Page 80 of Meet Me at Midnight

“Beau?” I question. Shock urges a bucket of adrenaline to dump into my veins. Hell, I’m probably one more boat-horn-blow away from being scared into sobriety.

“Yes!” she screams. “He’s on that boat over there! See him?”

Black shorts, a white shirt, dark hair, chiseled face, and a bright smile, he stands out like the sun in the middle of a group of clouds.Oh, I see him, all right. I see him and then some. If I could hop on his boat right now and fuck him, I’d do it in a nanosecond.

Avery pulls me toward the side of the boat where he’s pulling up, and I do my best not to fall down while I’m keeping up. When she gets within talking distance, she starts shouting across the space between us. “What are you doing here?”

“I was out and then saw you were close on Life 360.”

It’s a hollow excuse at best, but she doesn’t question it at all. Part of me can’t believe it, but I guess she has no reason to suspect her brother and best friend are sneaking around behind her back either.

“Are you headed back in now?” she asks, pulling me forward and making me trip over myself. “Because this one could really stand to end her partying a little early.”

“I can see that.” Beau smiles at me, and the wild urge to fuck him on a boat grows tenfold. “Take her to the back of the boat, and we’ll get her switched over.”

“Great!” Avery agrees, completely unaware that she’s leaned right into what I suspect was Beau’s plan all along. I might be a little boozed-up, but I know mischief and ulterior motives when I see them.

I teeter to the back of boat and down onto the stern deck, and Beau places a walking pick between the two boats for me to cross.

I look down toward my feet and back up at Beau.

“C’mon, Juni,” he says, and when I look at the water beneath the walking pick, I can feel my eyeballs getrealbig.

There’s not a chance in hell I’m going to risk falling overboard, so I drop to my knees and start crawling across the damn thing.

“Oh my God, June,” Avery mutters behind me. “What are you doing?”

“Worry about yourself!” I shout back to her, and I’m graced with one million laughs from her big fat mouth.

By the time I reach Beau’s boat, his smile is beaming, and he helps me to my feet with a gentle but strong hand.

“Get some rest and hydrate!” Avery waves an excited goodbye, and I give her a thumbs-up as the boat she’s on starts to move away from us.

By the time Beau gets the walking pick back on deck, guides me toward the front of his boat, and we sit down on the bow cushions, Avery’s party boat is too far away to even see her.

And the only thing I feel right now is relaxed. Relieved, even.

Beau wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me close, shoving a bottle of water in my face without delay.

“Where’d you get that thang?” I ask, a laugh making my last word sound weird. “Are you a magician?”

Beau smirks. “I have a slight advantage at the moment for the element of a surprise. You’re not exactly completely aware of your surroundings.”

“True,” I agree, tipping the bottle to my lips and drinking the clear liquid greedily.

“How are you feeling, really?” Beau asks, concern softening his voice. “Do you think you’re going to get sick?”

I smile, leaning into his hard chest and taking a whiff of his unbelievable scent. “Uh-uh. I feel so good. So, so good now that I’m with you.”

He laughs. “I’m feeling better now that you’re with me too, Juni.”

“Did you ever know I liked you?” I ask, the alcohol in my system destroying any hesitation I’d usually have in telling him all the down and dirty details of my forever-long crush on him. “Like, back in the day, when you were still in high school, I was crushing on you so hard.” I laugh at the irony of it all. “Guess things haven’t changed much, huh?”

“I’m crushing on you pretty damn hard too, Juni.” Beau pulls me closer to his chest. “And, no, I didn’t know you liked me back in the day.” He gently runs his fingers through my hair. “But I’ll be honest, I think I never even let myself consider it because you were so off-limits. I noticed you at my graduation, though. And after. I’ve always thought you were beautiful, but if you hadn’t messaged me on Midnight, I don’t think I ever would have let myself go there.”

“I figured I’d get over it at some point.” I snort. “I thought it’d be on your wedding day to Bethany, but I thought I’d get over it.”

His mouth is a bowed line, and he sinks his hand deeper into my loose hair at the side of my head. My stomach flips on itself, butterflies awakening. “This is a much better option,” he whispers, so close I can feel his breath on my face.

---