Page 40 of Flawless

“I read it on a celebrity blog site.”

“Can’t believe everything that you read,” I say, catching the ball that she lobs back to me.

“Maybe. So, are you seeing her, or is she truly just a friend?”

I think about all the things that Danica has shared with me and what we’ve gone through over the last eleven years. She will always be so much more than a friend to me even if we never get together again. Yet, she’s made it clear where she stands.

“Dani and I are good friends. We have been for a very long time.”

“That sounds like you’re not involved.”

“We’re not.”

“Well, maybe we can have some fun over the next couple of weeks.”

“I thought you said you all were heading back home?”

“No. I said some of us. I never specifically said me.”

Laughing, I say, “Oh, you love the word play, huh?”

“It’s what I do for a living. Everything is debatable, and everything can be argued.”

“What is it that you do for a living, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I’m an attorney. A divorce attorney, and I’m very good at what I do.”

“Ouch,” I say, placing a hand over my heart and wincing.

I hold the ball to my chest and back up several steps in the water towards the beach.

“Where are you going?” she laughs.

“You know those little red flags that they warn you ladies about?” I ask as she slowly stalks me.

“Mm-hmm,” she says, biting sexily down onto her bottom lip.

“Those are the little red flags that they warn men about. Run when you see a divorce attorney because she’s going to take you for everything.”

Laughing, she draws closer still and says, “I would never do that.”

“Not as long as I stay on your good side,” I reply.

Laughing, she splashes me with water at the same time that a wave comes up and knocks me on my ass.

The ball bounces out of my arm, and Amaris makes it her business to stretch her hand towards me.

“Despite the mean things you’re saying about me, I’ll still help you,” she says, winking at me.

When I take her hand, she pulls, and I’m surprised at her strength. My body is pressed against her soft one when I come to a stand, and she’s looking up at me with her head tilted at an odd angle.

I stare down at her for several seconds. Droplets of water cling to her long, dark eyelashes, and merriment dances in her eyes. Amaris pulls her bottom lip under her top row of teeth and smirks at me. I glance down and notice that her nipples are hard, poking through her bikini top that barely covers her breasts.

When I glance back up at her, that’s when I see Danica walking out onto the beach. She lays a towel out, and I can tell that she’s trying hard not to look in our direction, but I know that she sees Amaris and me.

Amaris reaches a hand up, caresses the side of my face, and grabs my hand with her free one.

“This is the part where you’re supposed to kiss me,” she says softly.

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