“Did he just call me a kid?” Graham asks low.
“You get used to it,’ I say, then pull him onto the sand where I kick off my shoes. “You can set the bag down over there,” I say, tipping my chin. “But can you get me the sunscreen?”
“Here we go,” Lainey grumbles, and I snap my head to her. She’s in a beach chair, her fair skin complemented by a dark red bathing suit, and, if I know my best friend, she’s not wearing any sunscreen, despite definitely needing it.
“Lainey, I know for some reason you love getting sunburned like, once a week, but some of us want to live to be a hundred and three.”
Graham hands me the sunscreen, and I take off my cover-up, smearing the white stuff around my arms until it blends in.
“A hundred and three?” Graham asks, a bit alarmed, and I just smile.
“Yeah, I think that sounds like a good number.”
“That means you’ll have to live to…what?” Sutton asks, looking at Graham. “One hundred and eleven?” A look of horror crosses Graham’s face. “You wouldn’t want to leave poor June to be alone.”
I look to the sky and groan.
“Sutton! Stop! I told you guys to be cool! You can’t scare him this fast; we’ve only been together for a day!”
“And a month, if you count the time you guys fucked each other’s brains out before you—” Claire starts.
“LA LA LA,” I nearly scream, glaring at Claire as I glance at my brother. He’s talking to Deck, and I pray to all that’s good in the world he didn’t hear. “I said no details!”
“You said noaskingfor details. I already knew those.” I glare at her and her love of loopholes.
“How are we friends?” I ask, moving to my legs.
“We’re not. We’re best friends. There’s a lot more room for being obnoxious when you’re best friends.” I roll my eyes, but I don’t argue. She’s right: best friends are basically sisters you choose for yourself, and from my understanding, sisters are supposed to be the most beloved and most irritating people on the planet. With a sigh, I turn to Graham, deciding to just move past it.
“Shirt off. Let me put sunscreen on you so you can live to be a hundred and eleven,” I say, fighting back a smile. Lainey fails, a loud laugh leaving her lips, but it turns into a choked cough as Graham takes off his shirt.
Well, that’s one way to shut them up.
“Oh my god,” Claire says.
“I know,” I respond, almost begrudgingly, because I know the magnificent hotness that is Graham without his shirt on. Slowly, I start spreading sunscreen on his back.
“But…how?” Lainey asks in a breath.
“No idea. It’s wild, right?”
“Do you think Rowan is like this?” Sutton asks, seemingly half-alarmed and half intrigued, before she blinks and shakes her head with disgust. “Actually, no. I don’t want to know. I wouldn’t be able to work with him anymore.”
I finish rubbing sunscreen into his back and hand him the bottle to do mine.
“Maybe Lainey should do it. I think I should—” Graham starts, looking over his shoulder, concerned, before moving to step away, but Sutton lifts her hands, and he halts in place.
“No,” she says. “Stay there, don’t move. Another five seconds. Actually…” She turns to me. “Do you have paper?”
“Absolutely not. That’s enough for that.” I take the sunscreen back and hand it to Lainey, who begrudgingly stands to lotion me.
“Draw him. I beg,” Claire says, hands clasped before her, standing from where she’s sitting.
Miles shakes his head and sighs before standing as well. “Wanna get a beer? Save you from all of…this?”
Graham looks from Miles to my friends, then back, and nods.
“Yes, please.”
