Page 106 of Summer People
All too soon, whistles and the cat calls erupt around us. As much as I want to live in this moment, soak up the warmth of her mouth, savor her sweet taste, I pull back.
“I love you,” I whisper against her lips. Then I scoop her into my arms and carry her over the rocks. There’s no way I’ll take the risk that she’ll slip and fall.
“Libby!” Sutton calls.
I trudge through the seaweed to the grass, where my little girl is standing and set my girlfriend on the ground.
“We did it!” She wraps her arms around Libby, hugging her tight.
“We did,” Libby says breathlessly, hugging her back.
I scoff over our girl’s head. Libby barely did it. “Sutton, you are free to do it again. However, Libby, you’re a one-and-done participant when it comes to this goodbye.” I shake my head.
“Fisher.” Sutton tilts her head, water dripping from her braids, as she takes in my soaked clothing. “I thought you said you’d only go in when pigs fly.”
Wilder chuckles. “Turns out the pigs are flying all over lately.”
I wrap a towel around a shivering Libby and engulf her in a hug to warm her the best I can. “Ready to go home, Princess?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
libby
By the timethe sun went down tonight, my cheeks were pink and my heart was full. After early morning play practice, Maggie, Sutton, and I met Kennedy and Lindsey at a tiny beach carved out between rocks. We spent hours lying on the craggy shoreline, and now I’m paying for it. And not only because of the slight sunburn, but because the little pebbles left tiny bruises all over my ass.
Fisher will have a fun time laughing at me, I’m sure. He spent the day helping Wilder and Blue work on something at the inn. I can’t remember what, since I tuned out when he took off his shirt.
No matter how many times that man undresses in front of me, I’m taken by him. The hard edges that soften when he catches me. The light that reaches his eyes. The cocky smirk that plays on his lips. He’s smiling more and more lately, but that smirk undoes me every time. Who am I kidding? Heundoes me. No matter what expression he wears.
I take my time applying lotion to my body, knowing he’ll be the benefactor of my smooth skin shortly, then slip into my robe. I came home to pick up more clothes and figured I’d showerwhile I was here. After our day at the beach, we met Fisher at the inn for dinner, so when we returned, I was more than ready to rinse the sand from my body. Fisher planned to get Sutton cleaned up and in bed. Then he had to get some hacker work done, so I’ll take my Kindle over and sit on the futon in his office. It’s become our routine. While he works, I curl up and read until I fall asleep. Then he carries me into bed. It’s silly, since the futon isn’t the most comfortable spot by a long shot, but I feel most at ease when he’s close.
The hair on the back of my neck tingles, and I spin and peer out the window. Is he watching me? Someone definitely is. I step closer and pull up the pane, breathing in the fresh summer air. Sea salt and a distant fire. Probably a bonfire on one of the beaches. There’s a group of bachelors here this week. Wilder is taking them out on his charter boat in a couple of days. When he teasingly asked Maggie and me to come out with them and be their entertainment, I thought Fisher was going to knock him sideways. I chuckle to myself as I survey his house. The light in his office is out, so it must be the cameras I felt watching me.
With a shake of my head, I shut the window.
In my bedroom, I disconnect my Kindle from its charger and slip it into the bag I’ve filled with more clothes. I’ve made a habit of doing my laundry here, and I don’t ever keep too much at Fisher’s place. I don’t want him to think I’m trying to move in or anything. Though if he asked, I’d say yes.
I hate every minute I spend away from the two of them. His house feels far more like home than any place I’ve ever occupied. Even if it simultaneously feels like the three of us are living in someone else’s space.
Nothing in that house fits Fisher’s personality. Now that I’ve seen his apartment in Boston, it’s obvious that he’s living within the confines of his brother’s memory. His job, his decor, his life.
Even so, within those walls are the two people I’ve fallen head-over-heels in love with, so I’ll stay anywhere they are if that’s what they need.
Though the more time I spend with them, the clearer it is to me that neither of them actually do need it. In fact, it’s keeping them from moving on. Sutton especially. But my role in their lives is new, so I’m careful not to step on any toes and point out what I think she really needs.
Giving Fisher a little more time to get Sutton settled, I sit at the edge of the bed and pull out my phone. I’ve got several emails from my agent, but one in particular sticks out. The one with the wordURGENTin the title.
Hi Libby,
I hope you are enjoying your summer. And I hope you’re well rested because I just heard from the Boston Theater Company and YOU GOT THE PART! They’ll overnight the script so you can start preparing. We’ll need to get you in with a voice coach. I have the contact information for a few in Boston that come highly recommended. How soon can you be in town to meet with them?
Rehearsals begin the first week of September, so the sooner the better.
In other news, thought you’d find this interesting.
I click on the link at the bottom of the email and am redirected to the web browser and an article aboutGrady Party of Two. According to the report, they’ve paused filming in the wake of the release of Brad’s texts and emails. Little by little, an unknown source has dropped bombs. The most damning are the threats he sent me and an email to his agent about the lovely million-dollar donation to the charity where he’s adamant that he wasn’t behind it. All the good press that garnered is gone, asis his money. Now the public at large is wondering why he was promising to destroy me.
Can’t say I’m not happy that he’s being exposed for the slimy snake he is.
