My spine went stiff.
I didn’t flinch. I didn’t shrink. I stepped forward, chin high.
“Thisisa townie beach,” I said, slow and clean. “Been here all summer. What happened to your silver spoon—get lost in the sand?”
The silence snapped sharp.
“Burn.” That was Tristan, grinning wide as he slapped Xavier’s arm. “Girl’s got teeth. Ilikeher.”
The girls went quiet.
One huffed and turned back to her phone.
Another muttered something about “locals with attitude.”
But they didn’t press it. Not with Leo there. Not when he still hadn’t said a word.
He was standing off to the side, one hand on his hip, towel slung around his neck, sunglasses low on his nose. Watching.
His eyes slid over me like molasses.
Down my bare legs, across my knotted tee, up to my mouth. Not a word. Just heat and calculation behind those shades.
I didn’t give him the satisfaction of reacting.
I bent down, pulled off my sandals, and padded across the sand like I’d been doing it all my life. Because I had. Because this wasmybeach, not theirs.
I dropped my towel near the edge, planted my feet, and stared out at the sea like it was the only thing in the world that hadn’t judged me yet.
From behind me, I heard Tristan’s voice again.
“She’s staying. Back off.”
Leo said nothing.
But he didn’t stop looking.
Shani showed up twenty minutes late and barefoot, with a towel over her shoulder and half a chocolate croissant in her hand like she hadn’t just walked into a battleground.
“Did I miss a turf war?” she asked, eyes flicking from the volleyball net to the yacht to the girls still throwing shade in my direction.
“Only the usual,” I said, lying back on my elbows.
“Damn. And I didn’t bring popcorn.”
She dropped her towel beside mine and flopped down with a groan, letting the sun hit her full-on. The waves crashed just far enough to keep the tension from sinking in too deep, but it was there—unspoken, just under the surface. Like sea glass under sand.
I could feel him watching.
Leo.
He was pretending not to, but his body gave him away.
He was across the beach, arms crossed now, leaning against a weather-bleached piece of driftwood while Tristan and Xavier joked beside him. He didn’t laugh. Barely moved.Just stood there, lips pressed into a hard line, jaw tight.
Clenched.
Damn, I hated how good he looked like that.
