He looks over at Juniper. “I like your earrings, Juniper.”
“Oh, thanks.”
“Are they new?”
“No.”
“Oh, okay. Well, I’ll be off. And don’t invite that Matt or Matthewguy.” He looks at me. “We don’t want the numbers to be odd—remember that?”
“Yes, bro. See ya.”
As my brother heads out, I say to Luke and Juniper, “Ugh, he’s so annoying. He totally came to check up on Luke and me. Like, get a life and get a girlfriend.” I giggle.
I look over at Juniper, who has a dreamy expression on her face as she watches Rafe walk away. Once again, I’m reminded of moments from the summer when they acted oddly around each other.
Does Rafe have a thing for Juniper, or does Juniper have a thing for Rafe?
“Hey, Luke, walk me to the ice cream store so we can get a quick ice cream.”
“Okay. Does that mean I’m buying you an ice cream?”
“Well, duh.”
“Okay. You want anything, Juniper?”
“No. Mia, didn’t you just say you were cold? Why would you get ice cream?”
“Because I like ice cream, even in cold weather.”
“Okay.” She smiles. “No, I’m okay. Enjoy, and take a long lunch if you want. I can look after the store by myself for a bit.”
“No, I don’t want you to do that.”
“It’s fine. I know Luke doesn’t always have a lot of time now that he’s helping get his family business back on track, and you are newly engaged. I want you to spend as much time together as possible. I know I might have sounded like a jealous shrew earlier, but I really am so happy for you both. We’ve all been friends for a really long time, and to see your friendship blossom into love, well, it’s really cool.”
“Oh, thank you, Juni.” I hurry over to her and give her a big hug. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Now go and enjoy your ice cream.”
“Okay. Thank you. Come on, Luke.”
“Okay, I’m just finishing taking off my wetsuit,” he says as he pulls it off and towel-dries himself.
My throat goes dry as I stare at his body. He’s so built and still so sexy to me as he pulls on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. I think to myself that all I want to do is get him naked, not put more clothes on him.
“Okay, let’s go,” he says. “See you later, Juniper.”
“Bye, guys.”
We walk down the boardwalk toward the ice cream store, and then I grab his hand and pull him to the side.
“What are you doing?”
“I just need to kiss you right now,” I say.
I reach up and grab his face and pull him down toward me. I run my fingers down his chest and up his shirt, loving the feel of his skin against mine. He grunts as he kisses me back passionately, and I feel his hand in my hair, running down my back and squeezing my ass to him.
“Well, nice to see you too.” His eyes are teasing as he holds me to him. “What was that about?”
