LAURIE

“Did Kyle really catch the two of you in bed?” I pushed up on my elbows, kicking the sand off my feet. We were spending another day at the beach.

“He didn’t walk in on us exactly,” Lo laughed. “It’s his own fault for barging into the pool house as if he owns the place.”

“I still can’t believe your uncle just let Maverick move out there. I mean, I can, but still, it’s weird. Isn’t it weird?”

Lo sat up, crossing her bare legs, and flicked her hair off her shoulder. “It’s the Stone-Princes, they don’t exactly play by the rules. They make the rules. And things have been calmer since everything went down. My dad, Gentry, and Maverick, even played golf together last week.”

“Shut up, they did not.”

I couldn’t imagine Kyle’s dad and Maverick Prince spending time together, alone, without Kyle, or Lo, or Maverick’s mom, around to play referee.

“I’m dead serious. It’s like since the truth came out about Alec and the business, they have this newfound respect for each other. If anyone’s suffering in all of this, it’s Rebecca. She’s carrying a boatload of guilt over keeping Maverick and Macey in the dark all these years.”

“Well, yeah,” I said. “She’s their mom and she let them carry on believing their dad was a good guy. The whole thing is... well, I can’t even imagine.”

My parents weren’t going to win mother and father of the year awards anytime soon, but they weren’t bad people. Just aloof. Too wrapped up in Dad’s business to realize there was a world outside of mergers and acquisitions.

“I’m just glad it’s over.” Her voice trailed off.

“Lo, what is it?”

“Six weeks. He leaves in six weeks, Laurie. How am I supposed to be okay with that?”

“He’s moving to Steinbeck, it’s practically next door. And if you’re worried about Caitlin, you know me and Kyle have your back.”

Caitlin Holloway—Wicked Bay’s queen bee and head bitch—would be gunning for Lo’s blood when school started again, especially after what she and Maverick did to her at prom.

“I’m not worried about Caitlin,” Lo said. “But I just got Maverick back. How do I watch him walk away again?” Her eyes slid to the guys as they played football down by the shore.

“He isn’t walking away, Lo, he’s moving onto the next step in his future. He loves you.” My gaze followed hers. “He would move mountains for you.” Maverick Prince was kind of scary and intimidating but there was no question about his feelings for Lo. Or for anyone in his inner circle for that fact. Maverick protected his own. He’d proved that enough lately.

But I wasn’t in that circle yet. Maybe I never would be.

“Yeah, ignore me, I’m just being silly. How are you and my annoying cousin? I got the sense something was off last night?”

“You could say that again. We spent the day at the pool with my parents.” My lips pressed into a tight line and Lo offered me a weak smile.

“Say no more. Your dad still pushing you to ‘make the right choice’?”

“Yeah, and USC will never be it for him.”

“But what do you want, Laurie? This is your future, not his.”

“I...” The words lodged in my throat. I wanted to go to college with Kyle. To be at his side. To be his everything. And there had been a time when I felt that I was. But he was hiding something. I’d suspected as much for a while now.

Water sprayed around us and Lo and I shrieked as the guys, wet from the waves, howled with laughter.

“Jesus, Kyle, you got us all wet.”

“That’s kind of the point, babe,” he said around a breathtaking smile and heat pooled low in my stomach. God, how I missed that, feeling close to him. “Come for a swim?”

“Lo?” I turned to my friend, but she was preoccupied with Maverick. “We’ll be in the water.”

Kyle pulled me up and wrapped me into his arms, peppering my salty skin with warm wet kisses. “You know I love you, right?” His declaration seeped into my bones, washing away some of the lingering doubts.

“I know. Now last one in buys ice cream.” Ripping out of his hold, I took off in a spray of sand and air. It didn’t take him long to catch up. His arms went around my waist and we stumbled into the ocean in a tangle of limbs.

“Kyle!” I scolded, running two hands over my hair to drain off the excess water but when my eyes landed on his, my legs clenched together. “What?”

Eyes fixed right on me, Kyle stalked toward me through the water. When he reached me, he dipped down, snagging my hand and pulling me with him. My legs went around his waist as his arms steadied me and he moved us deeper until the water reached my shoulders.

