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“So you’ve already met Lucas,” Breck said, “And this is our old friend, Griff. He runs the whale boats out of Paxton’s Pier.”
Griff grinned at him from beneath his shaggy beard. “It’s good to meet you.”
“And this is Jackson, he’s a wizard at technology.” Breck smiled. “I’m hoping he might be able to help us bring the resort into the twenty-first century.”
“Always happy to help,” Jackson said, nodding at Aiden. “Once you’ve scoped out what you’re looking for, I’ll come down and give you some suggestions.”
“What did you say your last name was again?” Griff asked him. “You look kind of familiar.”
“Black.”
“Any relation to Jamie Black?”
“He’s my brother.” Aiden felt the smile die on his lips. He could see Jackson doing the rough calculations. The only reason any of them would know of Jamie was because of his notoriety. Even among the good kids in Angel Sands – and Aiden could tell from the way they were acting that Griff, Lucas, and Jackson had been good kids – Aiden’s brother was well known.
“I haven’t heard his name around in years. Where is he now?”
It was the second time that day he’d been asked that. It’d been easier to answer Paul – after all, they were all cut from the same cloth on that side of town. Which side of the law you ended up on was more a matter of luck than design. But in front of these guys – the ones who never knew poverty or envy or the way your stomach started eating itself when you hadn’t eaten for days – it felt so much worse. As though he was being judged. “He’s in jail.”
Griff didn’t look surprised at his answer. He didn’t look judgemental either, much to Aiden’s surprise. Instead he shrugged.
Maybe it wasn’t going to be so bad after all. That gave him some relief.
“Another beer?” Griff asked, grabbing a handful of bottles from the cooler. He passed them over, and twisted his own bottle lid off. “Man, the surf is looking awesome right now.”
It was as though he’d noticed Aiden’s awkwardness about his brother, and decided to change the subject. Whatever the reason, Aiden felt himself relax as Lucas and his friends ribbed each other about missing out on surfing to cook food instead.
A petite brunette walked around the side of the house, a smile curving at her lips as Lucas slid his arm around her waist. “Hey, baby,” he said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “Aiden, this is my girlfriend, Ember.”
Aiden shook Ember’s hand. “I think we’ve met before,” he said. He didn’t need to look twice to know who she was. He’d heard her name enough times back when he was living here in Angel Sands.
Her smile faltered. “Um, yeah. I was thinking you look familiar.”
“You were friends with Brooke Newton, weren’t you? My mom used to be the housekeeper at her house when I was a kid.”
“You know Brooke?” Lucas asked, smiling. “Damn, this really is a small town. She’ll be here in a minute. You’ll be able to catch up on old times. And you’ll get to meet Nick, of course.”
“Nick?” Aiden asked. He was immediately annoyed at himself. So Brooke had a boyfriend. What did he care? He took another sip of beer and ignored the way his stomach turned at the thought of another man in her life.
Coming back to his home town didn’t seem like a good idea after all.
“Actually, we’ve already ran into Brooke,” Breck said. “She came and saved a dog at the site last week.”
Lucas laughed. “That sounds like Brooke.”
“She seems like a really nice girl.”
“And here she is,” Lucas said, staring over Aiden’s shoulder. He felt his skin prickle, knowing she was behind him. Reaching back, he rubbed the back of his neck, refusing to turn around to look, even though every muscle in his body was poised to do so.
“Where’s Nick?” Lucas asked. “Don’t tell me you left him at home.”
A small laugh. Aiden instantly recognized it as hers. “He’s with Ally. They should be hear any minute,” Brooke said. “In fact,
there they are now.”
“Nick, get over here. I need your help,” Lucas shouted out, grinning. From the expression on all the guys’ faces, they were delighted to see this man. Aiden felt another wave of something wash over him. It tasted acrid to his tongue. Whoever this Nick was, he was clearly popular.
And he was Brooke’s boyfriend. No doubt, one her parents approved of.
