Page 69 of Filthy Rich Ex's Brothers

I glance up from where I’m sitting—lemon trees are in frame behind me, along with one wall of sandstone. Picking up the laptop, I turn it in a full circle to show off the glittering pool just beyond my feet.

“Youbitch,” Lillie says, once again bringing her mouth far too close to the camera. “When all this is over, we’d better get an invitation.”

“I’m sure Ryan would be fine with that,” I venture, heart fluttering at the truth of the statement. My boyfriend would like to have my friends over at his family’s villa.

Oneof my boyfriends.

But I’m not going to tell my roommates about that yet. It’s too new, and something the four of us are slowly learning to navigate ourselves.

“Oh mygod!” Lillie shouts, slithering to the floor like all her muscles have given up.

“You’re going to give her an aneurysm if you mention him again,” Georgia says, righting the laptop from how Lillie’s fall pushed it askew. “But how is it going? Do you feel safe? Have they told you their plans for this whole thing?”

“Yeah,” Sid adds, darkly, “like, are they hunting down the fuckers who were trying to break into our place?”

“Little too dark, buddy,” Grayson says, patting Sid on the arm, who doesn’t lighten the expression on his face at all.

“Have you had any other problems since I left?” I ask, deciding that, for Sid’s sake, I’m also not going to tell them aboutthe security detail Travis hired. With how private Sid is, I doubt he wants someone watching over him.

They all shake their heads.

“That’s good. Travis said they’re pretty much just after me. And there’s no way they can get to us here. Even if they figured out where we went, there’s this huge gate and fence, like miles from the house.”

“God, I amsojealous,” Lillie moans from the floor, which breaks the tension, forcing us all to laugh at her antics.

“Speaking of jealous,” Georgia raises an eyebrow, “where did you get that swimsuit?”

I turn the camera on myself again, and one of the boys lets out a whistle. I blush and roll my eyes as I focus it on my face. “Travis ordered a bunch of clothes for me from this boutique. You like it? There were, like, four others that weren’t quite the right size. Maybe I can get him to send them to you.”

Lillie pops up, just the crown of her head appearing in the frame, her voice clearer now: “Thatmight be enough for me to forgive you.”

When I sign off with them, I feel both lighter and a little more sad at the same time. For months, I’ve been feeling Bianca’s absence, but now it’s more final. She’s not a part of the group. Even if I forgave her, I don’t think the others would.

Not that I would forgive her.

“Cannonball!”

I’m pulled from my thoughts by thewhooshof the sliding door, then theslap, slap, slapof Ryan’s footsteps before he goes sailing through the air and crashes into the pool. Laughing, I hide my laptop away and shield my face.

“You really can’t help but be obnoxious, can you?” Graham deadpans, rolling his eyes as he sets out a towel on the chair next to mine. To me, he says, “There’s a trail just down there, through the grove. We should go for a walk later.”

“Afterdinner,” Ryan demands, popping up from the water and pushing his sopping hair back from his face. “I’ve been marinating that fish for hours.”

“That sounds good,” I say to both Graham and Ryan, then, turning to Travis, “Hey, is there any chance we could send the clothes I didn’t want back home? To my friends?”

Travis blinks, then presses his lips together, a smile pulling just at the corners. “There is a one hundred percent chance. I’ll have them sent out in the morning. For Lillie and Georgia, right?”

“Yes.” It’s stupid, but the fact that he remembered their names, despite never having really met them, warms my heart.

“Hey—you know what?” Ryan says, pulling himself out of the pool. “Why don’t we head down to the market before dinner? We can pick out a few things to send back for Grayson and Sid, too. Unless you think they’ll be into the bikinis?”

“Ha! I’m guessing not. But maybe they have some cool refrigerator magnets at the market. Grayson collects those,” I say.

Graham chuckles from under his sunglasses and hat.

The warmth grows, and I sit up, smiling at each of them in turn, trying to find the words to express what they mean to me. How much the thing I’m feeling inches towardloveevery day.

Instead of saying anything at all, I drop a kiss on Graham’s nose, then Travis’s cheek, then whip a towel around Ryan, tugging him into the house to get changed. “Come on, then. Let’s go.”