“Kyle, you’re freaking me out right now.” I quickly scanned the area around us. People were minding their own business. Groups of kids enjoying their summer break. The odd family chasing their toddlers in and out of the gentle waves.

“I just need a minute.” He rolled his hips into me and I understood his words the second something hard connected with my stomach.

“Seriously.” I slapped his chest. “Here? In the middle of a crowded beach.”

“It’s not like I can help it. Have you seen you?”

Rolling my eyes, I fought to hide the smile tugging at my lips. “You’re a pig.”

“But I’m your pig.” He gave me no warning, slamming his mouth to mine. I gasped at first, overwhelmed by the intensity of his kiss, but as soon as his tongue traced the seam of my lips, my body relaxed. The familiarity of his touch soothed some part of me. Kyle’s fingers pressed into the flesh around my hips, searching, seeking, as our tongues swirled together.

“Kyle, I...”

“What?” He broke off the kiss, touching his head to mine. “What do you need?”

Our eyes locked, and I saw the secrets glittering in his eyes, a reminder of his betrayal. I didn’t doubt he loved me, I didn’t doubt his loyalty to me, but Kyle was keeping something from me. So why didn’t I push it? Why didn’t I demand answers? The truth?

“I love you,” I rushed out, sealing my declaration with a kiss to his lips. Hungry and desperate, he kissed me back, his tongue licking and stroking every inch of my mouth.

“Wahey, get some, Stone.” A chorus of cheers broke out around us and I buried my face in his shoulder.

“At least one of us is, Berrick,” Kyle yelled back to his friends. Maverick’s basketball friends, to be precise. But Kyle fit in just as easily. Even though he was a year their junior, even though he was a Stone, not a Prince, they still loved him.

Everyone loved him.

That was half the problem. When we went off to college and he joined the Trojan’s football team, and the USC masses joined the Kyle Stone fan club, where did that leave little old me? At least people knew me here. I’d grown up with them. I wasn’t only Kyle Stone’s girlfriend, but if I followed him to USC, it was a label I wouldn’t be able to shake.

“I’m going to go say hi to the guys,” Kyle’s voice ripped me from my thoughts. “Want to come?”

“No.” I forced a smile untangling myself from his body. “You go.” I started to swim back to shore, but his voice stopped me mid-stroke. “Laurie?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s you and me. You know that, right?”

Trey Berrick launched himself at Kyle and the two of them disappeared underneath the crystal blue water. With a resigned sigh, I walked the rest of the way back to the beach. Maybe it was a good thing I didn’t get time to reply because what would I have said? That I didn’t know? That I knew there was something coming between us? That as long as he had football there would always be something coming between us?

I didn’t want to be that girl: insecure and jealous of her boyfriend’s future. But it was hard to love the very thing that would one day take the person you loved more than anything, away from you.

~

I WASHED MY HANDS AND checked my reflection. My skin had that sun kissed glow, but I’d overdone it this morning, and it felt tight. It’s why I’d wanted to come inside and get out of the heat. That, and Kyle wanted to eat. Again.

As I yanked open the bathroom door, I ran straight into the girl wanting to come inside.

“Sorry,” I said taking her in, but she didn’t reply, giving me a wide berth.

Odd.

And what was with her outfit? All that denim and those boots. Summers in Cali required tiny shorts and bikini tops. She must have been sweltering.

“There you are,” Lo looked up as I approached our little group. “I got you a milkshake.” She handed me the glass and I thanked her, letting Kyle pull me into his side.

“So, Laurie, what are you going to do when this one is at football camp?” Maverick’s voice held no snark, but his words still cut deep. As if I needed anything else to worry about; in two weeks, Kyle would be leaving for football camp.

“Well,” I said around my straw. “I’m hoping I can steal away Lo for a day or two.”

“One, max.” He shot me a grin and Lo elbowed him in the ribs.

“I’m yours for as many days as you need me. You,”—she jabbed her fork at him—“get me every night.”

“I still can’t believe Uncle Rob lets you stop at the pool house,” Kyle said, and Lo shrugged, taking a bite of her salad.

“What can I say,” Rick spoke up. “I’m a very persuasive guy. Besides, he has his hands full with Stella and Bethany.”

My best friend stiffened at the mention of her dad’s girlfriend and her six-year-old daughter, and Kyle grunted something over his mouthful of fries.

