AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“They didn’t have the endurance to stick with daddy today,” Joel answered.
Brianna sighed. “Eh, Joel. Never again refer to yourself in the third person, or as daddy.” She touched her stomach. “I almost lost my lunch right now.”
“They wanted to get more hours of beauty sleep,” Rylan told us.
“And Maude had to do something with her folks,” Joel groaned. “But I can play with you or Bri.” He wet his lips and flashed a mischievous smile.
“Uh, no thanks, Joel.” Brianna swung her gaze from Rylan to me.
Rylan shook his head. “You wouldn’t have made that offer if Gavin were with us,” he pointed out to Joel with a laugh.
“Hell, no! I am not stupid.” Joel set the folding chairs out, gesturing for Brianna and I to take a seat. He shrugged his shoulders. “But it didn’t hurt to try.” He winked at Brianna.
I cocked my brow at Joel. “Have you ever had a female friend?” He shot me a pointed look. “Okay, I have my answer then.” I lightly laughed.
“How about you?” Brianna asked Rylan.
“Yeah. And it works out best, ’cause I am not feeling them like that.” The beach near my home looked like a liquid waste site. Here, the beach water was a clear blue. I took off my flip-flops and I dug my feet into the warmth of the white sand.
I started to put some lotion on Brianna’s back when I heard Joel groan two seats to my right. “Keep on going,” he said.
Rylan smacked him on the side of his head, but he must have been used to it, because he didn’t even flinch.
“Thanks, Beth. I’ll do your back now.”
I turned around and Brianna started putting on the sun block where it was hard to reach on my back. The voices of the increasingly large crowd were at the same level as the sound of the currents.
About an hour into sunbathing, I felt my body shift from the chair. Rylan had me over his shoulder. Squealing, Brianna tried to pull away as Joel carried her from the chair and placed her over his shoulder. I pinched Rylan’s back, but he didn’t let me go. They charged us into the water, then dunked our heads against the waves. Once Rylan thought I’d given up on getting him back from exhaustion, I tugged both of his calves and he fell into the water. Joel ha
d gotten away before Brianna could do anything.
Joel and Rylan held up towels big enough for two people to fit into them when Brianna and I came out of the water. Rylan met Brianna and they were both wrapped up in the towel. My teeth chattered a little and I walked to Joel as he held his huge towel wide open. He wound his arm around my shoulders and we started walking off to the area where mostly babysitters and parents were with small children. I had thought Joel would try to be with Brianna right now, not with me.
“You have to be patient with Chase,” Joel said, making my heart stutter by mentioning Chase. I missed Chase since he had left for work early this morning. As I had been sunbathing, I’d wondered how his workday was going.
“I didn’t see that coming.”
The corners of Joel’s eyes creased. “I don’t know how no one didn’t notice how you and Chase were with each other last night.”
“We weren’t together last night. I came to the party with Cassidy. Remember?”
He rubbed my shoulders as my body warmed up.
“I may look like a dummy, but I am not.”
“Joel, I don’t think you’re a dummy.”
“You know what I am talking about. I recognize eye-fucking when it’s right in front of my face.”
I looked over my shoulder. Brianna had the towel over her that Rylan had shared with her. Rylan sat next to her.
“Chase is a handsome guy. I am a new addition in town before we both go back to our own lives at UM. He probably wants to see how far he can go with me.” I didn’t like the unbidden words that flew out of my mouth, because a big part of me didn’t want to be right. But I’d been on enough dates to know that Chase may not be too different from those other guys. And I didn’t want Joel to have an idea about how much I wanted Chase to not be into other girls.
“You can assume that Chase is a guy who sticks his dick in any orifice, but would you really feel anything for him if that’s how you thought he was?” he said nonchalantly, and handed a frisbee back to a beautiful little boy with blond curls, who ran back to his caregiver.
“That’s crossed my mind,” I murmured. “But I have reasons to err on the side of caution. I shouldn’t think that he’s special. Especially because what ever is going on with Chase and I may not go anywhere.”
“You know what you want. Don’t get so caught up in yourself that you miss the bigger picture.”
