Afterbreakfast,weallhead to the beach to enjoy the nice day. It’s hot, without a cloud in the sky, but at least there’s a nice constant breeze coming off the ocean. Knox, as usual, set up the chairs and umbrellas for the ladies after his beach run, so Donna coos and sings his praises.
The little turd, of course, eats it up.
I’m not jealous that she seems to have formed a connection with Emmett and Knox. I can’t compete with a chef or the golden retriever that is Knox.
Through the course of the morning, we play bocce ball, toss the football around and take a walk to the dolphins while Beckett and Will head out on the kayak first.
When we get back, Beckett and Will are laying on the sand under the tents.
“Everything ok?” Ev asks, nudging her brother with her foot.
Beckett moans.
“That good?” Knox asks, shaking Beckett’s leg with his foot.
“That was hard.”
“Yea. I don’t know if I can do that.” Everlee looks at us.
“It’s fine once you get past the beach. That was exhausting. The waves kept crashing and sending us sideways, and at one point, we flipped over. Fortunately, we were still on the beach, so we just pushed up and tried again.”
Ev looks at Callum, then me back to Callum. “You’re sure you want to do this?”
“Yea, but if you don’t want to, we don’t have to. I thought it could be fun.”
She sighs, rolling her shoulders, “Fine.”
“Well, don’t make me force you.” Callum laughs.
“Everlee is as stubborn as a mule,” Donna chimes in.
“I’m not stubborn. I’m determined. Much like Lizzy. She isn’t bossy, she’s just aggressively helpful.”
I let out a low hum, and both Everlee and Lizzy snap their heads in my direction. Lizzy has a shocked look on her face. “Jax! I thought we were making a genuine connection.”
I don’t respond, because no matter what I say, it will elicit another response and I just want to sit in a chair for a little and soak up the sun. In quiet.
“Just be careful out there. It was getting a little more choppy, which is why we headed back in. We ended up further down the beach and had to walk the kayak back up.”
“Thanks,” Callum says.
“Also, I’d recommend have one of the guys push you out past the beach. That took us a lot of time since you were all gone.”
“I’ll push you,” I volunteer.
“Our hero,” Everlee says, placing her hand on my bare chest.
I clasp my hand over hers and lean down to kiss her, then stop, realizing her mom is here and watching, so I pat her hand, then remove it. “You’re welcome.”
“Let’s go!” She chirps, shifting her life jacket down. “I hate these things. They always ride up my crack and push up on my chin.”
“You’re wearing it,” I say sternly, adjusting it on her.
She huffs.
“I’ll have lunch ready in the house when you get back,” Emmett calls after them.
I’m glad he got to spend some one on one time with Everlee last night. But I’m a little upset I wasn’t there with them. Not jealous of them being together without me, just… I don’t know. I don’t know what any of these feelings mean that I’ve been having lately. I know I’m not gay because I don’t look at other men and want to do with them the things I want to do with Emmett.
