“Ow!” Jake flinched away and rubbed at his tender joint. “What the fuck was that for?”
“You know why.” Thao flicked his wet hair off his foreheadand rested his head against his forearms. “You gonna do it or what?”
Thao leveled Jake with a thoughtful glance as he waited for his response.
“I’m not going to Harvard.” Jake leaned back on his hands in a huff. The sand felt warm against his skin. “How’d you even know about Harvard?” He turned the tables on Thao. Until now, he’d told no one else about his acceptance letter.
“I saw the letter sticking out of your bag last week and was waiting for you to say something.”
Instead of anger, the lack of boundaries irritated Jake. He should have known his backpack wasn’t a safe place for something he wanted to keep hidden, but it wasn’t like he had a lot of options. Sometimes his mother liked to go on a cleaning frenzy and throw away half of his belongings during one of her episodes. Jake hadn’t wanted to lose sight of the letter in case he changed his mind about going.
“I don’t know, man. It’s not like I can afford it. I’d need a full ride. My parents don’t have the money.” Not to mention he’d barely saved up a couple thousand from helping at the Lien restaurant over the past few years. It was barely enough to afford textbooks.
Silence fell between them as they turned their attention to Gia, who was swimming back to shore. She looked ethereal with the sun setting behind her, surrounded by the sound of the lake as it ebbed and flowed across the sand. The rhythmic crash of the waves was hypnotic. It was impossible not to feel at peace when Jake had everything he could need at this moment.
His best friend. A beautiful sunset. And the girl of his dreams, who had no clue how he felt about her.
“Gia wants to go to BU with me so we’re not separated, but I told her she was being an idiot. At least one of us should pursue our dreams, and she won’t get it by sticking around town.” Thao picked up a handful of sand and tossed it.
Jake nodded but kept his mouth shut. He knew all about herdreams of leaving town and going across the country. She wanted to be a supermodel, like in all the magazines she was obsessed with collecting, but most of all, she wanted to be an actress. Selfishly he wished she would stay close to home, so he’d never have to worry about her, but he knew there was no stopping her once she set her mind on something.
“Can I ask you something? Brother to brother.”
At Thao’s serious tone, Jake sat up and wrapped an arm around his knee, hugging it to his chest.
“Yeah, of course.”
Thao swallowed and seemed to struggle to say whatever was on his mind. After a beat, Thao’s concerned gaze turned on Jake.
“Promise me you’ll always look after Gia.”
Taken aback by Thao’s request, Jake didn’t respond right away, but judging by the frown on his face, Thao wasn’t joking around.
“Of course, man. You know I would. She’s family.” Though the words were true, Thao didn’t need to know Jake thought of Gia as more than a sister. Nothing could ever happen between them. The risk was too great if things went sour between him and Gia. The last thing Jake wanted was to lose the only people in his life who actually cared about him.
“I worry about her sometimes.” Thao tilted his chin toward Gia, who was emerging from the lake like a siren.
Jake watched as the sea slowly revealed her lithe body. The waves gently caressed her, as if the sea itself didn’t want her to leave its embrace. He watched with fascination as the water dripped from her skin. Gia was every teenage boy’s wet dream, and he had to fight for his life to prevent an embarrassing hard-on from showing in his too-thin swim trunks.
Think of your mother.
And, as he knew it would, his erection died swiftly. Just in time, as Gia strode up to them and plopped herself in the sand between Jake and Thao. She shoved playfully at them to make room for her on the towel.
“What are you losers talking about?” She reached over and playfully flicked Thao’s forehead, who retaliated in kind. Her peals of laughter were contagious. A smile spread across Jake’s face, though he rolled his eyes. Warmth spread through his chest at the twins’ antics. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t envious of their close relationship. He would kill to have someone who loved him unconditionally.
What would it feel like to know no matter how much you fucked up, someone still loved you?
“Our boy Jake here has some big news he forgot to share with us.” Thao redirected Gia’s wrath to Jake with a sly smile.
Gia whirled to face him, her dark hair whipping across his skin and sending her sea-drenched scent toward him.
“What news?” Gia’s brown eyes widened with curiosity as they roamed over his face.
Jake rubbed the back of his neck as he averted his gaze. “Oh, um, it’s really not that big of a deal?—”
“Jake got into Harvard,” Thao finished for him, and shrugged when Jake shot him a glare.
A shocked gasp escaped Gia’s pink lips. He hesitantly met her gaze. He expected to see surprise in her expressive eyes, but what he saw was hurt and confusion instead.
