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Honestly? “Like dying. But I’m also weirdly excited to start life over on my terms, you know?”
Goldie looks thoughtful for a minute. “I get that. I just want to make sure you’re doing what you want to do, instead of what you think you should do.”
I suck in a breath. “That hits.”
“It should. Think about it.”
“I will.” I hold up my glass. “Thanks for listening. I’m sorry I keep—”
“Seriously, stop apologizing.” She taps her drink against mine. “Boy problems are fun. I kinda miss them.”
“No you don’t.”
She puts a hand on her belly. “I could be getting the biggest boy problem-slash-blessing ever.”
“You still think it’s a boy?”
“I do. Coop swears it’s a girl, but I’m smarter than him, so.” She sips on her straw. “All right, go get Lady laid already. I give you permission to disappear with Riley so you can get laid too.”
I grin. “How generous of you.”
“Only because I’m getting laid myself tonight. I’m telling you, pregnancy is worth it for the orgasms alone.”
“So you’ve said.”
She tilts her chin to the right. “I have a feeling you’ll find that out sooner rather than later.”
I turn my head to see Riley approaching, one hand in the pocket of his perfectly tailored trousers, the other holding his second virgin sex on the beach. His blue eyes are full of laughter and they’re locked on me, a wicked little smirk curving his full lips.
He looks so damn good in his tailored suit and scruff it hurts.
Literally makes me ache everywhere. My chest, stomach. In between my legs.
Am I really going to be able to leave him Sunday?
“The patio is empty and the sun is setting,” he says casually, like he didn’t suck all the air out of the room with his handsomeness. “I think it’s the perfect opportunity for Lady and Joe to have a little one-on-one time.”
The smell of his skin surrounds me. “Okay. Great. Does Tuck know?”
“I do. You get Lady, I’ll get Joe?”
“Look at that teamwork,” Goldie says. “It’s almost like y’all have been working closely all week.”
Marsha and Mrs. Dixon stop me on my way to get Lady, wrapping me in hugs.
“You look gorgeous,” Mrs. Dixon says.
“So do you,” I reply, and I mean it. She’s wearing a silver dress dotted with rhinestones that sets off her silver hair.
Abel is at the bar beside them. The bartender is handing him something that looks suspiciously like a sex on the beach.
“Copycat,” I say.
“What?” He sips. “There’s a reason it’s called that. And that reason is it’s fucking delicious.”
Chef Penelope ducks out of the kitchen then, giving me a quick smile and wave before darting toward the exquisite spread of food set up along the restaurant’s back wall.
I smile. My stomach flutters. All these faces—they’re becoming familiar.
More than that, the people they belong to are becoming friends.
Wild how quickly that happened. Then again, Riley knows everyone on Bald Head. Apparently employs them too. Makes sense they’d become part of my life when I’m already so enmeshed in his.
Might as well call a spade a spade. I don’t know where Riley and I are going, but now I know where we’ve been. And that history—and everything else we have in common—ties us together in a way that can never be undone.
It’s romantic. It also stings—the memory of our breakup, knowing we robbed ourselves of so many years together.
I find Lady still standing at the bar with Mom.
“The sunset is absolutely gorgeous.” I slip an arm through Lady’s. “Let’s go watch it.”
Mom picks up her wine glass off the bar. “That sounds lovely.”
“Oh, Mom, um—why don’t you—?”
“Come get some food with me?” Tuck appears at Mom’s side. He’s showered and changed into a suit, his tattoos peeking out of the sleeves of his blazer and over the collar of his shirt. His hair is neatly parted and combed, and he smells like lumberjack sex: smoke, cedar, and sin.
He’s a bad boy gone good, and judging by the way Mom, Lady, and I stare at him, we do not mind it one bit.
“Hello there,” Mom says slowly.
He offers her his hand. “I’m Tuck, Riley’s friend. I dropped off your new golf cart a couple days back?”
“Like anyone could ever forget,” Lady says.
“So I hear you’re a big fan of your daughter’s cooking.” Tuck holds out his arm. “Did you know tonight’s menu is inspired by it?”
Mom looks at me. “I noticed some familiar dishes, yes.”
I meet Tuck’s eyes and offer him a silent thanks a million. “Why don’t you go with Tuck and find out?”
“I’d love to.” Mom takes his arm. “So Tuck, I remember you and Riley going way back, right?”
Then it’s just me and Lady, who’s sucking down her rum punch like her life depends on it.
“I know you’re setting me up with Joe,” she explains. “I need some liquid courage.”
