“Would I be pushing it if I asked for arumand Coke?” I said with a sugary smile at Hudson.
His eyes narrowed, and then he surprised me by saying. “Why not. One can’t hurt. And it will take the edge off.”
“The edge off what?”
“Your anxiety.” So, he’d noticed. “You don’t need to be. You look hot. If I’m allowed to say that?”
My blush must have covered my entire face as I basked in his compliment. “Thanks, Hudson.”
Molly placed her beach-style bag next to the table, and I dropped my backpack next to it. I had only brought sun cream and a towel; Mols had a spare change of clothes as well as all the essentials.
“OK, so, a rum and Coke and a Coke. And sip it, Harper. I don’t want you half-baked when Nix arrives.” So, Phoenixwascoming.
We watched as he sauntered away with his hands in his pockets, attracting loads of attention from a group of girls.
Sip it, the cheeky fucker. Hypocrisy was a funny thing; our house was full of it, as all my brothers weren’t old enough to drink either. Didn’t stop them indulging themselves, though. That’s double standards for you.
“Why doesn’t he want you half-baked in front of Phoenix?”
Shrugging, I replied. “Probably because he’ll have a meltdown. He thinks I’m too young to drink and that I can’t hold my liquor.”
“Why would he think that? I’ve never seen you overindulge.”
“I did at Nash’s party last year. I didn’t realize until I got back into the house,” I explained, remembering that night vividly. Hudson had almost choked Xander Creed for hitting on Molly. Well, that and allegedly selling Micah dodgy drugs.
“What happened?”
“Phoenix was carrying me to my room, and I threw up down his back.”
“Oh dear.”
I watched Molly as she lowered the sunglasses from her head onto her nose.
“Yep, and you know he’s a tidy freak. Anyway, any gossip you’d like to share?” I knew she would have seen the way my face lit up when Hudson confirmed Phoenix was on his way.
“Not really. I’m a bit out of the loop.”
Yep, that’s because you spend way too much time with your boyfriend.
“Well, I could gossip about Storm and how lucky she is, but as I’m on my best behavior, I’ll be good.”
Storm was now speaking to her father. I had seen Mayor Summers a few times at school functions. He was a good-looking man. Tall, with broad shoulders and black hair, like his daughters. I wondered where her mother was. I’d heard gossip that Storm’s mom and dad had almost split a few times. That didn’t surprise me; divorce was rife in Newport. Most of the kids in my school were from broken homes.
From what I had heard, Dominic Summers was wild in his heyday. He used to attend our school but had done well for himself. I imagined that’s why he sentStorm there instead of one of the private schools across the state. My thoughts darted to Storm and the fact that she was struggling at college. Whether that was academically or socially, I had no clue.
Stop being a jealous bitch.
I knew I needed to park my resentment. Fresh slate, remember!
“I wonder when Phoenix will get here,” Molly said, glancing towards the bar where Hudson was.
“I’m not sure. God, why am I so nervous?”
She patted my arm. “They’re good nerves, and he could appear at any second, so you need toget your kit offas soon as possible. Let him see what he’s missing.”Get your kit offwas a new one on me, but I took it to mean undress.
“I thought you decided to stop being the matchmaker,” I reminded her as I chewed my thumb.
She batted my hand down from my mouth and was about to speak when she was interrupted.
