Page 18 of Wilde About You

They both got up silently, and minutes later, they were out the door without a goodbye.

I looked at my brother. "Rude."

"Yeah, well you always bring out the best in me. Hey, Co, think you could give us a few minutes?"

I got up before Colin responded. "Don't bother, Colin. I'm going inside. Not in the mood to talk. I think I'll go for a swim."

"We're not fucking through," Ace called to me.

"Yes, we fucking are, Arthur" I called back.

"Wait, did she just call you Arthur?" Colin asked as I entered the house.

I headed to my bedroom with a triumphant smile.

ten

. . .

Colin

Isat on one of the lounges. The day had cleared to a blue sky. No waves again. A flock of gulls were bobbing on the flat tide waiting for fish to swim past. Ace had gone back to bed in a grumpy mood, and his sister had disappeared into her room. I was left on my own again, and frankly, I was enjoying it.

My phone rang. It was Ronan. "Where are you at?" he asked.

"I left you a note. I'm at Ace's beach house."

"Is that what your scribble said? So, I've got the place to myself? Rachel and I haven't had any alone time for a few weeks, and I'm planning to⁠—"

"Yeah, I get the picture. Have at it. I'll be here for maybe a week. About all I can take of Ace." As I said it the sliding door opened. I sat up worried that Ace had heard me, but it was Sadie. "Fuuck," I muttered.

"Fuck what?" Ronan asked. "Wait, that sounded like a hot babe alert reaction. Guess you guys are already filling that place with women."

"Nope, just the one, and I'm going to go. Have fun." I hung up. Sadie was wearing a white bikini. Her golden-brown skin was smooth as silk. Everything about her stole my breath. "Uh, this lounge is free," I said lamely.

"You mean there's not an invisible person sitting on it?"

"I guess that was what they call stating the obvious. I was hoping the popular girl in class would sit next to me."

She laughed lightly as she put her towel on the lounge. "I was never popular. I was a rebel. Teachers hated me, and I think most of my classmates did, too. Couldn't stand them. I was the oddball sister of the three Rivers brothers—all popular, all jocks and all beloved by staff and students alike."

She put on dark sunglasses, stretched her legs out on the lounge and then, without warning, lifted her arms for a real stretch. I held my breath until she lowered her arms. There were a few more tattoos, all in just the right places, places I wanted to put my mouth. I wiped that dirty vision from my head. This was Ace's sister. It would figure the first woman to really catch my attention in a year was the sister of my best friend.

"I'm kind of missing the sweatshirt," I said.

Her smile was always guarded and slightly crooked. I liked it. She turned toward me and lifted the glasses. Those blue eyes could knock any man senseless. "Is that some kind of commentary on the way I look in a bathing suit?"

I was so tossed off balance by her presence it took me a second to comprehend her meaning. "What? Hell no. Glad you left the jacket behind." I was jabbering like an idiot.

She lifted her glasses again. It was almost as if she knew her blue gaze was making my head spin. "I don't see it."

"See what?"

"Ace told me you were one of those guys who just had to sneeze, and the women came running with their handkerchiefs and pots of chicken soup. Said you were smooth as slick ice with the ladies."

"Yeah, well, Ace is full of shit." I leaned back and closed my eyes before I made a bigger ass of myself.

"You don't have to tell me that."