Indiana

 

My clothes stuck to my skin the moment we stepped off the plane and onto the tarmac. It was gross. The heat. The sun. The bugs. Humid was an understatement.

“Welcome to paradise,” Jack announced, pulling his sunglasses down over his eyes.

I was not looking forward to the next week. Sure, I was happy my parents were renewing their wedding vows. And the break from studying was much needed. Who could say no to an all-expenses paid tropical getaway for me and my friends? All of them. Bailey, Ryder, Jack, even Kenzie was flying out. Kenzie and Ryder’s mum were looking after Cole, so she could have a break and come to the wedding.

Even the friend I didn’t want to see was here.

The one who was standing just outside the airport with my brother, waiting for us.

The one who broke my heart a million times.

The one who reeled me back in over and over with nothing but a smile.

The one who…

Who was I kidding? The one I wanted to see more than anyone else.

I stopped in my tracks, and Jack crashed into my back. “Whoa, baby cakes, how about a little warning?” He grabbed my waist to steady me before I fell flat on my face.

Linc.

He was there, casually leaning against a black rental car and talking with Nate. In his denim shorts, loose-fitting white tank, and black designer sunglasses covering half his face, he looked better than ever. I was really liking the dreadlocks growing in his hair now, and the fair scruff on his face made him seem so much more…manly. My mother would make him shave before the wedding, though. I could guarantee it.

I was frozen to the spot. Bailey stopped beside me and squeezed my hand gently, trying to reassure me, but it only made me more nervous. Jack whistled admiringly in Linc’s direction and whispered, “Does he have a brother?”

I couldn’t even answer him. I couldn’t move. I didn’t want to move. This was a bad idea. I should have flown in the night before the wedding and flown out immediately after. It hurt too much to see him. Loving someone who didn’t love you back sucked.

Nate saw us first. He pushed off the car and ran straight for me with that big, goofy grin on his face, sweeping me into his arms and spinning around excitedly. He was much taller than I was, so I hung limply in his arms like a ragdoll.

“I’ve missed you, sis. Glad you made it. Mum was freaking out that you wouldn’t come, because you’ve avoided coming home for so long now.” I could hear the disappointment in his voice.

“I missed you too.” Guilt coursed through my veins. It was true. I had avoided going home since my second year at university when we returned for Ryder’s nephew Cole’s birthday, and I found out Linc had a fia…fi…I couldn’t even think the word—my brain short-circuited, and I developed a twitch every time I tried.

A girlfriend with a stupid ring on her finger.

He was twenty-two, and that was far too young to marry anyone, but her in particular. She was an idiot. I didn’t like her. And I couldn’t bear to see him with her all the time, so I’d not been home for over a year, instead choosing to spend holidays with Jack and his family. It was easier that way, kinder on my heart.

Jack was my best friend at university other than Bailey—and Ryder, I guessed, though he pissed me off more than anything. We met at orientation and became friends soon after discovering he and Ryder were sharing a room. And since Ryder and Bailey were always preoccupied with sucking each other’s faces off, it left a lot of time for Jack and me to bond. I loved him and all his inappropriateness.

Nate dropped me back to the ground and stepped to the side to make room for Linc, who was suddenly right there with a smile on his face. His hands were clasped and resting on top of his head. The action caused his t-shirt to ride up enough to reveal tan skin and a very defined lower abdomen I really wanted to trail my…

“What? I don’t get a hug, In?” he said, interrupting my fantasy.

I blinked at him a few times and reluctantly stepped forward with the help of an elbow in the back from Ryder, and into Linc’s open arms. They wrapped around me tightly, pulling me to his warm, hard body. I breathed him in. He smelled like the beach and coconuts. Damn lifeguard smell.

I took it all back. I did want to see him. And touch him. And hug him. And kiss his stupid, handsome face.

“I’ve really missed you, In. I’m glad you’re here. It’s not the same without you,” he said quietly in my ear before releasing me all too soon. Couldn’t I just wrap my legs around his waist and attach myself to his hip a little longer?

He reached over to shake Ryder’s hand in that manly back slap, half-hug thing guys did and gave Bailey a kiss on the cheek before noticing Jack standing directly behind me. They glared at each other. Jack’s jaw ticked. He was quite familiar with my Lincoln Andrews obsession, and he was not impressed. Except maybe by his face.

