Page 106 of After You Returned

They start to rush away but I yell, “Stop! We are not having a party and trashing the shack when it’s for sale.”

Kai scowls. “Why do you assume we’d trash it?”

“Because I’ve known you your entire life and you don’t know how to stay out of trouble once the moonshine is flowing. Need I remind you of the Great Puking Disaster?”

He shivers. “No need. I’m not the same person. Harper keeps me in line now.”

I open up my arms. “Harper’s not here.”

“Wrong.” He points to the beach where Harper is standing with the rest of the partners of the Raider brothers.

“What are they doing here?”

Eli drops an arm around my shoulders. “Aren’t you happy to see your sisters-in-law?”

I grunt. I love all of them but being around the women reminds me of what I don’t have with me – the woman I love.

He squeezes my shoulder. “Keep watching.”

I frown but I do as he says. And I’m glad I do when Hazel steps out from the back of the group and walks to the front.

“Hazel is joining us?”

“This is her show.” Eli drops his arm and nudges me forward.

No need to nudge, big brother. I’m going already. I kick off my shoes before stepping onto the beach. I forget all about my shoes as I make my way to Hazel as fast as I can.

“What are you doing here?”

She bites her bottom lip and stares up at me from beneath her lashes. Is she nervous? There’s no need for her to be nervous. “I have a surprise for you.”

“I love surprises.”

“I hope you’ll love this one.”

I grasp her hand. “If it involves you, I’ll love it.”

Chapter 35

Brothers are pains in the ass even when they’re not your brothers.

Hazel

“This is the best idea,” Sadie squeals.

I chew on my bottom lip. “It’s not going overboard?”

Scarlett snorts. “You told the man you love you don’t trust him to stick around. This is not going overboard.”

“I didn’t say those words.” She lifts an eyebrow and I sigh. “Fine. I pretty much said those words.”

Sadie motions to the surf shack. “Thus, the grand gesture.”

I frown as I watch the flurry of activity happening around the shack. Balloons are being blown up, strings of festive lights are being strung up, and funny signs are being hung up.

“This is too much. What if he doesn’t want the surf shack anymore?”

Sadie scrunches up her nose. “This is weird. What happened to my overconfident sister?”