“No? Every week, it’s the same damn thing. What goes through that pretty head of yours while you’re supposed to be watching these movies?”
I shrugged. “Pretty much everything. My schedule for tomorrow, any animals who were sent home for post-op recovery, what food I have in my fridge, when I’m ever going to be able to go grocery shopping, the three unread text messages on my phone, how I can—”
“All right. Jesus. I get it. Does your brain ever turn off?”
“Never.” And I really meantnever, but I wouldn’t mention to him that my nonstop brain interfered with sex, too. Which was why it took my own diligence and favorite clit-sucking godsend of a toy to get me off. Beck and I were close—hell, we even read spicy books together that talked about, in explicit detail, using said toy—but telling him how I masturbated felt like a step too far.
He blew out a frustrated breath, his mouth set in a flat line, and I hit him with the full force of what he called my Everly Voodoo. Big eyes, bright smile, and a hopeful expression he couldn’t say no to—or if he could, I hadn’t yet encountered such a situation.
“Why the hell do we even come to these?” he grumbled more to himself than to me.
“Because you love hanging out with me.”
He grunted in response, but I knew he enjoyed our time together as much as I did. Beck was all tough exterior with a gooey marshmallow center—something he didn’t let anyone but me see—and even that was only because I looked really damn hard. It may have taken months of persistence on my part, but I’d finally broken him down. Hell, even his nickname for me had changed in that time. Notliterally—he’d called me sunshine since the first day I’d popped into the diner seeking caffeine after my morning run—but where it had once been laced with scorn and irritation, now it held an underlying fondness I knew he would deny to his dying breath.
“Fine,” he said with a sigh, and I grinned up at him. “That guy”—he pointed to the man in question—“is the bad guy, but he’s got everyone else fooled. And if you don’t shut up and watch, you’re going to miss the best part.”
I gasped. “You’ve already seen this?”
“Of course. Like I could handle watching a movie with you for the first time. I’d never hear anything over your incessant questions and comments.”
“Oh, come on. I’m not that bad. It’d be great.”
“It’d be aneurysm-inducing.”
I laughed, clapping a hand over my mouth when a few people shot their gazes our way. I lowered my voice and leaned into him, my lips close to his ear. “You’re so sweet to me.”
He shifted in his seat, then with the hand draped over my shoulders, he tugged on my ponytail but otherwise didn’t say a word. But he didn’t have to. I snuggled into him, settling into the warmth of his side and breathing in the familiar scent that had come to feel like home.
It was exactly this companionship we had that had made my transition to Starlight Cove easy. Or easier, at least.
And I wouldn’t change it for the world.
CHAPTERTHREE
BECK
The next evening,I flipped the sign hanging in the front window of the diner toClosedand locked the door. My sister, Addison, sat at the counter, laptop open in front of her, with her tablet set up, all while she typed rapidly on her phone. I could honestly say I had no idea what she did for the resort—her title of social media manager and resort liaison meant fuck all to me—only that she was always busy and never without technology at her fingertips as she attempted to right the sinking ship that was this resort. Against all odds, she’d partially succeeded, too. But I was old enough to remember exactly how bad it could get. Old enough, too, to know those peaks never lasted.
“I’m leaving, so that means lights off.” I strode past her and grabbed my toolbox from behind the counter.
Without looking up, she waved a hand in the air. “Leave them. I’ll take care of it. Where’re you headed?”
“Swinging by Everly’s.”
She snapped her head up, her eyes glittering with interest. “Oh,really.”
Jesus Christ. She acted like Everly and I were having a secret affair instead of one friend doing something for the other. I refused to give Addison a reaction since goading me about Everly was one of her favorite things to do.
“Her garbage disposal isn’t working, and her dishwasher won’t close. She was trying to hire Ford to do it for her, so I told her I’d handle it. She doesn’t need to waste her money when I’m perfectly capable.”
“Perfectly capable or positivelydyingto take care of it for her?”
I grunted but otherwise didn’t respond. So what if I enjoyed making sure she had what she needed? That was what friends did.
“I’m just saying…” Addison turned her attention back to one of her three screens. “You’re not fooling anybody but yourself, buddy.”
This time, I couldn’t keep the eye roll to myself as I strolled out the back door without another word. It was late enough that darkness had fallen, the stars twinkling in the sky as the ocean lapped at the shore a hundred yards away. Some days, it sucked living above the diner—and this close to my siblings—but having the Atlantic Ocean as my backyard never did.
