Page 33 of Things We Tell Ourselves

Wade frowns out at the city view, pursing his lips. Sadie walks out from the main house, Easton right behind her. Seeing what she has on makes Camille happy that Wade isn’t looking in her direction.

Sadie is wearing a sheer coverup that showcases the black string bikini underneath. Sadie looks fantastic, but it’s Easton who takes center stage, wearing only a bold metallic speedo and flip flops. Easton gives Sadie a sly smile when he notices Wade on the patio and moves away from her to sneak up on Wade.

Easton throws his arms around him in a bear hug, leaning back to lift him off his feet. Wade easily regains his footing. In a quick movement, he spins around to face him. At a glance, he looks pissed to have been disturbed, but the second he sees what his brother has on, he grins ear to ear, pushing Easton away from him. He says a few more things into the phone and then hangs up. Easton takes off for the pool. Sadie takes the first chair facing the pool with a view of the city. She sees Easton and shouts, but it’s no use. Easton runs full speed and jumps into the pool, his cannonball splashing her chair.

Wade walks over to the pool, smiling at his brother swimming over to the side, where Sadie reluctantly moves down a chair. It isn’t until Wade goes to pull his t-shirt over his head that Camille realizes that he’s wearing swim trunks. He tosses his phone and shirt on a chair. Camille admires his surprisingly muscular chest gleaming in the sun.

He glances up at the guesthouse. Camille jumps back, throwing her phone up to her ear as if she were talking on it and not gawking at him. She waits a second before carefully peeking out again. He dives into the pool in one smooth motion. Easton stares up at Sadie, the two of them chatting lightly as she positions herself over the pool chair like a goddess ready for her praise.

Camille giggles, seeing where Wade is heading once he’s under the water. Wade grabs his brother’s ankles, jerking him down. Easton’s face is priceless as he’s plunged into the blue water. Camille turns to the bag on top of the island.

Walking down from the guesthouse, Camille silently thanks herself for remembering to pack her sunglasses and Nancy for pushing her to try on a bathing suit. It’s too beautiful not to be outside and too hot to not be in the pool. Unlike Sadie’s coverup, Camille’s white coverup actually conceals the jiggly bits around her hips and upper thighs while still giving her that breathable, lightweight feel. Since it opens to the front, it also has the added plus that she doesn’t have to pull it over her head. It hits mid-thigh, and instead of a tie, it has a tiny metal hook hidden on the inside, making it seem like it’s being held together by nothing.

“That’s not the magic part,” Nancy told her when she’d walked out in the coverup at the boutique. “The magic part is how perfect it is at showing off your figure.”

The saleswoman assured them that the swimsuit was “one of Louisa’s latest” when Camille walked out in the two-piece. It gave enough coverage with its black lace overlay and contrasting nude lining that gave the illusion of being see-through. At the same time, the wide, under-bust top band supports as much as the thick waistband on the bottoms, making her feel like she’s secure without having to wear a one-piece.

She takes her time walking up to the pool, trying to decide where she should sit. Would it be too obvious that she was avoiding Sadie if she were to take the chair next to Wade?

But as soon as she steps off of the grass, Sadie sits up in her seat, looking in Camille’s direction.

“There you are,” she cheers. “I thought you left. Come have a seat.” She points rather dictatorially at the chair beside her. “Easty gets the wet chair since he thought it would be funny to splash me,” she purses her lips at Easton in the pool, who’s pushing down on Wade’s shoulder, trying to dunk him.

Wade shoves him off, backing up to the shallow end near Sadie and Camille. He faces Camille once he’s a safe distance from Easton.

“Don’t be boring like her,” he grins up at her. “Come get in the pool with us.”

Camille glances out the side of her sunglasses at Sadie sitting back against her chair. Being this close to her, she can see that even out in the glaring sun, Sadie looks flawless. Camille can already feel herself sweat. She looks back at Wade.

“Is there any sunscreen?”

“I was wondering the same thing,” Sadie turns to the guys. “Do I need to send your mother’s assistant out for sunblock?”

Easton rolls his eyes. “What are you worried about a tan line for? You didn’t wear sunscreen the whole time we were in Bali.”

“We have some,” Wade interjects, trudging through the shallow water to the side of the pool.

“I can get it so you don’t have to get out,” Camille offers, but he’s already at the edge of the pool, setting his hands on the hot cement.

“Nah,” he sighs, lifting himself up and out of the pool.

Camille tries not to stare at the muscles flexing in his shoulders and chest.

“I’ll show you.”

She follows him to the built-in barbecue pit under the covered patio, where he digs around in some cabinets. She pulls her sunglasses up, using them to hold her hair back from her face.

“You’re planning to get in the pool, huh?”

“Only if you don’t look at me when I get in,” she grins, only half kidding. She raises her hand for him to pass her the sunscreen, but he ignores her, turning his attention back to the cabinet.

“Let me rephrase that,” he says, taking out a small stick of facial sunscreen. He plops it in her hand, meeting her gaze as he keeps ahold of the sunscreen. “You’re getting in the pool.”

“Oh, am I?”

She curls her fingers around the tube, pulling it loose from his grasp. She smiles, looking down at the sunscreen. SPF sixty; perfect for this sun.

“That’s right,” he confirms, taking a bottle of tanning oil and sunscreen from the cabinet. He shuts the cabinet door, looking over at her. He takes a slow step toward her, moving just close enough that she holds her breath. “You’re getting in that pool, even if I have to throw you in.”

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