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“But you would be good enough for the girl at the bar, right?”

“It’s not the same.”

“Whatever.”

“It’s different when it’s your sister, mother, or daughter.”

“You know what I don’t get, Quentin? Even with everything you guys have been through, my brothers should know your heart. Do they honestly think you would ever hurt me?”

Quentin didn’t speak, but he soaked in her words carefully.

“Would you, Quentin?”

“Hell no.”

Phoebe turned her head and looked back down the path she’d walked. The silence stretched again, and only the ocean waves could be heard.

“Do you even want me?”

Quentin’s gut constricted.

“You don’t know what you’re asking,” he responded.

Phoebe brought her eyes back to him.

“Do you?”

His lids lowered. “More than anything,” his dark voice grooved.

Phoebe shivered, and she didn’t think it was because of the chill of the night.

“Then what do you plan to do about it?”

It was a standoff, with both of them tackling their own thoughts. Quentin moved first. His hand reached for her chin and his mouth covered hers. An electrifying current buzzed through them both, and they roasted right where they stood. Quentin’s free hand slipped up her shoulders and neck, settling in the back of her hair. Pulling her head slightly back, Quentin stared at her while breathing into her lips.

Phoebe loved the yearning she saw in his eyes—if only he would act on it and let go of this ridiculous vow he’d made with her brothers.

“You don’t know what you do to me…” he said.

“That’s funny, I could say the same about you.”

Phoebe stuck her tongue out and licked his lips. Quentin shut his eyes briefly then inhaled her, sucking her tantalizing tongue down his throat. A burst of heat ran through them, and Phoebe quickly tossed her arms around his neck. Quentin picked her up, and her legs coiled around his waist as their bodies burned together. Kissing from her lips down her neck, Quentin sucked in Phoebe’s warm skin then sank his teeth into her soft flesh.

“Ssss… aaah, baby…” Phoebe moaned with her head hanging back. “Don’t do this to me,” she panted.

Quentin pulled his gaze to hers.

“Don’t do this to me if you don’t plan to finish,” she said.

They stared at one another with desire spilling between them. After too long of a minute, Quentin finally spoke.

“We can’t do this now.”

“It’s now or never.”

“You can’t do that.”

Phoebe untangled herself from him and plopped down to her feet. She turned to walk back up the beach.

“Phoebe.”

Her feet paused, and she waited for him to declare his love for her. She waited for him to tell her he’d wanted her for just as long as she’d wanted him. Phoebe waited as the wind whipped around her, for Quentin to give her some sign that they could be together. That all their teasing when they were young, and all his protectiveness as they got older was all boiling down to this moment in time when they could finally confess their love. Phoebe’s heart knocked in her chest, and her nerves stood on pins and needles.

But his silence was golden, giving her all the answers she didn’t want. Phoebe locked and unlocked her jaw. How much time had she spent daydreaming and fantasizing that the one guy she’d always loved would love her back?

Without saying a word, she resumed her trek back down the beach with the silence behind her becoming infinite.

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