Page 242

I let him have a proper freak out.

“Holy shit! Holy shit!” Seth grabbed his head and yelled. “Oh my god, this is happening!”

“I need help.”

He blinked, then became very serious. “Anything.”

“Here’s the thing. It’s going to take some time. Like you’ve so carefully laid out, I’ve been a closed off asshole and I need to earn her trust again.”

Seth nodded furiously. “That makes sense.”

“I can’t do that if we’re in the middle of a three-ring circus. If you and everyone else gets all excited that we might be a couple one day, it’ll scare her off.”

He slumped back in his chair. “You’re right. Dammit. We’ll call Jeri and the rest off. Tell them to be cool.”

“Thanks.” I would never, ever tell Jeri how much I appreciated her setting us up. If she hadn’t, I had no idea how much longer it would have taken me to pull my head out of my ass.

“Is there anything I can do?”

Maybe fixing my relationship with Willa was the perfect way to bring Seth and me back together. “Keep me honest. It’s a habit to keep everything to myself. Don’t let me.”

Seth stuck out his hand. I took it. After one hard shake he pulled me in for a hug. “You’re going to hate me in a few days.”

Maybe. But it was time for a change.

14

WILLA

While Sophie shot the beach volleyball game, I watched from the sidelines. Seth and Annalise were playing Jeri and Rhett. The sun was setting. The light was…exquisite.

Click!

Click!

Click! Click! Click!

I took several photographs then switched over to video and caught a completely different angle from anything Sophie was getting. It had been a long and surprisingly exhausting day considering most of the activities were designed for relaxation, but then again, I wasn’t one of the athletes and this was very much work for me.

Charley dropped to the sand beside me. “Oh, those colors are gorgeous. And this angle makes it feel like you’re on the court with them. You have such a good eye, Willa.”

“Thanks. Are you feeling closer to your teammates?”

She shrugged. “We’re a pretty tight group already. Things like this help with morale though. And we’ve definitely gotten to know the Mantas better.” She cocked her head and grinned. “But the real question everyone wants answered is whether you’re feeling closer to Everett.”

I rolled my eyes. “Not this again.”

“Yes, this again! You spent the night on that island together and you’re seriously telling me nothing happened?”

I expected to get badgered when we returned but Jeri and Annalise were surprisingly calm and cool about the incident. Jeri apologized profusely for leaving us behind, claiming that she simply didn’t notice we were missing and was in a hurry to get back in time.

I didn’t believe her. Not entirely anyway. But since she wasn’t hounding me about Everett, I let it go.

But Charley was a different story. She had her foot on the gas with no intention of letting up.

“Why do you care about my relationship status with Everett?”

“Honestly? I think I need to believe there is real love out there. There’s something special with you two and I’m just…rooting for you.”