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FIVE
TYLER
There’ssomething digging into my back. Something sharp and annoying as fuck. Almost like one of those long, manicured fingernails that belong to my best friend’s little sister.
With a rumble vibrating my chest, I lift my face from my towel on the beach and face my guest. A scowl twists my mouth when I see the fiery blonde sitting cross-legged beside me, her ass cheeks parked in the sand. She grins when she notices me looking at her.
A wave of protectiveness blasts through me as I take in her bathing suit—or lack thereof. Two triangles of neon yellow material barely contain her breasts, the swells of them spilling over the top and sides. Her bikini bottom is just as stringy, with two knots hanging on her hips, holding it up. Who knows how much of her bare ass is touching the sand.
It’s even worse than the bikini she wore yesterday, and I didn’t think that was possible.
“What are you wearing?” I hiss, tearing my eyes away from all of that smooth, blemish-free skin.
It’s hard to focus on anything else when Gracie Hutton is nearby. She’s a beaming light that I can’t help but be drawn to, even when I have to remind myself just how dangerous it is to think that way about her.
The beach is pretty quiet today. Only a few vacationers are spread out on lounge chairs in the sand, not scared of the sweltering sun beating down on us, baking shoulders and noses until they’re bright red. My exposed back has been hot for a while now, but I won’t be getting up anytime soon. Not now, when my cock is rock hard and trying to rip a hole in my board shorts.
“A bikini,” Gracie replies.
I shove my face back in my towel. My next words are muffled. “You’re practically naked.”
“There are girls wearing far less on this beach. I’m sure you’ve noticed them. I know for a fact they’ve noticed you.”
The potent jealousy in her words makes me laugh. She makes a noise in her throat before flicking me in the ear. I don’t react to the pain, opting to laugh harder instead, just to piss her off.
Gracie has made her little crush painfully obvious over the past two years, regardless of the lack of romantic progress she has and willever make with me. It’s not going to happen, but it would be a lie to say I didn’t find it flattering.
Not only is she completely off limits because of my relationship with her brother, but she’s not my type in the slightest.
Peeling my face from my towel again, I look around the beach and spot a group of girls huddled together a few yards away. They’re all turned in my direction and doing an awful job of playing down their interest. I nod toward them. “Those girls?”
“They’ve been pointing over here since before I sat down,” Gracie replies.
“Think they know who I am?”
She snorts. “No. They would already be over here if they did.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t gone over there and told them off yet. It usually doesn’t take this long for you to try and piss all over me like a dog marking its territory.”
Her cheeks flush as she drops her eyes to her bare toes, studying them like they might detach and crawl away. A brief sting of regret singes my stomach at her hurt expression.
“Sorry.” I wince. “You didn’t deserve that.”
She waves me off before pushing herself to a stand and frantically brushing away the sand that clings to her skin. “No, I did. That’s exactly what I tend to do.”
Shit. Panic has me on my feet before she has a chance to take off. I grab her wrist and shiver at the tingle in my fingertips. “I’m sorry, Gray. I don’t want this week to be awkward between us.”
Her eyes are wide as she looks at the hand holding her before sliding them to my naked chest. I swallow hard when her baby blue eyes glaze over with a sheen of arousal as they continue to move along my body, snagging on the fabric that hides my throbbing cock. Suddenly the vast length of the beach feels too intimate of a place to be alone with her.
I drop her wrist like it’s burned my fingertips and take a step back with wobbly knees. She’s blinking slowly, looking half in a daze when I say, “I’m going to head back.”
“Okay,” she mumbles.
“Don’t stay here alone wearing that, Gracie. I’m serious.”
“Unless you plan on being the one to take me back to my room and dress me in something else, keep your comments to yourself,” she snarks.
She pins me in place with a sharp glare before flicking her blonde curls over her shoulder and taking off toward the water, leaving me in the dust. I suck in a pained breath as I stare at her, my fingers curling into fists.
