I teased Harper for a few more minutes before she squirmed out of my arms to go play.
I found Tosh sitting next to her husband, Ben, on the couch, a safe distance from the rest of the group. She was watching Beckett with a look of regret and I knew immediately I needed to steer clear of her for the evening. There had always been a kind of tension between Beckett and Tosh, but lately it was even worse. I’d bet $50 the only reason she was even here was because Preston was trying to smooth things over between the siblings. I gave a her a nod and continued to bypass them on my way to the porch.
On the patio, I recognized the woman sitting in a lounger as Preston’s best friend, Amelia Rhinehart. Her hair was different from when I last saw her, nearly all purple now except for a few highlights of red. I normally wasn’t a fan of colored hair, but on her, it worked well. She invited me to sit next to her, and over the next hour, I decided I really liked Amelia. Despite the unusual way we’d met several weeks ago when she’d been a person of interest in one of Beckett’s cases, I could easily see why Preston adored her. Amelia was funny, smart, and clearly as protective of Preston as I was of Beckett. As soon as I learned she was close friends with Brad Kolch—the police officer I was assigned to ride with over the next two weeks—I immediately began to question her about my new coworker. I was surprised to hear he had a brother who was gay and took it as a sign that he would be accepting of my sexuality when he learned I was gay too. I just hoped the rest of the Reedsport PD would accept it as easily.
Once everyone ate, Beckett stepped onto the back patio with a volleyball in his hands. “Who’s up for a game?”
I immediately jumped out of my seat, always up for a little competition. Preston, Amelia, Ben, and Tosh all agreed they’d play too, so we all made our way down to the beach behind their home where a volleyball net was already set up. Preston decided not to let the dogs join us, saying Lady would cause more trouble than she was worth trying to catch the ball.
We quickly teamed up: Beckett, Preston, and Amelia against Ben, Tosh, Harper, and me. Tosh and Amelia were similar in size, while Beckett and I were also close in build so it made for a fairly even playing field. I had no idea both Tosh and Amelia were on their high school volleyball teams until the game suddenly became a deathmatch. Every time my team scored, theirs followed with a score of their own. We played well over an hour and ended up tying twice before everyone started to get a little worn out. Preston finally called a deal breaker.
“I have an idea!” he said, winking at his boyfriend. “Let’s have a race to decide the winning team. Each team will choose one person to run to that light and back.” He pointed at a lamppost on the beach about 100 yards away. “Winner takes all.”
“Me!” I hollered without hesitation. I ran nearly every day not only to stay in shape for my job but also because it helped me stay sane with all the stress. So, this sprint would be a cinch.
There was no question Beckett would be my competition since everyone knew he and I loved a good contest. Beck and I lined up at the edge of the volleyball court just as Preston put a hand up in the air.
“Hold on,” he said. “I think there needs to be an extra incentive.”
“Winning isn’t enough?” Amelia asked.
Preston shook his head, looking between me and Beckett. “Not for these two.”
Beckett laughed. “It’s as if you know me, love.”
Preston placed both hands on his hips, considering. “If Beckett wins, Jake has to go on a blind date.”
My brows shot to my hairline. Was he serious? Preston didn’t know me at all if he thought that was a punishment.
“Arealdate,” Preston quickly added as if he could read my thoughts. “Not a hookup.”
“And we choose the guy!” Amelia chimed in. “No exceptions.”
I rolled my eyes. I already knew it would be a while before I had a chance to head up to Charleston to check out the clubs, so maybe I’dletBeckett win just to have some fun around here.
“Okay,” I agreed, “but if I win, Beckett will unpack the rest of my crapandclean my bathroom for the next month, without complaints.”
Beckett immediately began to protest, but Preston cut him off. “Deal.”
“Babe!” he accused, but Preston just gave him a look I couldn’t read, which immediately changed his irritation to excitement. He began rubbing his hands together in anticipation. When he saw my confused expression, his grin spread even wider. Shit, did he and Preston already have silent codes for sex?
Beckett and I stood shoulder to shoulder, toes on the line of the volleyball court.
“One, two…” Preston counted.
“THREE!” Harper yelled, unable to stay out of the excitement.
It didn’t take long to see that the joke was completely on me. Running on sand was entirely different than running on pavement or the treadmill. Each step was more difficult than the last and trying to gain good traction while pushing against the unstable surface was nearly impossible. My legs began to feel the burn after the first twenty yards and Beckett was quickly gaining the lead. I tried harder, but I was still no match for him. He was already a good twenty feet ahead of me by the time I reached the halfway point, looping around the lamppost. The fucker even laughed at me as he ran by!
When I finally reached the end, struggling to draw in my next breath, Beckett was enjoying a celebratory kiss with his man.
“How?” I panted.
Preston laughed. “Oh. I guess I forgot to mention Beckett’s been running on the beach with Lady almost every day since he moved here. He’s adapted to running in the sand.”
My glare only made them laugh harder.
I briefly considered trying to talk them out of the arrangement since it was clearly a setup, but decided against it. A night out with a random guy couldn’t be that bad, right?
Beckett clapped a hand on my shoulder and said, “Keep your tie ready. You never know when we’ll cash in the win.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “If you put me in a suit, there will be hell to pay.”
“A deal’s a deal, Jake.”