“Seriously, Stone. Say it, don’t spray it.”

“It’s probably a good thing you’re not at the house more. Uncle Rob doesn’t need to see the two of you going at it like bunnies.”

“Kyle!” Lo and me said in unison and he gave us a look that said ‘what?’

“What crawled up your ass and died?” Maverick levelled his stepbrother with a glare and the air around us crackled with tension.

“Guys,” Lo interjected. “Play nice. Laurie, of course we can hang out when Kyle’s away. Kyle, me and Maverick are not lovesick puppies who can’t resist each other, despite what you might think; and Maverick, I’ll have to go home eventually. Good.” Lo scanned the three of us. “Now can we finish eating?”

Awkward silence descended over the table, the way it seemed to every time we hung out lately. Graduation was only a week ago, but it already felt like a distant memory. Not that I’d attended. Mom and Dad were in town and wanted to have dinner, so I’d been unable to celebrate Maverick’s day with the rest of his family.

Kyle kept one eye on me and one on his cousin as she ate her salad. Maverick glared at Kyle while Lo burned holes in the side of his face, and I played dumb, staring into my milkshake. Milkshake was safe. It didn’t ask questions, make snarky comments, or push your buttons. I liked milkshake; the rest, not so much.

After finishing a strained meal, we filed out of The Shack.

“Laurie, Lo?” A familiar voice said, and our friend Autumn approached us. “Hey.”

“Hey, Autumn.” My eyes did a quick sweep of the parking lots. “Who are you... Oh.” Liam, her boyfriend, appeared at her side with his friend, Devon Lions, in tow.

“Hey, guys,” he lifted his hand in a small wave and Kyle and Maverick uttered forced greetings.

Awkward.

Devon kept his eyes on his sneakers, but it didn’t stop Maverick glowering at him. What did he really expect after he set Lo up, playing her right into Caitlin’s hands? Lo and Devon had kind of cleared the air, but Maverick Prince didn’t forget.

And he definitely didn’t forgive in a hurry.

“Guys, wait up.” Another voice called out and my stomach sank. Just what we needed—another kind-of-ex thrown into the mix. “What’s going...” Jared Teller gulped, his eyes shifting between me and Kyle and back again.

“Hey, Jared,” Lo spoke, and I flashed her a glare. She shrank back into Maverick’s side.

“We should probably head inside.” Autumn offered me a weak smile. “I’ll call you though, Laurie?”

“Yeah, of course. Bye, guys.” I hurried toward Kyle’s Jeep ignoring everyone else but Lo caught up with me, slipping her arm through mine.

“Sorry, I’m sorry. I panicked and didn’t want it to be weird, but it was weird, wasn’t it? I screwed up.”

“It’s fine,” I hissed, making sure the guys hadn’t reached us yet.

“But—”

“No buts, nothing happened between me and Jared, Lo. It was a couple of texts and then I set him straight. I’m with Kyle, I love Kyle.”

Her brows pinched together as she studied my face, searching for answers I didn’t have right now. Because things were weird; everything was weird and wrong, and I hated it.

But I didn’t know how to fix it.

“Are you proud of me?” Maverick joined us.

“Proud?” Lo said.

“That I didn’t beat the shit out of Lions.”

“Maverick,” she groaned, climbing into the Jeep the second Kyle bleeped it open.

“I’m joking, it’s a joke. Fuck, why is everyone so tense tonight? You know I gave him a free pass.”

“Seriously, Maverick...” The two of them launched into an argument over Devon Lions while I took shotgun next to Kyle. He was quiet—too quiet—and part of me wondered if he’d picked up on the weird vibes coming from Jared. But then, why would he? Because I was his. I belonged to him. That was how things worked with the Stone-Princes. Kyle would never consider being with him wasn’t enough. It’s why we’d split up once before, when we were in tenth grade. When I finally relented and gave him another chance, it was because I loved him. He was my first love, my first everything. And he was a good person, he really was. But people changed, I realized that now. They outgrew their small towns and friends and the people they’d once turned to. And although I didn’t want to believe it was true, that Kyle would never tire of me and our relationship, who was I kidding?

He had the world at his feet.

And I didn’t even know what I wanted to do with my life.