“I’m not placing a bet on Finn. He’s a wildcard. Who knows what he’ll show up with.”
Brady laughs. He reaches for the front door and opens it, then steps back and waits for me to walk in first.
“Always a gentleman,” I tease, walking past him and into the house.
“Always,” he echoes.
It feels like forever since I’ve been here, but it all comes rushing back. The door I snuck out of more times than I can count, the awkward dinners I was invited to, even when I knew it was because Brady begged his mom to have me over. Automatically I walk forward, through the cavernous foyer, and turn left for the kitchen.
“Your parents updated.” I gesture to the all-white kitchen, the island painted a Grecian blue. “These handles,” I murmur, my fingers trailing along the matte gold. “They’re beautiful.”
“They redid everything a couple years ago,” Brady replies. “I don’t know why. They’re rarely here.” A look comes over his face. “Except for the next few days. They’re arriving tomorrow. When my mother heard I was staying here this week, she decided she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit.” He sets the shopping bag on the counter. Both of his palms fall to the cool white marble, spreading out wide and pressing down. He looks at me, and then he keeps looking at me, and my mouth feels like a desiccant has been placed on my tongue.
“You’re wearing the red bikini.” His eyes trail over my neck to the spot at the back where the straps are tied.
Suddenly everything in the room is more alive than it was before. The air is electric, something palpable instead of being a thing I know exists but can’t see.
Brady’s right hand curls into a fist, and his gaze doesn’t leave me. His eyes lose their friendly playfulness. Focus takes over, and it looks so singular, so dogged, that my stomach begins to churn and my heart beats against my chest. Brady wears the look of a man who wants to devour a woman.
Me.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I take a step back and open the shiny, stainless steel fridge. Grabbing a bottle of water, I twist off the top and drink half, trying to cool myself down from the inside out.
When we were eighteen, we were naive and riddled with hormones. Every feeling was confusing. But Brady’s a man now. Tall, strong, accomplished and overworked. And he gazed at me with heat so intense I half expected my bikini top to untie itself.
And he’s still looking at me that way.
I avert my gaze and run a hand over my mid-section, trying to calm my reaction. Pounding heart, racing pulse, runaway stomach. All of it happening at once.
Since the first day I met Brady, I’ve loved him. Who wouldn’t? He’s caring, compassionate, and has a soft spot for strays. Finn and I are proof.
And there’s the problem.Finn.
As if thinking about him has conjured him up, Finn walks into the kitchen. Dark green swim trunks hang over a shoulder, and a handle of pre-made Hurricane mix dangles from his hand.
“Nope,” I declare, shaking my head, relieved to have something else to talk about right now. Finn looks confused, so I point at the rum drink.
“Don’t be a baby, Lennon.” The bottle smacks the counter as Finn sets it down too hard.
“Your peer pressure tactics no longer work on me. I’m a grown woman now.”
Finn reaches over, slipping one warm finger under the exposed red strap at my neck. He slides it down until it meets the top of my shirt.
“Says the girl wearing her old high school bikini.”
I swat his hand away and glare at him. “It’s all that was available on short notice.”
He smirks. “Did your grandma one-pieces disappear? Or were they lying right there beside the world’s sexiest bikini?”
By far, this is not the world’s sexiest bikini. As two-piece swimwear goes, it’s tame. I ignore him and walk to the six-pack I brought. Brady still stands beside it. Grabbing one from its holder, I hand it off to Brady and take another for myself.
“I’m going to change,” Finn announces, giving me a side-eye as he passes.
“I’m going to order pizza.” Brady pulls his cell phone from his pocket.
Without announcing my intention, I leave the kitchen and walk through the open sliding glass door that takes up the entire back wall of the living room.
After I slip off my T-shirt and shorts, I settle onto a chaise lounge and pull sunscreen from my bag.
