Page 99 of The Bridges I've Burned

He shrugged. “It’s Ocracoke. None of these fuckers have anything to do.” He laughed. “And if you offer them free food and drinks...”

My eyes tracked back to that Coke in my brother’s hand, and I realized I’d never seen him with a drink in his hand since I’d arrived. Our dad was an alcoholic, and although I’d never felt particularly overwhelmed by the presence of it in my life, I wondered if my brother had.

I held out the gift I’d brought to Marin. “I, uh, never got a chance to give you guys a housewarming gift,” I said awkwardly. “Or any gift actually.” I offered the bouquet and the bottle of sparkling apple cider, grateful I’d decided to go for something nonalcoholic for Marin.

Both of them just stared at the flowers. I started to feel uncomfortable.

“Shit, sorry. I didn’t get a vase. Do you have one?”

They all burst out laughing.

Like, every single one of them…

The fuck?

I looked up at them, my brows knitting together in confusion.

“Sorry,” Marin apologized. She had to breathe through one word to the next, her eyes wet with tears from her laughter. “Inside joke.”

I pressed my lips together and looked around. “I think I might be the only one on the outside.”

“Be glad for that,” Dean said, slapping his hand on my shoulder. I’d forgotten he was a survivor of the ferry explosion, losing an arm because of it. “I can never look at a vase anymore without picturing that son of a bitch naked.” He motioned with his head toward my brother, who was headed inside with the flowers and apple cider.

“This town is weird as fuck.”

“And LA isn’t?”

I turned to see Elena walking up to me like she’d just materialized out of thin air. She was wearing a gorgeous ankle-length dress in a muted green. It had buttons all the way down the center, and every single one past her mid-thigh had been left open.

“Oh, no. LA is definitely weird, but it’s a brand of weird I’ve gotten used to. I barely raise an eyebrow when I hear someone at Starbucks talking about which spa has the best vampire facial or how you will not believe how awesome this new cleanse is,” I answered, trying not to blatantly stare at her legs. Those buttons were taunting me.

She looked like a damn present, ready to be unwrapped.

Maybe I can convince her it’s my birthday.

“Vampire facial?” Marin blanched, a chip halfway to her mouth.

“I could explain it to you,” Elena offered, taking a sip of her glass of wine. “But it would just gross you out.”

Dean turned to—God, was that his brother? “Taylor, your wife had better not start offering shit like that at the salon.”

Yep, definitely Taylor Sutherland. I’d recognized him at the engagement party, but I’d sort of had my attention on other things.

I owed their family a ton of thanks. Without the help of their mom, I wasn’t sure I would have ever earned the cash to leave all those years ago.

Taylor chuckled, taking a sip of beer. “Don’t give her any ideas. You know how she loves a good theme.”

“Lord help us,” Dean muttered.

“Where is Lani? I miss her.” Marin pouted as Macon appeared once more, wrapping his arms around her and presenting her with a whole new plate. “Ooh, chips!”

He’d told me this morning that Marin had been suffering from some severe morning sickness. He might be going a little overboard to compensate for it.

“At home with Matthew. Cora and Lizzie are there, too.” He chuckled as Marin dived into her food. “Girls’ night. Mostly.”

“Cora brought over an entire season of Doctor Who,” Dean added with a grin before turning to me. “Cora is my wife. Lizzie is our daughter.”

“Is everyone married?” I asked, looking around the yard at all the couples grouped together.

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