Summer with a Brother's Best Friend: Love Beach Collection by Alexandra Hale
Author:Alexandra Hale [Hale, Alexandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-27T00:00:00+00:00
14
REECE
âIwish I could take you out on a real date,â Isaac whispers in the darkness, his fingertips running up and down my spine, a shiver chasing the movement.
âTonight doesnât count?â I tease, trying to lighten the mood. Weâd had a great time with Vienna at the Book & Barrel, but it wasnât the same.
Not even close.
âYou know what I mean.â
âMaybe we should,â I say even though it lacks conviction. A promise we made years ago shouldnât hold so much weight but it does.
Turning my head, I meet his gaze, the moonlight creeping in through the gap in the blinds. Heâs so handsome it hurts. The boyish features Iâd fallen for have been replaced with strong angles and cut muscles, but his eyesâhis eyes are the same glorious dark-amber color that Iâd lost myself in time and time again.
âIf you were staying,â he starts, swallowing the obvious hurt before continuing, âI wouldnât hesitate. But I donât think itâs worth it for either of us to have to deal with the fallout if itâs only for a few more weeks.â His voice is barely a whisper as he adds, âI wish I could get you to stay.â
I wish that too, but I donât know if I could let myself come back hereâeven if I want to. What Isaac and I have is incredible, but how long until I become the same girl in this beach town that I was all those years ago?
And heâs right.
Even though my brother is being unbearable right now, heâd be devastated if he knew we messed around only for me to pack my stuff up at the end of the summer again.
âNothing else has changed, Isaac.â I sigh defeatedly. âMy mother is unable to hide her disdain for, well, everything I do, and my brother is so wrapped up in his own head he canât see whatâs going on around him.â
âWe can handle your mother,â he says quietly.
âBut what about Mads? He needs to find some balance, and I canât do that for him. Heâs gone from obsessing about fire to obsessing about fire and Marigold, and while Iâm happy for him, heâs a loose cannon.â
âI can handle him.â
âBut you shouldnât have to,â I whisper, pressing a soft kiss to Isaacâs lips. âI love him, but seven years didnât erase all the reasons I couldnât come back here.â
âMaybe Marigold will soften him up,â Isaac says, trying for levity.
âIt would help having her on our side, especially considering she knows about us,â I say, looking past him at the wall for fear Iâll admit I canât live without him and beg him to move with me.
âWell, she kind of caught us in the storage room.â
âBut I mean she knows.â
âDid you tell her?â
âI didnât have to.â
âIs she going to tell Mads?â
âOf course not.â
âHow do you know?â
âHeâs so focused on her he canât see whatâs going on around him. Thatâs on him, not us, and besides, itâs girl code.â
âGirl code?â
âYeah. And itâs not fair that he can be open about wanting my best friend, but I canât do the same in return.
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