: Chapter 30

Avery and I dance and sing to each other as a group of our friends from U of M dance around us on the boat they rented for the day. The speakers pump music throughout the entire bay, and people on their patios wave as we drive by.

This is the most I’ve let loose since this summer, and I have to admit, even if I normally fight it, it feels good.

Another week has passed by, and my secret romance with Beau is still aflame.

I’m talking hot, scalding, third-degree burns if it touches your skin kind of blazing chemistry. We message on Midnight a lot. I sneak into his condo, after Avery falls asleep, a lot. And when we’re at work, he finds the most surprising ways to steal a kiss or a secret touch.

But sneaking around with him isn’t easy, and with work getting busier and busier, Avery and I hardly have any time to hang out together. So, tonight, this outing together was much needed. Pretty much mandatory, even.

The last thing I want to do is give Avery the shaft because I’m too busy sneaking around with her brother. Hell, the fact that I’m even hiding anything from her at all is a tough pill to swallow.

Some days, I can put it out of my head and focus on why I’m doing it in the first place. But other days, it’s hard keeping something as big as this from my best friend, the girl who is a sister to me in all the ways besides blood.

Kristin, one of Avery’s sorority sisters and good friends, grabs her hand to drag her to the onboard bar, and Avery looks back at me. “Come on, June!” she yells. “Do a shot with us!”

I follow dutifully, figuring why the hell not, and buck up to the bar right beside them. Avery excitedly wraps an arm around my elbow, and the movement makes me wobble a little on my heels.

“Gahhh, Junebug!” Avery exclaims—right in my face. “It is sooo good to see you letting loose. I swear you went and became a whole-ass adult on me for some reason.”

I roll my eyes on a laugh. “Probably because we are adults.”

“Pshhht,” Avery replies. “I refuse to believe that.”

“Yeah.” A very unladylike snort escapes my nose. “We can tell.”

She waggles her eyebrows as the bartender hands over our shots of vodka, and I toss it back with a cringe. It burns as it runs down my throat, but by and large, it actually tastes good. I kind of forgot how good I was at this in college.

“Hell yes!” Avery cheers, clinking her empty glass with mine before grabbing them and setting them back on the bar. She drags me back to the makeshift dance floor up on the bow, and we dance so much my head swims.

Repeating the routine, we take two more shots before I need to sit down to take a breather. Avery laughs at me and calls me a lightweight before disappearing back into the crowd with Kristin, and I take out my phone, a small curve of my mouth loosening my expression along with my inhibitions.

I pull up my Midnight chat with Beau and start typing.

ElizaBeth: What happs, Mr. Man? You missin me or whats?.

I see the spinning wheel indicate he’s typing and wait for his message. It comes quickly, and I can practically see his serious face on the other side all the way from here.

ThunderStruck: Where are you? Are you drinking?

ElizaBeth: I think I’M drunnk on a boatt. HAHA Member that song???

ThunderStruck: You’re not close to the sides of this boat, are you?

I laugh. Gosh, he’s funny. And sexy. And perfect. And his cock is big, but, like, the perfect kind of big, you know? Not scary-big where you’re afraid the tip is going to touch your tonsils. But where you feel so, so full in the best way.

ElizaBeth: Nope. Seated sitting right on my ass right now. No danger in sight.

ThunderStruck: That’s good. I’m suddenly wishing I were on this boat with you.

ElizaBeth: Oh boy, Mr. Banks has FOOMA. HAHA You’re funny

ThunderStruck: I don’t have FOMO. But I do have some drunk June memories…

ElizaBeth: I only pukled on your shoes that one time a couple years agoo, and it wsnt even my fault

ThunderStruck: Where are you?

ElizaBeth: On. A BOAT. DIDn’t we already estabish that???

ThunderStruck: I meant, where is the boat?

I giggle. What a silly question.

ElizaBeth: Um, in the water?

ThunderStruck: Forget it. I have Avery on Life360.

ElizaBeth: Wait, what’r you gonna do with that?

ElizaBeth: Beauuu, hellooo?

ElizaBeth: Did you fall overbord??/

ElizaBeth: Oh. Wait I’m on the boot. HAHAHAH

“Oh well,” I mutter to myself, standing up and making my way down below to pee. It’s a quick trip, and when I come back up, Avery and Kristin are taking another shot, so I join them.

A couple of guys cheer us on, and Avery pulls me over to flirt with them.

“June, this is Garrett. Garrett, this is my bestie, June.”

Garrett has blond hair and a lazy smile, and I don’t feel even a smidge of attraction. I picture him trying to be as cool as Beau, and it makes me laugh out loud. Garrett’s eyebrows draw together, and Avery laughs, chiding, “Whew, girl, you’re gone. You’d better get yourself together quick because we’re going to Luau Room after this.”