“Hey, man, sorry.” Nate stepped forward and introduced himself. “Nate, Indie’s brother. This is Linc.”

“Hi. Jackson,” he replied and held his hand out, his voice sounding much rougher than normal. I guessed he was trying to make a good first impression.

“And you are?” Linc raised an eyebrow in his direction, planting his feet hip width apart and crossing his arms over his chest. I knew that stance all too well. I’d seen it so many times growing up from both Nate and Linc. Their protective, intimidating, “I’m going to hurt you if you mess up” stance.

“Jaaack-suuun,” the smartass repeated slowly, as if Linc was stupid. “Indie’s boyfriend. Nice to meet you, man. Call me Jack,” he said confidently, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me close to him. My head dropped, and I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Why did I bring him with me?

“Ahhh, shit,” Ryder said under his breath as Bailey coughed out a laugh, knowing this could only end badly if Jack was involved. He meant well most of the time—unless he was only doing it for his own entertainment, then all hell could break loose. Jack had no filter. He said whatever he was thinking at the time without considering the repercussions. Occasionally, it was funny and worth it, but most of the time it made you cringe and want to hide from embarrassment, like now.

“Boyfriend?” Nate looked back and forth between us, a puzzled expression on his face. I’d told them I was bringing at friend at the last minute, not a boyfriend.

“Umm…surprise.” I forced a grin but was sure it looked more like a grimace. What on earth was Jack thinking? He wasn’t my boyfriend. Two seconds earlier, he was checking Linc out and wanting to know if he had brother.

“Since when?” Linc scoffed, like it was so hard to believe I could ever have a boyfriend. But I guessed that was true. I’d never had a boyfriend. Not because I didn’t want one. I did. I just wanted the one who didn’t want me. The one who thought of me as a little sister, and I refused to settle for anyone less. Stupid, right?

I met Linc’s hard glare. His jaw was clenched, and I was slightly amused by his reaction. He wasn’t impressed that Jack was my boyfriend, and that thought sent a thrill through me.

“Oh, about a year now. Yeah, baby cakes?”

“Yep.” I beamed up at Jack and snuggled closer to his side, deciding to roll with it for the time being.

I heard Bailey sigh and Ryder mutter something that sounded like, “Here we go again,” and I had to stifle a laugh because it was like history repeating itself. Only this time it wasn’t Bailey and Ryder fake dating to make someone jealous; it was me and Jack pretending for…reasons unknown. I’d have to ask Jack what he was thinking. Why would he do this? I couldn’t very well come out and say we were only joking now. We’d look like fools. We were going to have to act like a couple for the entire week.

Nate and Linc exchanged a look, with Linc nodding the smallest fraction. This would have been completely unnoticed by anyone other than Nate because they had that sort of friendship—they didn’t need words, could have an entire conversation with only looks—and by me because I was aware of every move he made when he was around.

Obsessed? No. That was too harsh a word. Made me seem crazy. I preferred the term “enthusiastically invested,” because I was very invested in everything that man, with the sudden scowl on his face as he snatched my suitcase off the ground and began stomping over to his car, did.

Nate pointed a finger at Jack. “We’re going to have a chat later.” And then he turned and walked over to the rental car, some sort of SUV with extra seats to accommodate us all.

Jack looked at me with alarmed eyes for a moment before brushing the fear aside with a wave of the hand. “Meh, he’ll love me. Who doesn’t, really?”

“Me, right now. What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Making that handsome specimen over there realise what he’s going to lose if he doesn’t act soon.”

A spark of hope ignited in my stomach. If the fake relationship worked for Bailey and Ryder, making Chace, her ex-boyfriend, insanely jealous, then maybe it would work for me. Maybe pretending to date Jack would make Lincoln so blind with jealousy that he finally saw me for what I’d always been. His. Cheesy, I knew, but true nonetheless.

“And if he doesn’t want me that way?” My voice cracked.

“Then he’s an idiot and doesn’t deserve you. But from the looks he’s giving me right now, I’d say you’ve got nothing to worry about, baby cakes.”