And after we sat at a far table with our plates; eight boys who looked like they were in seventh grade burst through the back door. They swarmed around the table. Becky was right. As the afternoon passed, the guys never left the food for long. They were different heights, but all were skinny except for one that looked on the pudgy side. When Becky got up and got us some more beverages, her brothers and their friends took over the pool too.

She sighed as she popped open a beer. "There goes my tanning today. Little rodents."

Adam laughed and stole the water she had nabbed. "Come off it. You love your brothers and you know it. You dote on Jake and Greg."

She scowled. "I'm going to make their lives hell. JAKE!"

A boy popped his head out of the water. "What?"

"If you don't get your little friends out of the pool, I'm going to tell mom and dad what's under your tv."

He froze and his eyes got wide.

Then Adam laughed and stood up. "Don't worry about her, Jake. She won't do that to you. Come on, Becks." He tugged her from the table. "Let's you and me take Sam to the movies."

A pink flush came over her cheeks, but she pretended to pull against his hold on her. "I wanted to tan today, Adam."

He laughed again and swatted her butt. "Go get cute. We can make a matinee and it'll be my treat."

I watched as she tried not to make it look like she was hurrying inside. Then I frowned when he sat back down. "You're not being nice again."

His eyebrows lifted slightly. "I thought I was being really nice."

"You're not and you know it. What's your game?"

He let out a deep breath and glanced at his lap. A moment later he peeked over and I followed his gaze. Two older men were in a heated conversation. Their hands were in the air and each had a can of beer. "I don't feel like being here. My dad just got here."

"Which one?"

"The tall guy. He got here from a meeting ten minutes ago."

From the way he said that and how he was scowling at him, I figured Adam knew something I couldn't discern. His dad was handsome. He was an older version of Adam and he was dressed in custom fitted shorts with a white shirt. He could've been a model for a summer GQ edition.

Becky's dad was the opposite. His white wife beater had stains from the grill and his beer belly hung over his board shorts. He had a slight worshipful look on his face as he debated something with Adam's dad.

"Did he really have a meeting?"

Adam's mother had grown silent next to Laura where they sat underneath a patio umbrella.

He sighed. "What do you think?"

Understanding dawned. "This is why I've kept quiet about my situation."

"Yeah, well, that's not going to happen to me. He'll never leave her."

I heard the bitterness and asked, "You want him to?"

"I want her to."

I fell quiet. I didn't know what to say.

Then Adam surprised me when he tapped my arm gently. "My mom works for James Kade, you know. She's the assistant to his junior assistant."

I shot him a dark look. "So?"

He shrugged. "So nothing. She talks about how nice he is to her."

Relief flooded me and my shoulders sagged forward. Then I gave him a wicked grin. "Oh, so are you saying you could be stepbrothers with Mason and Logan Kade."

He grinned. "Yeah, right. Wouldn't that be a joke?"

I didn't know what else to say and Adam fell into a quiet slump. We were both like that, dazing off into our thoughts when Becky rushed outside. She had changed into khaki shorts and a loose top. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail and she had a small amount of make-up on. Her eyelashes were black and long. I'd never seen her dressed how she was, even when we went to the party.

She looked nice and I cast a look at Adam underneath my eyelids. Did he think so? But he stood up and shot forward to his car. Her shoulders dropped an inch and the corners of her mouth turned down, but then she flashed me a bright smile.

"Do I look okay?" She touched the ends of her hair and patted them into place. They already were, but she kept pressing them down.

"You look good." And I meant it.

She cast me a furtive glance. "Not like you. You look great, like always."

I frowned.

"How was your date?" She put the chirpy note back in her voice and fell in line beside me as we followed where Adam had gone to his car. He waited for us, not within hearing distance.

I hesitated. Now I wasn't being the nice friend.

"Come on." She nudged me with her shoulder. "I really want to know."

"Becky." I grabbed her arm and held her back. "You like him."

Her mouth twisted, but she gave me a smile after. "It doesn't matter. He doesn't like me, not like that."

"He could."

"No, he couldn't. He practically drools any time you enter a room. He's always had a thing for you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Even before last year, he was interested. You were dating Jeff, though, so he asked Ashley out."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, duh." She rolled her eyes, but frowned when she saw that I was biting my lip. "You didn't know? Really?"

I shook my head. "I didn't know that Jess had been sleeping with Jeff for two years. How was I supposed to know this?"

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