He was no longer a boy.
He was a man. Big, toned, ripped, his jaw chiseled, intricate tattoos running from his wrist all the way to his neck.
My crush intensified, swelling out of all proportion, then died quickly when I saw him with Mia. I didn’t stand a chance. The triplets were so protective of her, and Cody took his big brother role one step further than Colt or Conor.
Once my mom died, life became that much harder, and my crush was forgotten.
Until—apparently—now.
FOUR
Cody
ANA MIGHT JUST TOP THE LIST of my worst mistakes, and I’ve made a shitload, so that’s saying something.
We met atThe Ramshack, a rundown bar not far from the pier, when Conor was busy chasing after his soon-to-be fiancée, Vivienne. During the first hour or so, Ana was into Colt, batting her eyelashes and trailing her fingers down his chest.
I was stuck with Ana’s friend, Gracie—not my type in the slightest. She drove me insane with how forward she was, licking my ear and grinding into my lap.
Girls like her are much more Colt’s type. He likes when they give him attitude. When he can tame them... and Ana sure wasn’t that. She oozed obedience—mytype—so it seemed we both ended up with the wrong side of the stick.
The evening was doomed from the start with Conor’s head in the clouds and my foul mood, but after a nose-powdering break, the girls switched places.
One loaded look between Colt and me was enough to say we preferred it that way. Ana took Gracie’s spot on my lap, her personality exactly what I enjoy. Snappy, confident, but moldable like clay. I don’t mind a sharp tongue in an effortlessly submissive girl, but the brat mentality oozing from Gracie’s pores was an immediate turn-off.
Not for Colt though. He loves when they give him shit.
Once the switch happened, Ana and I spent the evening dancing, drinking, talking, and making out like a pair of hormonal teenagers. She was amazing. Easygoing, funny, pliant. She checked every box on my mental list, and for the first time, I tried Colt’s approach: keep one longer than one night.
Andthatwasa mistake despite precautions.
I laid my cards out right away. Honesty is key. I learned a long time ago that certain questions have to be asked and certain information has to be divulged so both parties can make an informed decision whether to go ahead with the night.
Taking the new approach with Ana, the last thing I needed was to accidentally give her false hope. I told her exactly how I wanted our no-strings deal to go down.
Zero romantic dinners. Zero late-night strolls down the beach. Zero conversations. Zero expectations. Zero phone calls. Zero texts. Nothing.
Just sex.
Ana was fun but not the kind of girl I’d consider dating—no ambitions, clueless with kids, no passion, no knowledge besides the basics. Kind with a big heart, but that’s not enough for me.
She agreed, and added a rule of her own: no sex in bed. It boded well, but I still made her confirm she understood we were both agreeing to a no-strings and no-feelings deal. Just good fucking whenever the mood took us.
Things were running smoothly for about a month before she caught feelings. I sat her down, reminded her of the rules we set in place, explained that a relationship was out of the question, and we went our separate ways.
She took it like a champ. Kept at a distance for a while, but two weeks ago, my brothers and I ventured intoThe Ramshackagain to see Vee’s friend, Abby, perform with a band she joined recently. She plays electric guitar, and as an amateur guitarist myself, I was curious.
Ana was there, hanging on some guy’s arm. I mentally cheered that she’d moved on. She seemed perfectly fine. Drunker and writhing more expressively than usual around the guy on the dancefloor, but overallfine. She gave me no reason to worry and even stopped by our table for a drink. Not a trace of those feelings she caught, as far as I could tell.
It all went to shit when we were leaving the club. Me with a long-legged surfer girl, Ana by herself. God knows what happened to the guy she was with. He was MIA, unable to stop Ana making a scene. A jealous hissy fit. She screamed at me for being a heartless jerk who promises the moon and stars then takes them away. Needless to say, she scared off the surfer girl.
And it only went downhill from there.
The next day, Ana arrived at Nico’s doorstep, apologetic, tearful. She blamed her behavior on too many drinks.
We all do stupid things when drunk so I believed her. Until she texted me later that night, saying she saw how I looked at her. Whining that she missed me...
No matter how many times I explained or pleaded, she wasn’t getting the message. She kept showing up at Nico’s unannounced, but I was moving out soon, so didn’t worry much.
