Page 103 of Tempt Me

He reached for the waistband of his track pants, shooting them down his skinny legs and stepping out. He wore swim trunks underneath, and his shirt was a rash guard. Leaving his flip-flops poolside, he cannonballed into the pool. I stumbled back to avoid getting soaked.

Noah bobbed to the surface, wiping his long hair out of his eyes. “You coming in, Auntie Nat?” he shouted.

“No, I’m good. I’ll wait for your dad to get Val.” I was grateful for the excuse. I’d need to work up a lot more courage to bare my skin again in front of Jamila.

“Hey, Natalie.” A tall, handsome blond guy stepped up to me with a longneck in his hand.

“Tyler! And Marlee.” I greeted his wife and hugged them both. Marlee and Tyler were about my age, and we often found each other at parties. “Congratulations, you two. I don’t think I’ve seen you since you got married.”

When Marlee hugged Val and me, her oversized sunglasses tangled in my hair, and we laughed as we unwound ourselves.

“Tell me all about your wedding,” I said.

“It was small.” Marlee winced. “We couldn’t invite everyone we wanted—”

I waved off her excuse. “Don’t worry about it. I understand.” Tyler and Marlee didn’t come from money. They’d paid for the wedding themselves while supporting Marlee’s father in a memory-care facility.

“It was magical.” Marlee sighed in ecstasy. It did seem like a fairytale, especially when she showed me a photo of the guests lighting sparklers at sunset. Marlee had started telling me about their honeymoon when Ben, whom I hadn’t seen since that disastrous brunch, bounded up and hugged her, followed by Tyler, then me. Cooper trailed behind him but didn’t hug anyone.

“See, babe? I told you.” Ben scanned me, head to toe. “She’s wearing her clothes. And I-just-got-fu-uh-uh-screwed hair. Sorry,” he whispered, eyeing the baby. “You owe me fifty bucks. I’ll take the other part of our wager when we get home.” He winked.

“Wager?” Combing my fingers through my hair, I worked out a knot Val had made with her sweaty hands.

“You and Jamila. I knew when we met you at brunch that day. Cooper didn’t think so. And guess who was right?” He chuckled.

“No, we’re not—” I kept myself from sayinganymore.“Not together. These are Alicia’s clothes. I babysat overnight last night.”

“Oh.” Ben’s lips curled down. “But I hoped you’d—”

Cooper leaned forward to put his mouth at his fiancé’s ear. “I’ll takemywinnings at home,” he purred.

Ben full-body shivered. “Let’s finish making the rounds. I feel an early departure coming on.”

“Ha-ha.” I forced a grin onto my face. “Engaged couples are the worst, right?”

But Tyler squinted at me. “You and Jamila, huh?”

“No, no, not a—” I had to stop the word again. “Not at all.”

“She needs someone like you,” Tyler said. “To help shoulder all her burdens. I thought Winslow was that person, but we all see how that turned out.” He scowled.

“I think I need a drink.” I was choking from all the words piling up in my throat like a multicar crash on I-80.

Tyler pointed me toward a table set up in the shade, and I made my way to it, avoiding the circle of people around Jamila.

The bar wasn’t a self-serve cooler of beer. There was a bartender. And she was Rhiannon. I winced when I saw her, dreading whatever cutting remark she had for me.

“Hi, Natalie. What can I get you?” She eyed me warily.

“Oh. Um…do you have a sparkling wine?”

“We’ve got a Napa blanc de blancs.”

“Perfect. Thanks.” I watched her pour the wine. “It hardly seems fair that you work all week, and then you have to work at Jamila’s party.”

“Nah, this is my choice. Jamila made me come since, you know, I basically built the product. Despite that snake, Winslow.” She scowled. “I like to hang out here. It gives me a way to talk to everybody, but I don’t have to put myself out there. They come to me.”

“Smart.” I held up my glass in a toast and took a sip of the bitter wine. The bubbles made my nose itch.

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