Page 1 of Fool Me Once

Eighteen Years Old

“Where are you headed, smiling like a fool?” my sister, Saylor, calls from the couch, never looking up from her cell phone that’s shoved in her face. “Wait, let me guess … you’re going to hang out withmybest friend.”

I take a sip from my water and lean against the archway in our living room before shrugging my shoulders. “Maybe. What’s it to you?”

“Gee, I don’t know. TryI really want to go to the beach with her, and I don’t want you following us around like a lost puppy dog. She can go sea-glass hunting, and I’ll tan.” She drops her phone into her lap and rolls her eyes. “Seriously, can’t you get your own friends? You claim you’re cool, but surely, if that were the case, you wouldn’t have to steal your little sister’s friends.”

I tilt my head forward and give her an amused smirk. “This is coming from the girl who has literally dated half of my teammates and damn near all my friends.”

“I wouldn’t say dated. I’d say we had ourselves a good—”

“Don’t even finish that sentence.” I grimace. “Trust me, I hear enough shit about my baby sister. I don’t need to hear it directly from the horse’s mouth. Better to just tell myself the shit I hear are rumors.”

Saylor—God love her—is the most boy-crazy human I know. That’s fine and all, but I sure as fuck don’t need to hear about it. Especially not when it involves my teammates and friends.

“For stealing my soulmate, you deserve it.” She shrugs, and even though I know she’s half kidding, there’s a hint of annoyance in her tone.

My sister and Gemma Jones have been best friends since they first met in second grade after Gemma moved to our hometown. Later that afternoon, we learned that we were neighbors in our small subdivision.Since that day, not only have those two been joined at the hip, but I’ve also been in love with Gemma. But I didn’t make my move on her until recently, and since then, we’ve been pretty inseparable.

Tossing my bottle into the recycling bin, I head toward the door. “Don’t worry; I won’t keep hertoolong today.”

Before she can respond or jump up and demand to tag along, I walk out the door and swing it shut behind me.

I should feel bad for taking up so much of Gemma’s time, but the thing is, I’m leaving for college in Connecticut in a few weeks, and since my sister and Gemma still have their senior year of high school to spend together, they’ll have plenty of time together once I’m gone.

I have no idea how Gemma and I are going to do this long-distance thing, but since Connecticut is only six hours from our home in Maine, I’m confident we can make it work.

For nine years, I treated Gemma like a second sister. She’d go on trips with our family and come to dinners, holidays, and birthdays. Nine whole years of wanting her, but never acting on it. But everything changed a month ago when we both got too drunk at a party and ended up hooking up. My sister tried to act mad, but even she admitted she’d known for years that I was in love with her best friend and that Gemma was in love with me too.

Some of my favorite memories are from when she’d join us on family trips and we were anywhere with a beach. It didn’t matter that our houses were a ten-minute walk to a sandy beach. She still wanted to look for sea glass wherever in the world we were. She was fascinated by sea glass, and watching her hunt for it was fascinating to me, even though I didn’t get the obsession.

It’s a hot, sunny day, and my sister is right that it’s a good beach day. Hell, we should all enjoy it because New England summers last about ten minutes, and then there are seven months of cold weather that seem like an eternity.

Crossing the road, I head toward Gemma’s front door, but just as I take the four steps that lead to the porch, her father swings the door open. And to be honest, he doesn’t look all that thrilled to see me. Then again, I’m pretty sure that’s Will Jones’s face one hundred percent of the time.

“Smith,” he says, giving me a curt nod.

Mr. Jones is a state trooper. He’s intimidating as fuck, and he also has a stick up his ass most of the time.

“Hey, Mr. Jones,” I say, holding my hand up. “Lovely day out.”

I smirk, knowing I sound corny. It earns me a harsher glare, too, which only amuses me more.

Anyone who knows me knows I live to get under people’s skin. There’s a reason I was voted Class Clown, and I wear that title proudly.

Will and his wife, Lori, are good people, but they have high expectations for Gemma and her older brother, William, which puts a lot of pressure on their lives.

“Looking for Gem, I assume,” he says, stepping onto the porch and walking toward the barrier. Putting his hands on it, he leans forward slightly, looking out onto the street.

His tone and body language throw me off because it’s pretty obvious that something is bothering him. Gemma has spent more time at my parents’ house with Saylor than the two of them have at Gemma’s, but her parents have still watched us grow up and have always been nice to us.

Walking to the other side of the porch, I lean my back against the railing and nod. “Uh, yeah,” I say, nodding slowly. “Is she home?”

“She and Lori ran into town,” he utters, keeping his gaze straight ahead. “I don’t think they’ll be back for a while.”

The more he speaks, the more uncomfortable I feel. Sure, he’s got a way of making me nervous, but never like this.

Shrugging my shoulders, I pretend to brush it off. “No big deal. I can check in with her later.”

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