Page 93 of Connected By Stars
“Just promise me you’ll visit me when I become the crazy cat person all alone in my empty house.”
“You’re not going to be a crazy cat person. A crazy dog person, maybe.” I laugh when she lightly pushes my shoulder. “Your person is out there. I know it. And when you two meet, look out world. We’ll all feel that sexual energy when it forms. I can’t wait to see the hot male species that sparks that flame in you.”
“It’s going to be so hot,” she agrees, giggling.
Mav walks over to us and hands us a corona and lime before sitting down next to me. I sit up, smiling, and take a sip.
“Thanks.” He’s sitting so close to me that his thigh is brushing mine.
“You’re welcome,” he grins at me before taking a sip. Reaching into his bag, he puts his sunglasses on and runs a hand through his hair. The sun glints off the golden streaks. He must have dove underwater because his skin is glistening and his hair is wet, causing it to wave slightly around his bronze face. “I can feel your eyes on me even though I can’t see them,” he says quietly, looking out over the water. “It’s taking everything in me right now not to grab you and say hell with it.”
“I know,” I whisper. “It’s torture.”
Luna comes running over with a shell bag. “You guys want to walk the beach and look for shells?”
“What do you say, girls? Want to walk around the island?” Maverick looks at Sophia and I.
“I’m in, Lunabug.” Sophia gets up and grabs her drink before following Luna.
“I’m in, too. I need to burn off some of this restless energy,” I say, standing up.
“You’re telling me,” he grins, following me down the beach. “We’ll be back in a few. Luna wants to go shell hunting around the island.” Maverick tells our families as we walk by.
“Have fun!” My mom grins at us from her beach chair next to Sage and Mimi while the guys set up the canopy.
We fall in line behind Sophia and Luna, sipping our drinks while we walk the shoreline.
“I love it out here,” I sigh. I lift my face to the sun beating down on us as a soft breeze blows my hair away from my face. “I try and remember every day how lucky we are to live by such beauty.”
“Yeah, me too.” I feel his gaze on me and smile. He nudges my shoulder with his arm.
“I found a sand dollar!” Luna excitedly picks it up and places it in her bag.
“Nice, Lunabug.” Sophia looks at it in her bag.
I see a few keepers along the way and place them in Luna’s bag. When you live here, you’re more picky about the ones you take, wanting only the rare ones. We’re on the far side of the island now. No boats are in this area because of the trees and shrubs close to the shoreline. We wade through the water, stepping over fallen driftwood logs. Coming to a small beach, I smile at where we are.
“We used to camp here when we were little. Do you remember?” I grin over at Mav.
“Of course, I remember. It’s some of my best memories. Especially when Noah and I scared you and Sophia that one night pretending to be bears scratching at your tent.”
Laughing, I shake my head. “It took me forever to get tosleep that night. Our moms were so upset that you two scared us so bad we cried.”
“I do remember feeling bad about that part,” he says, chuckling. “We had no idea that you girls would actually believe a bear would be out here in the middle of the ocean.”
“We were seven,” I laugh. “We probably would’ve believed anything at that age.”
“I also remember giving you a special shell that I found the next day because I felt so bad.”
“I remember,” I say quietly. “I still have it.”
He stops and turns to me. “You kept it?” He asks, surprised.
“Of course. You gave it to me, and I remember thinking it was better than anything I’ve ever found on the beach.”
He lifts his sunglasses on top of his head. My breath catches at the emotions I see in his emerald eyes. “Bell,” he says, brushing my hair back softly with his hand. “I still can’t believe I shut myself off from you all these years, thinking that I could actually stay away from you if I did. I should have let you in a long time ago, but I was so fucking scared I would mess it up and lose one of my best friends.”
“You could never lose what’s always been yours.” My heart is hammering in my chest as he holds my face and rubs his thumb along my cheek.
