Page 28 of Claimed By my Frenemy

“Alright, ladies,” Aurora says, taking charge. “Let’s help Madison come up with a name for her surf school.”

“Mad Surfing Skills!” Stella throws out. “Then, you get your name in it without it obviously being your name.”

“Wave Riders,” Zoey suggests before shrugging.

I bite my lip. Naming things has never been my strong suit. Even my baby dolls had strange names when I was a kid.

Luckily, the other girls seem to have plenty of ideas.

“Surf Safari.”

“No, that sounds like they’re going to be surfing in the jungle,” Aurora says.

“Surf and Sip. Ooh! You could offer a drink afterward,” Stella suggests.

“Well, not before. You don’t want someone getting on a surfboard for the first time when they’re tipsy,” I comment, laughing.

We all laugh as the others continue to suggest names.

“I might even get Wesley to help,” Madison says. “He’s good with things like getting people’s attention and advertising.”

“Is he willing to help you?” Aurora asks.

Madison shrugs. “He’s my brother. I’m sure I can find something he owes me for. Or if not, I can dig up some dirt on him and blackmail him into being useful.”

As the conversation continues, we share more stories. I don’t want the day to end, and I’m reminded of how lucky I am to have these amazing women in my life.

Eventually, we all start to get really hungry, and we say our goodbyes. Madison throws out the idea of walking over to Leo’s Tiki Bar, and my eyes fly to the dock in the distance. Is Theo there? Could he be watching me right now?

But he’s not among the faces I can pick out.

After a few more hugs, we all start walking back to the parking lot. I walked from my house, so I wash off my feet and begin trudging back in the direction of the house. I could get used to being walking distance from the beach.

My thoughts are filled with everything we talked about today, and I’m actually not thinking about Theo.

That is, until I see Theo outside, working on his property. He’s shirtless, and the sight of his muscles rippling as he moves is enough to make my heart skip a beat. I stop in my tracks, unsure whether to approach him or keep my distance.

I could just run past him into the house. I’m dirty and tired from the beach. I could use a shower. It wouldn’t be ridiculous for me to hurry into the house.

But then, Theo glances up and sees me, and I see him smile. He gives me a small wave, and I feel a flutter in my stomach. Part of me wants to go over and talk to him, to see if we can have a conversation without mentioning what happened last night.

I can’t avoid him forever.

My feet head in his direction.

14

THEO

I seeMia walking toward me. The sun is setting behind her, making it impossible for me to see her face. Is she coming over here mad or does she want a repeat of what happened between us last night?

My mouth feels a little dry just thinking about the way it felt to beinsideher.

I haven’t seen her over at her house all day, and I actually wondered if she might have given up on the project. Maybe this is the perfect time to approach her again, to try and smooth things over. I wipe my hands on my jeans, leaving behind the remnants of dirt from the measurements I was taking.

Mia is wearing a bikini top and little jean shorts that don’t cover much more than a bikini bottom. My eyes hover where the button of her shorts is hanging open. I want to push her shorts away and grab her ass.

But I’m not going to do that because I’m a fully-grown man and I have self-control—a lot of it.

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