I give her the thumbs-up, and she shakes her head, explaining to Garrett, “She doesn’t get out much anymore. She’s a highly motivated individual, you know? Super smart, bound for success, and all that.”

He smiles and shrugs. “She’s hot too.”

“Smokin’,” I correct, and that makes him laugh.

“Love the confidence, babe.”

I nod. It’s not me normally, but right now with this many shots in my system, and while I’m on Midnight talking to Beau, I’m ready to take on the whole wide world. Probably Mars, even.

A boat horn blows, making me nearly jump out of my skin, and Avery turns both of us around to look. I lean on her heavily.

“Oh my God!” she shrieks. “What the hell is Beau doing?”

“Beau?” I question. Shock urges a bucket of adrenaline to dump into my veins. Hell, I’m probably one more boat-horn-blow away from being scared into sobriety.

“Yes!” she screams. “He’s on that boat over there! See him?”

Black shorts, a white shirt, dark hair, chiseled face, and a bright smile, he stands out like the sun in the middle of a group of clouds. Oh, I see him, all right. I see him and then some. If I could hop on his boat right now and fuck him, I’d do it in a nanosecond.

Avery pulls me toward the side of the boat where he’s pulling up, and I do my best not to fall down while I’m keeping up. When she gets within talking distance, she starts shouting across the space between us. “What are you doing here?”

“I was out and then saw you were close on Life 360.”

It’s a hollow excuse at best, but she doesn’t question it at all. Part of me can’t believe it, but I guess she has no reason to suspect her brother and best friend are sneaking around behind her back either.

“Are you headed back in now?” she asks, pulling me forward and making me trip over myself. “Because this one could really stand to end her partying a little early.”

“I can see that.” Beau smiles at me, and the wild urge to fuck him on a boat grows tenfold. “Take her to the back of the boat, and we’ll get her switched over.”

“Great!” Avery agrees, completely unaware that she’s leaned right into what I suspect was Beau’s plan all along. I might be a little boozed-up, but I know mischief and ulterior motives when I see them.

I teeter to the back of boat and down onto the stern deck, and Beau places a walking pick between the two boats for me to cross.

I look down toward my feet and back up at Beau.

“C’mon, Juni,” he says, and when I look at the water beneath the walking pick, I can feel my eyeballs get real big.

There’s not a chance in hell I’m going to risk falling overboard, so I drop to my knees and start crawling across the damn thing.

“Oh my God, June,” Avery mutters behind me. “What are you doing?”

“Worry about yourself!” I shout back to her, and I’m graced with one million laughs from her big fat mouth.

By the time I reach Beau’s boat, his smile is beaming, and he helps me to my feet with a gentle but strong hand.

“Get some rest and hydrate!” Avery waves an excited goodbye, and I give her a thumbs-up as the boat she’s on starts to move away from us.

By the time Beau gets the walking pick back on deck, guides me toward the front of his boat, and we sit down on the bow cushions, Avery’s party boat is too far away to even see her.

And the only thing I feel right now is relaxed. Relieved, even.

Beau wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me close, shoving a bottle of water in my face without delay.

“Where’d you get that thang?” I ask, a laugh making my last word sound weird. “Are you a magician?”

Beau smirks. “I have a slight advantage at the moment for the element of a surprise. You’re not exactly completely aware of your surroundings.”

“True,” I agree, tipping the bottle to my lips and drinking the clear liquid greedily.

“How are you feeling, really?” Beau asks, concern softening his voice. “Do you think you’re going to get sick?”

I smile, leaning into his hard chest and taking a whiff of his unbelievable scent. “Uh-uh. I feel so good. So, so good now that I’m with you.”

He laughs. “I’m feeling better now that you’re with me too, Juni.”

“Did you ever know I liked you?” I ask, the alcohol in my system destroying any hesitation I’d usually have in telling him all the down and dirty details of my forever-long crush on him. “Like, back in the day, when you were still in high school, I was crushing on you so hard.” I laugh at the irony of it all. “Guess things haven’t changed much, huh?”

“I’m crushing on you pretty damn hard too, Juni.” Beau pulls me closer to his chest. “And, no, I didn’t know you liked me back in the day.” He gently runs his fingers through my hair. “But I’ll be honest, I think I never even let myself consider it because you were so off-limits. I noticed you at my graduation, though. And after. I’ve always thought you were beautiful, but if you hadn’t messaged me on Midnight, I don’t think I ever would have let myself go there.”

“I figured I’d get over it at some point.” I snort. “I thought it’d be on your wedding day to Bethany, but I thought I’d get over it.”

His mouth is a bowed line, and he sinks his hand deeper into my loose hair at the side of my head. My stomach flips on itself, butterflies awakening. “This is a much better option,” he whispers, so close I can feel his breath on my face.

“Yeah,” I whisper back.

This is a much, much better option. I don’t know what I’d do if we ever went back to the way things were.