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Surprise flickers across her face. “You remember that?”
“Of course, I do.” As I’m about to go in for my third taste, a noise breaks the silence from somewhere in the distance. I’m not paying close enough attention to my surroundings to figure out what it is.
Startled, Dani jerks away. “Did you hear that?”
“Nope.” I don’t care if the world explodes around us, all I want is to feel the soft slide of her lips against mine. As I move in for another kiss, there’s a tinkle of soft female laughter from nearby; one that refuses to be ignored.
“You had to hear that, right?” Some of the haziness clears from her eyes.
I huff out a breath. “Yup.”
Her brows pinch together as she moves down the front porch steps and glances toward the side of the house. “I think someone might be in the backyard.”
I follow her to the walkway and snag her fingers with my own. She glances at our entwined hands before flashing a bemused smile at me. “This is really happening?”
“Damn straight it is.”
Finally.
Dani grins, and her dimples pop. I squeeze her fingers gently before we sneak around the side of the red-brick two-story before reaching the yard. The pool area is surrounded by a black iron gate. Quietly, Danielle unlatches the lock and pushes open the door. She turns, placing a finger against her lips. I nod my understanding as we slink inside and hide behind a bush near one of the flower beds. A low murmur of voices fills the balmy night air.
“I think the neighbor kids have snuck into the pool again,” she whispers.
“What are you going to do?”
Danielle narrows her eyes as a smirk settles over her face. She points to the back of the house. “I’m going to turn on the floodlights. That’ll scare the crap out of them.”
“Sure will. Hopefully, you won’t have anything to clean out of the pool in the morning.”
Her shoulders shake with silent laughter before she tiptoes to the house while I stay hunkered down behind the bush. I keep my attention trained on the water. It looks like there are two teenagers swimming around. Someone’s evening is about to go down the tubes.
Thirty seconds later, bright light illuminates the deck area. There’s a gasp and swearing as I move into view. With her fists planted on her hips, Danielle walks toward the pool to get a better look at the culprits.
“Lizzie? Is that you? She blinks before inspecting the second individual. “Brett?”
Time stills as everyone freezes.
Her brother’s eyes narrow. “What the hell are you doing with my sister, Nelson?”
Well, shit.
Danielle
Brett’s barked out question hangs in the air as my attention slides from him to Lizzie. Guilt flickers across my best friend’s face as her teeth sink into her lower lip. The thin straps of her bra are all that’s visible as she stays crouched by the side of the pool.
What the hell is going on around here?
My mind spins. Everything from earlier this evening slams into me like a ton of bricks as it all falls neatly into place.
Lizzie and Brett disappearing at the party.
My best friend’s disheveled appearance when she had finally resurfaced.
Their strange awkwardness mixed with bursts of conversation on the drive home.
The way their gazes had lingered a little too long when we parted ways in the foyer.
Ignoring my brother’s question, I snap back with one of my own. “You were the one with Brett in the boathouse earlier, weren’t you?”
The words might be arranged in the format of a question, but it’s not. All three of us know the answer. Hurt floods through me. Lizzie and I have been best friends since third grade. We’ve never kept secrets from one another.
Until now.
When she opens her mouth to respond, I cut her off. “How long has this been going on for?” Have they been fooling around since Brett returned home from college? Or even longer? I’m such an idiot. Unable to stand still, I shake my head. “You know what? Forget it.” Before she can offer up an explanation, I swing away, stalking toward the iron gate and shoving my way through it.
I’m so angry that I don’t realize Ty has followed me from the backyard until he grabs hold of my wrist and halts my movements. I swing around and stare.
His expression softens as he pulls me closer, wrapping his arms around my body before searching my eyes in the darkness. “Are you all right?”
I jerk my shoulders. How can I be when both my brother and best friend have been sneaking around behind my back? “I can’t believe Brett was making out with Lizzie.”
A slight smile quirks his lips.
Mine sinks further into a frown. I know exactly what he’s going to say, and I don’t want to hear it. “It’s not the same!”
How can he even compare the two situations? They are nothing alike.
