Page 22 of Tequila Lime and Sunshine

I huff a laugh. “You’re talking to a man who also doesn’t have an office job. I could never sit at a desk all day and take orders from some asshole. I need my freedom.”

She giggles. “Right? But that’s what Holden wants. The security of the job. Knowing exactly what he has to do every single day.” She pauses as we get out of the elevator. “You know, I’ll always care about him. I have so many memories from our time together. But I’m not in love with him anymore. I want an all-consuming love where you can’t stand being away from someone. Where you’d do anything to make your partner happy. I don’t even know if something like that is possible, but I’m holding out hope for it.”

She unlocks our room door. “Anything is possible, Sunshine.”

* * *

Holden: Are you sure nothing is going on between you two?

Hawke: Nothing is going on.

Holden: it’s bad bro code to hook up with your brother’s ex

Hawke: WE ARE NOT HOOKING UP

Holden: it looks suspicious

Hawke: It’s Summer. She’s my friend.

Holden: You were looking at her like she was more than a friend

CHAPTER 11

Summer

Today is the day Hawke started working out on vacation. The sound of our door opening and closing wakes me up, and I open my eyes to see a shirtless, sweaty Hawke moving through the room.

Jesus.

Seeing him without a shirt on is nothing new. Even when we were younger, more often than not, he wouldn’t have a shirt on. It never bothered me until now. Until he put his hands on me in the water last night. When I looked at his lips, I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted Hawke to kiss me. Honestly, I wanted him to do more than kiss me. It sucks because I know I can’t cross that line with him. He’s the man who has a new woman on his arm every other night, except on this trip. Who doesn’t know what the word commitment even means. The man who leaves without saying goodbye when you thought you were friends.

“Sorry,” he whispers like that will help me go back to sleep. He must not have noticed that I’ve been staring at his sweaty chest since he walked in.

“It’s fine. I need to get up anyway.” I sit up and stretch my arms over my head with a yawn. When I bring them down and relax, he’s staring at me with his signature smirk. “What?”

He nods to my shirt. “You’re wearing my T-shirt.”

I look down. Sure enough, I’m wearing his Savannah College of Art and Design shirt. My cheeks heat. “Sorry. I guess I grabbed the wrong one last night.”

In my defense, I was flustered and confused when we got back to the room. Flustered because of our run-in with Holden and Carly when he was blatantly checking me out in front of his girlfriend. And confused because I was so turned on from swimming fully clothed in the ocean with Hawke. The entire time we were on the beach was sensory overload for me. Letting him take the topless pictures of me made me feel so sexy. He’s photographed some of the most beautiful women in the world. Not that I think I’m on the same level as any of those women, but just having his eyes on me and directing me on how to stand made me feel confident and sexy.

Then when his hands were on me. . . I wanted him everywhere. I don’t know what that means. I’ve never felt like that for Hawke before. He’s always just been Hawke. But now. . . I don’t know. Something has changed. Like a switch has gone off in my brain.

“You can wear my shirt any time you want, Sunshine. It looks better on you anyway.” When he says shit like this, it confuses me even more. Is he being flirty because that’s just how he is, or is he flirting because he wants me? Is this how he is with all the women who warm his bed back in LA? I can’t be one of them. I won’t let myself be one of them. Not with Hawke.

“No, I shouldn’t have done it. When I got out of the shower, it was dark. I thought it was mine. I’ll wash it for you.”

He chuckles at how flustered I am. “No need. Not if it smells like you.”

“Like me?”

“Yeah. I don’t want you to wash it if it smells like coconuts. That’s what you smell like.”

I tug at one of my messy curls. “It’s the spray I use for my curls.”

The corner of his mouth tips up in a smile. “I like it.”

Then he shuts the door to the bathroom, and the shower turns on. What am I supposed to do with that? He just casually tosses out that he likes how my hair smells?