“My what?”
“Your smirk when you know you’re being a shit. Is he annoying you, Lex? We can ditch him for a girl’s afternoon.”
“Whoa, hey, I came to hang out with my family. You wouldn’t dare ditch me, punk.”
Charley tossed sand on me and flipped me off. I groaned as the granules got everywhere. “Liar. You came because your famous lifestyle bit you in the ass and you needed to escape. You’d be here with or without me.”
“I knew Lexi would be here. She’s a joy to be around.”
“No shit. She’s my best friend.”
If Lexi was nervous at all about the bickering, she didn’t show it. Charley and I loved each other but preferred to annoy the other as often as possible. I caught Lexi watching me with a hint of a smile. “What do you think, Lex? You two going to ditch me for girl stuff?”
“I came for the beach, and I’m staying for the beach.”
Charley groaned before rolling onto her stomach. “You two were always too similar. Irritated the hell out of me. Since I can’t convince her to get pedis, let me take a nap.”
Lexi caught my eye, and a light red blush covered her upper cheeks. I wondered if my sister’s comment made her feel confused too. I never thought about how alike we were, but Charley’s words repeated in my head.
We were both stubborn, loyal, and goofy. She might not be athletic or into sports, but she was competitive as hell at video games. The girl could beat my ass left and right. She might be working through something with sex, but I was too. Different problem, same theme.
Instead of itching from the inside out, my sister’s comment solidified that getting naked with her wasn’t an awful idea. Sleeping together would help us out, and we’d both enjoy it. Now I just had to pretend I wasn’t counting down the minutes until we got back to the condo.
* * * *
“Flirt, woman. Flirt.” Charley pointed her finger at Lexi and hit her in the chest. “Your tits are banging, and your hair is perfect. You’re going to walk up to that guy at the bar and flirt. Guys love tits and redheads. You got both, which is unfair, honestly.”
“You’re being too much right now,” Lexi responded, her expression growing tight. Charley was always relentless and pushy, and unease grew in my gut. Lexi was clearly not in the mood, and Charley wasn’t making her discomfort any better despite how good her intentions were.
“Practice with me,” I said, breaking out into a huge smile at how much I loved the concept of receiving her terrible pick-up lines. Charley didn’t need to know ourotherdeal, but this would hopefully placate her enough to get off Lexi’s back.
Lexi chewed her bottom lip before glancing at Charley for a second before nodding. “I like that idea.”
“Hm, I’m not sure I love it. You’ve known him for over a decade, so you’re comfortable with him.” Charley frowned. “He won’t put you outside your comfort zone.”
“But he’s one of the best-looking men I’ve ever seen, so despite knowing he used to carry around a teddy bear, he can still fluster me when he does hisWillthing.”
“My Will thing?” I asked, tilting my head and trying to read her right. “What’s this you speak of?”
“Your charming, panty-dropping smile with the dimples. Yes, the one you’re doing right now.”
I shrugged, and my stomach tightened at the fire in her eyes. “I’m smiling, Lex. I’m sorry if you can’t handle a simple grin.”
“You’re the worst.”
Charley snorted and was about to say something when a tall dude who looked like he could bench press a house walked up to her. Her eyes widened, and she took his hand and went straight to the dance floor. I should’ve felt bad about how relieved I was that my sister left, but I didn’t. Dancing was always one of her favorite ways to get rid of stress, so I was glad she found something to distract herself while also leaving me alone with her best friend.
“Okay then,” Lexi said, crossing one leg over the other in her short-ass red dress. “I love her, I do, but this insistence to get me to flirt is getting old.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” I joined her at the bar and pulled the stool closer to hers so our thighs touched. She was warm and smelled like vanilla and sunscreen. “Why is she getting so pushy?”
Lexi paled and ripped up the coaster in front of her. “The guy who really hurt me...well she introduced us and encouraged me to give him another chance.”
“Ashton?”
“No, this was another guy who catfished me. He was the first one I tried being with after the whole Ashton thing, and my horrible experience with him solidified why I don’t date. Or flirt.”
“Damn, I’m sorry.” My heart felt like someone squeezed their hand around it at the look on her face.
