Page 22 of After the Vows

She thinks I’m joking. I’m not. I will not allow anyone to be bullied. Bullies are the worst.

“Next!”

“Stuck working today, Sloane?” I ask the bartender from theBootleggerbar when I reach the counter.

“The tips more than make up for working during a festival.” She nods to the overflowing tip jar. “What can I get you?”

“Four pints of Mermaid Moonshine and…” I glance down at Natalia. “What do you want?”

“Can I have moonshine?”

“Not yet. A few more years.”

Natalia is twelve. She has more than a few years before she can legally drink. Although, the drinking age isn’t strictly enforced on the island in the winter months when the cold wind is whipping off the Atlantic and the ocean is too cold to swim in.

“A lemonade, please.”

Once I’ve paid, I hand Natalia her drink before gathering the four pints.

“I can help.”

“Your dad will kill me dead if I let you help carry alcohol.”

She giggles. “Kill and dead are the same thing.”

“Let me rephrase. Your dad will kill me and then resuscitate me so he can kill me again if I let you carry any alcohol.”

“You don’t believe in zombies, do you?”

I widen my eyes. “Zombies are real. Are you not ready for the apocalypse?”

We weave our way through the crowd and away from the line. “Do you want to sit with me and my friends?”

“Yes!”

I notice Lucas walking toward us in the crowd. It’s hard not to. He’s several inches taller than everyone else. But he’s not some string bean. Not Lucas. His body is packed with muscles from his chest down to his calves.

I didn’t know calves could be sexy until Lucas. Now I know the truth. Calves can be sexy. As are thighs, pecs, and any other muscle my sexy neighbor has.

“Go ask your dad if it’s okay.”

“Do I have to?” she whines.

“I don’t make the rules.”

“Dad!” Natalia waves him over. He grins at her as his legs eat up the distance between us.

“Natalia, what are you drinking?” he asks when he reaches us.

“It’s lemonade. Chloe got it for me.”

He reaches into his pocket. “Let me pay you back.”

“It’s fine.”

His gaze meets mine and I’m sucked in by those dark brown eyes. They’re mesmerizing. I could get lost in them. Preferably while I stroke his beard or spear my hands through his wavy hair.

I clear my throat. No drooling over your next door neighbor who’s made it perfectly obvious what he thinks of you. Not a lot.

---