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He was shirtless and in a pair of cerulean-blue board shorts that stopped just above his knee. My eyes traveled down the washboard abs that I’d never seen look this good before. His mess of brown curls bounced as he ran forward and tossed a Frisbee to one of his friends. He ran a hand back through his hair, and I saw a defined bicep before he caught sight of me.
Maddox stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes lit up as they traveled over my bare shoulders, down my skimpy, strapless cover-up, to my long, tan legs. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, dumbstruck.
Then, the Frisbee hit him squarely in his chest.
He guffawed as he faltered backward a step, and the Frisbee landed in the sand. My hand flew to my mouth. His friends, Marley, and Lila all laughed.
“Pay attention, dipshit,” one of his friends called, jogging over to him.
Maddox rubbed his chest reflexively. “Maybe call my name next time.”
“I did,” the guy said. He slapped him on the back and picked up the Frisbee, shooting it back out.
Maddox headed over to us as we laid our towels out. I stripped out of my dress, leaving me in nothing but my hot-pink string bikini. Maddox was staring again, his mouth slightly agape.
“You’re going to let in flies,” Marley snapped at him, brushing her own dark curls out of her face.
He quickly shut his mouth, a hint of pink at his cheeks. “You made it to town.”
“Yep. It was an easy drive.”
“I’m glad.”
His friend followed him, wrapping an arm across Maddox’s shoulders and leaning forward. “You going to introduce me to your girl?”
“She’s not …” Maddox started, eyes wide. “She’s, uh, just …”
“Philip Kearney,” Marley chided.
Lila knocked her hip into him. “Surely, you’ve met our friend Josie? She’s here every summer.”
“Oh, this is Josie,” he said with a smirk in Maddox’s direction.
Maddox’s jaw worked. “Hey, Josie.”
“Maddox.” I smiled at him.
I wasn’t embarrassed by everything going on. As much as Marley hated people noticing her for anything but her big brain, I was perfectly okay with these guys stumbling all over themselves over me.
Even Maddox.
“Let’s get back to the game!” one of the other guys called.
Philip yanked on Maddox’s arm. “Come on, dude.”
Maddox met my gaze for a split second longer before following his friend back into the sand.
I flopped down onto my towel and spread suntan oil with minimal SPF all over my body. Marley still looked irritated, but she was busy putting up an umbrella, so that she could promptly hide her soon-to-be lobster skin.
Lila snagged the tanning oil from me and slathered up her legs. “I know what that look means.”
“What look?” I asked conspiratorially.
But I was still watching Maddox run up and down the beach.
Lila flipped the bottle at me. “You know how Maddox feels about you.”
“Do I?”
“Don’t even think about it, Josie,” Marley said, sitting down underneath the umbrella and dropping her giant beach hat over her curls.
“Think about what?”
“That’s my brother. My twin brother. And I know how you are with boys.”
I put my hand to my chest. “Moi?”
Lila snorted. “Love ’em and leave ’em is practically your motto.”
“Do not break my poor little brother’s heart. He has all that artist angst. I could not deal with it.” Marley’s eye roll was definitely exaggerated, but her words were for real. “He’d probably write a song about you.”
I sighed. “Okay. I will stay away from him,” I promised. And flirt my ass off. “But I can still appreciate that he’s gotten hot this year.”
Marley groaned, and Lila just cackled.
I tied my black hair into a messy bun on the top of my head and lay back against the towel. The sand was warm. The sky was blue. The sound of the waves lulled me. This wasn’t the spring break I’d planned, but I was at the beach with my friends and had cute boys to look at. I couldn’t ask for more.
Except for maybe a cute boy to kiss …
4
SAVANNAH
APRIL 1, 2005
“And who is going to be at this party?” Gran asked.
Maddox sighed. “It’s not a party, Gran. It’s me and Philip watching a movie.”
“Are Philip’s parents going to be there?”
“I don’t know. I think so.”
“Any girls?”
“Gran,” he groaned.
“Don’t Gran me,” she warned. “Your grades slipped this semester, Maddox. If you used your brain half as much as your sister, we wouldn’t need to have this conversation.”
“My grades are fine. The teachers just want me to show my work, and that’s stupid.”
“Yet you manage to get perfect scores in your art classes.”
Maddox huffed. “Because that’s actually interesting.”
Gran sighed heavily, as if this was a conversation she’d had on more than one occasion. Marley and Maddox were both off the charts in intellect. Marley focused on academics, but Maddox only put his focus on his passions. Mars had complained about it enough for me to know where this was leading.
