Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
I laughed. “You’re ridiculous.”
“As ever,” Whitley said with a spritely curtsy.
Then she grasped my hand, and we traipsed across the sand.
The sun had already set, and bonfires were burning bright on the beach. Bars had been placed outside with bartenders mixing drinks for the crowd dancing to the music the DJ spun on the stage.
All of my friends were in attendance, save for my husband, who was conveniently absent. I wasn’t surprised. I knew he had work engagements. Though I couldn’t even begin to understand why someone would schedule that on the last day of the year, let alone on my birthday. But he’d show up when he wanted.
Lark had somehow managed to create a beachside pillow fort for our group. There were expensive, plush blankets laid out, topped with a mountain of pillows for lounging. We had our own bartender, who prepared fruity drinks, complete with umbrellas, for the lot of us. Though the boys were unsurprisingly drinking bourbon.
Everyone wished me happy birthday as I joined the group and took my drink. This was the first time in a very long time that I hadn’t designed my own birthday party. And it was kind of… nice not to have to be in charge. Something I never would have guessed before.
“Let’s dance,” Whitley said, downing her drink like a champ. She pointed at Gavin.
He arched his eyebrows and gestured to himself. “Me?”
“Yeah, you. Come dance with me.”
He laughed, but there was something else in his expression as he stepped across the blankets toward her. “All right, bossy.”
“Bossy girls are just leaders who didn’t stay down when boys told them to be quiet,” Whitley said defiantly.
He smirked then, roguish and handsome in the firelight. “By all means, lead then.”
She winked at us and then dragged him into the crowd. What a pair.
English was already pulling Court away. Sam looked reluctant as Lark tried to get him out in the crowd.
“Come with us,” Lark told me.
I saw Penn walking toward me, alone. He was handsome, dressed down in a linen button-up rolled to his elbows and khaki shorts. His eyes were the same brilliant blue, and he had a half-smile on his face.
“Can I have a minute?” he asked.
I swallowed. Warning alarms went off in my head. This was a bad, bad idea. Camden was surely on his way here. It probably wasn’t a good idea for me to incur his rancor. Not today. Not with what was on the horizon.
“Later,” I told him, letting Lark drag me out into the sticky, sweaty crowd.
Penn’s face disappeared in the chaos, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
I wasn’t sure that I’d ever denied Penn anything. I’d toyed with him and teased him and purposely riled him. But it had never been real. Not like this.
I lost myself to the music then. Lark, English, and Whitley came to dance around me. Our hands were raised high in the air, and we dizzily sang along to the pop song. Even with the noise, it was a little unfair how good Whitley was.
“Do you sing?” I yelled over the crowd. I didn’t think that I’d ever heard her sing before.
Whitley shook her head. “No!”
“You should!” English shouted.
Lark agreed vehemently. “Seconded.”
“You can’t even hear me!” Whitley said with a laugh.
“What I heard was great.”
Whitley just rolled her eyes. She grabbed Gavin’s shirt in both hands and dragged him against her. But she didn’t sing again. It was odd for someone who was always the life of the party to now be so silent.
I shrugged it off as a pair of hands came to rest on my hips. I knew those hands. I tipped my head back against Camden’s shoulder and looked up at him.
“You made it,” I said into his ear.
“Of course I made it,” he said gruffly.
I shivered as his hands slid down the side of my dress and then around back to cup my ass. I tensed just slightly. His hands there brought back memories from the night before.
“Sore?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“That’s a shame,” he breathed. “Going to have to fix that. I liked the way you had to shift every time you sat down.”
I nearly groaned at the words. I wanted that. I wanted more than that.
I turned in his arms and pressed myself flush against his chest. Our hips moved to the thrum of the music. My fingers tangled up into his dark hair. He leaned down then and kissed me. It was not gentle. It was possessive. I dug my toes into the sand as desire shot through me.
“Happy birthday,” he said against my lips.
“Am I going to get my birthday wish?” I asked as my eyes fluttered open to look at him.
“Right now?” he asked. “Here, in the sand?” I softly shook my head, but he just smirked. “You don’t want to be watched?”