AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Pink is your colour,” he murmurs. His eyes trail over my skin, and goosebumps follow.
“I didn’t know I had a colour. I thought I looked good in everything.”
My heart thumps against my rib cage the second his eyes meet mine. His eyes hold mine for a few seconds before his gaze falls somewhere else. Dismissed.
I empty my lungs and sneak a look at my brother and Ava. They’re completely locked in their own world. Neither of them is paying any attention to us.
“Are you searching for another compliment, Gray? Because I’m all out.” He turns to face me again, his mouth set in a tight line. He spreads his legs wider, and the urge to get up and stand between them swims to the surface.
“I don’t need one.” I shrug. “There’s already so many written across your face. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get out of this sun before I combust.”
I stand confidently and immediately feel a rush of pride for not letting Tyler get the better of me like I usually do.
Turning my back to him, I reach down and grab my beach bag, smirking when I hear the sharp intake of breath behind me. Sliding my bag to rest on my shoulder, I tighten my ponytail before looking back and raising my brow.
“You know, if I wasn’t such a confident girl, your staring would have made me self-conscious.”
* * *
TYLER
I slam back another drink and scold myself for being reckless enough to flirt with Gracie not even ten feet from her brother—my best friend.
The sun has set now, and the pool deck is otherwise empty except for the odd cleaning person walking around or myself, calf-deep in the chlorinated water.
A bottle of tequila sits in my closed palm, providing me with a sense of burning comfort every time I tilt it back and swallow. I know there are other ways to deal with my feelings, but none are as easy as letting the thoughts get completely washed away by a wave of clear liquid.
When I saw Gracie sitting by the pool with Oakley and Ava earlier, I was tempted to pick her up and carry her back to my room. That tiny triangle bikini top that barely covered the tits that seemed to have grown overnight and the matching bottoms that tied on the side—so easy to undo—made my cock stiffer than a fucking wooden board. I nearly put a towel over my crotch.
I don’t know what caused the sudden urge, but I wanted to slip one of my T-shirts over her toned stomach and carry her away to my room more than I wanted air to breathe.
She isn’t the nervous, word-vomiting teenage girl she used to be back when I would come over for Anne’s famous lasagna or to practice shooting with Oakley in his backyard.
No.
Time had changed more than just her brother and me. It had changed her too. In all the right places.
I know she’s struggling with work and Anne’s recent health struggles. I know that her dipshit of an ex-boyfriend dumped her on a limb and that she pretends not to be hurt by it.
There isn’t a day that Oakley doesn’t talk about his sister. He misses her—living in a different country and all—and doesn’t miss a chance to gush about how proud of her he is or how badly he wishes he could have been there to shove that dweeb’s face into a brick wall.
Right now, I hate that I’m treated like a part of their family. I hate that at this very moment, my dick is on high alert, tenting the crotch of my basketball shorts just thinking about Gracie Hutton.
I gulp down another swig of tequila and scrunch my face as it tears down my throat, leaving it raw. Grunting, I let my neck go limp and close my eye, kicking my feet in the water.
“The pool closed an hour ago.”
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath and set the bottle down off to the side a little firmer than necessary. “Then what are you doing here?” I ask, louder than before.
I force my eyes to open and lift my head so I can stare at the last person I need to see tonight.
Gracie wears light blue jean shorts with a rip in the front pocket and a yellow tank top as she stands a few feet away with her arms crossed. She lifts a curious brow but smiles slightly, almost knowingly. The idea that she knows more about me than I want her to pisses me off.
“Same as you. I needed to think.”
She sits down on the edge of the pool beside me but doesn’t relax her tense shoulders until after a few beats when I still haven’t told her to get lost.
“You don’t know me.”
