exists.
“No.” Her eyebrows go up, and it takes everything I have not to kiss her in front of everyone. I love her spunk and rarely get to see it. When she’s around me, she usually goes in the other direction. To see her put Connor in his place is a masterclass in backbone. “Do you?”
“As a matter of fact, I don’t.” I glare at Connor. “My best buddy here dropped me for Austin.”
“Hey.” His face darkens as he sputters in protest and raises his hands. “You know the deal. I wouldn’t have if I knew you were going to be here.”
“Too late,” I smirk and return my attention to Harbor as Layla and Kameron whisper and look low-key perfect together as they plot their winning strategies and pretend they don’t know why I want to hang out with Harbor.
“So?” Harbor inhales, causing her gorgeous tits to rise and fall, almost distracting me from my mission. “How would you like to partner up?”
She eyes me up and down. “You look like you’d do in a pinch. Sure…” She shrugs. “I’ll partner with you to beat this loser.”
“You’re on.” I grin as both my competitive juices and my excitement of being able to spend the entire day with Harbor and, her brothers not being able to say a thing about it, has my adrenaline pumping. And my dick isn’t mad about the opportunity, either.
Chapter Twenty-One
Harbor
