Page 46 of The Perfect Deal

“Why is that?” one of the two asked. I didn’t turn around to see if it was the redhead or the brunette.

“Because my brother’s already in love with someone else.” Hannah spoke matter-of-factly.

I heard some rumbles and a gasp and turned to see their reactions. Poppy’s college friends, all three of them, had annoyed looks on their faces, but when I looked back at Liberty, she was grinning, staring out at the sea.

Taking a deep breath, I spun back around, not sure if I should thank my sister or tell her to watch her mouth. Did I mind if these new girls stopped trying to talk to me? Not at all. At the same time, love was a pretty serious word. Was I ready to say I was in love with Liberty Johnson?

The image of her beautiful face formed in my mind as a wave splashed against my shins.

Yeah, I was. I definitely was.

“You okay, bro?” William asked, poking me with his elbow.

“I’m good,” I told him, and for the first time in a while, I meant it. I still had a ton of shit to sort out, but if I truly loved Liberty, how could I let anything else matter?

28

LIBERTY

Hearing Hannah warning Poppy’s friends from college that they were wasting their time flirting with Joshua had me grinning. I didn’t pull my eyes away from the ocean to see if he was looking at me, but then, I didn’t need to. I could feel the weight of his eyes on my face.

It was nice of Hannah to try to give the girls a heads-up, but in some ways, I was afraid it might just make them try harder. I didn’t know Poppy’s college friends as well as she did, but I had known them for years. Vanessa the blonde, in particular, was always trying to come up with clever ways to flirt with boys she liked. I’d heard her saying she’d asked Joshua to put sunblock on her back. It was a good game plan. I, foolishly, had asked my sister.

Once the three college girls, as I’d come to start thinking of them, settled down on the far end of our line of girls near Poppy, I let my eyes wander back over to where Joshua was standing with a group of guys just deep enough in the water to wet his legs when a wave rolled in. The water looked refreshing, and I was anxious to get in it, but the other girls had decided to lay out for a while, so here I was. The beach itself was semi-private with access only from the houses situated behind us. No one else was using it at the moment, which was great. I liked the idea of being on a secluded beach with only my friends.

I liked the idea of being on a secluded beach with the handsome man in blue boardshorts showing off his tan even more.

A loud male voice caught my attention, and I turned my head back toward another group of guys standing a little behind Joshua. “Come on, groomy,” a muscular blond I couldn’t quite place was telling Landon. “Get your team together, bro.”

“All right,” Landon said, and then the guy turned and looked right at me.

“Who is that?” I whispered to Sophia.

“That is Ethan,” she said in a monotone like she wasn’t sure whether or not she should be impressed. “Landon’s friend from college, remember?”

“Fuck, that’s right.” I hadn’t seen him in years. I remembered him, though, and not just because he was friends with my brother.

He’d been friends with Grady, too.

And now, he was walking right toward me. I held my breath wondering what in the world he might want.

“Well, if it isn’t Liberty Johnson,” he said, standing in front of me, spinning a volleyball in his hand. “Wanna play?”

Wide-eyed, I stared up at him, noticing how his eyes roamed over my scantily clad body. “What are we playing, Evan?” I purposely got his name wrong, just to test him.

With a crooked grin on his face, he said, “Come on now, gorgeous. You know my name’s Ethan. Volleyball, of course. You can be on the winning team.” He motioned with his head for me to come with him.

Looking down the line, I saw Poppy getting up and dusting sand off her bottom as she went over with Landon. Joshua’s eyes were on me as he slowly walked along with his best friend to where the sand volleyball court was set up.

“You should go,” Sophia said, but when the other girls started egging me on, I knew my sister was suggesting it for another reason entirely.

“Go with the handsome man,” Hannah said, batting her eyelashes at me.

“Okay.” Raising my hand, I waited for Ethan to take it and pull me to my feet. Not that I needed any help. I was pretty athletic, after all. Otherwise, he might not have even asked me. But I figured letting Joshua see me holding this other guy’s hand for a moment couldn’t hurt.

It was time for Joshua Smith to poop or get off the pot, to put it crudely.

“That’s my girl,” Ethan said with that rakish grin still on his face. As we walked along over the warm sand, I could see him sizing up the competition. Poppy and two of her sisters, Autumn and Rose, were the only girls on the other side. It appeared that Hannah had been recruited for our team as well, as she came over with Luke.