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Liv wouldn’t be the least bit shocked. Nate and Tristan had made her sing the praises of the Lord Almighty as she’d come repeatedly. Not an experience easily overlooked.
Her teeth clamped down on her lower lip. Oh, how Fallon would love to hear those juicy details—Liv had no doubt! But once again . . . holding that hand close to the vest provided a dazzling flicker of exhilaration within her, even if she was keeping a secret from her dearest friend.
Returning her attention to Tristan, she said, “Nathaniel told me you’re both groomsmen. My groomsmen!” She kissed him on the cheek. Her gaze shifted to Nathaniel and she kissed him as well.
Tristan told her, “We know how you like surprises.”
“I can’t think of a better one—being saved by not just one, but two, insanely gorgeous men. This is the ultimate in good karma!”
Chapter Two
Nate cringed inwardly.
All the hero-worshipping from Liv should have had his chest puffing out, the way it did Tristan’s.
Stunning, sensational Liv Tyner.
She wore a string bikini as vibrant as the sun and the wisps of material set off her golden skin—and likely did the same for her amber eyes, though they were currently concealed behind dark glasses.
There was no mistaking that she was thrilled to see him and Tristan. Her enticing chest rose and fell quickly. She bounced on the balls of her bare feet, drawing his attention to her mile-long legs and all that smooth, satiny skin on display. His gaze eased upward to her sculpted face and luxurious hair. More alluring attributes. Everything about the woman teased his senses, but her thick locks had always captivated him with their shimmery bronze color accented with caramel strands. She’d pulled the full mass up into a high ponytail this afternoon, the ends brushing her slender shoulders.
She exuded a natural effervescence that was enthralling and addictive. She was sexy and sensual and deeply intoxicating. Nate rode a high like he’d never known when he was in her hypnotic presence, and he knew the same held true for Tristan.
Unfortunately, neither man had ever really been her savior. It’d always been the other way around—Liv coming to their rescue with her innate ability to deflect any sort of ridicule or bullying thrown their way because he and his stepbrother hadn’t fit the ideal perpetuated by the rich and the elite, the bold and the beautiful of Bayfront.
She’d managed to befriend every potential castaway, including Fallon. Although Fallon had always been under the wings of Devon and Morgan, because she’d grown up on the Presley estate, she’d still been an outsider looking in, as much as Nate and Tristan. The children of the hired help. The insignificants who were only at the private institution in town because of academic excellence and full-ride scholarships.
They’d never truly belonged. And yet Liv had not acknowledged that. Had never caught on that the geeks or the dweebs or whatever you wanted to call them were the ones to leave standing in the shadows, not kindheartedly coax into the light to bask in her radiance.
But Liv couldn’t seem to help herself. Couldn’t keep from bestowing upon the commoners of the community her easy exuberance and contagious laughter.
Even now—after all this time, water under the bridge, intimacy explored—Nate was helpless against the magnetic force that she was, the larger-than-life character who could so effortlessly suck him into the telling of one of her crazy adventures and make him damn near forget everything around him . . . make him forget his own name.
Nate had loved her from the moment he’d locked eyes with her. They’d been nine years old when they’d met. Had been tragically introduced to each other during a classic dodge ball mishap. He’d been dodging, as he’d had to do every fucking time the PE teacher, who got a kick out of watching the nerds get tagged by a ball, teed up a game.
On this particularly painful day, new student Liv had entered the gym, all long, shiny hair and sp
ellbinding tawny irises, and Nate had been instantly awestruck. A total deer caught in the headlights. Then—
Bam!
He’d been knocked on his ass by a blow to the head. His glasses had flown from his face and blood had exploded from his nose.
A deafening silence had instantly filled the gym—which only served to amplify the roar of Coach Bradley’s laughter as he’d doubled over in malevolent amusement. Until Nate’s wails and the other kids’ sudden horrified gasps had penetrated the prick’s boisterous howls and he’d opened his eyes to find Nate sprawled on the floor with blood splattered everywhere.
Liv had been the first to rush to his side. She was still in her tailored uniform, rather than her gym clothes, since she’d come in mid-class. She’d whipped off her navy-colored blazer and had gently pressed the material to his nose, then slipped a hand under his head to cradle the back of it and reassured him over and over that it was all going to be okay.
Quite the angel of mercy, she’d been.
And Nate had soaked up every angelic vibe emitted from her.
Of course, by lunchtime, she was hanging with the cool kids. Easily the prettiest girl in school, and that was saying something in Bayfront.
Naturally, Nate had never made the slightest move on Liv—not even asking for a dance when they rolled into junior high years. Well, that was mostly due to the fact that he and Tristan never went to any dances. Little could tear them away from a rousing Friday night of stargazing through the high-powered telescope at the observatory as they searched for comets and yet-to-be-discovered planets.
Although he and his stepbrother had each had a soft spot for Liv from the onset, science had held a higher priority—a more sensible aspiration because, in all honestly, in what universe did the geek get the beauty?
Nate and Tristan had both needed to go through massive transformations in order to be worthy of Liv in their own minds as much as in reality. And while the tables had turned for them over the course of the last several years—and Liv had been attracted to them when they’d all gotten together in France—Nate still had yet to fully release the stigma that tainted the fringes of this particular homecoming.
