Page 60 of Ex's & Oh's (The Lucky Girls 1)

The road to his place is narrow, and when he turns off, seemingly driving straight toward the ocean, the road turns to dirt that winds between the trees. The road is a little bumpy, with holes and rocks, but Brett doesn’t seem too worried about his car getting damaged. Maybe he does this every day. Maybe he has a ridiculously thorough insurance company that repairs any damages, no matter how careless.

When we turn the last corner, we break through the trees, and I gasp. We’re at the top of a hill that overlooks a large estate, with a low house sitting on a stretch of the most beautiful beach I’d ever seen. The sea is an impossible blue, and on the horizon, it looks like it melts into the sky.

“This is where you live?” I ask.

“It’s not much, but it’s home,” he says humbly.

I snort. Saying it’s not much is the understatement of the century.

We park in front of the house and walk in. I can’t stop ogling. The place is incredible, with more entertainment rooms than I would know what to do with, large windows that let in all the light, and everything is painted in shades of beige, white, or light gray to keep it as light and bright as possible.

The furniture is minimalistic but expensive, and the walls are decorated with contemporary art.

“You can get dressed in here,” Brett says and leads me to a guest bedroom with an en suite bathroom that’s even more luxurious than the hotel suite Stacey booked for the wedding party.

I get dressed into my bikini, wrap a sarong around my body, and come out of the room with a towel over my shoulder. Brett is already in a pair of swimming trunks, waiting for me. He glances me up and down when he sees me, and his lips curve into a smile. I blush. He looks at me with eyes that are filled with something darker, something that’s much better suited to the bedroom than the beach.

“Come on, let’s swim,” he says and gestures with his head toward the beach.

We leave the house and walk down a cobbled path to the beach, kicking off our shoes as we hit the sand. I leave my sarong and towel on the beach, and we walk to the water together.

When I’m knee-deep in the cool water, Brett grabs me and swings me around before dunking me underwater. When I surface, I laugh.

“You’re so full of shit.”

Brett grins at me. “You were taking too long.”

We bob in the waves. The water is amazing.

“I can’t believe this is your life,” I say. “It has to be incredible to be so removed from the real world.”

Brett shrugs. “I don’t come out here as often as I’d like anymore. I spend a lot of time with the guys during seasons. When I’m off, I fly to LA to see my parents, and I try to spend a bit of time there, seeing Marc, stuff like that.”

“It must be hard being so far away from everyone most of the time.”

Brett shrugs. “It’s something you get used to, you know?”

I nod. I know people can adapt to anything. That’s what we do—it’s part of human nature.

“I would give anything to stay in a place as quiet and peaceful as this,” I say.

“So, do it,” Brett says. “Life’s too short do to anything but what you want.”

I laugh. “It’s easy to say when you have the money to make it happen. I have to work, and that takes time and energy. I love my job, but still.”

“You can work anywhere in the world,” Brett points out.

“You’re right.” I kick my legs so that I’m floating on my back, looking up at a sky the color blue was named after. “I don’t think I could ever be far away from my friends and family. I’m attached to them.”

“Sometimes, they can be too much.”

“They can,” I glance sidelong at him. He was a hell of a handful when he and Noah were friends and Brett made himself the third wheel to our relationship all the time. “Besides, my work doesn’t allow being removed from people, and if I want to start my own company, I need to be in the middle of it all.”

When Brett asks, I explain a little more about what I do and that I want to start my own thing, doing something different.

“It’s a wild leap, but I think with the boost this wedding will give me, I can pull it off.”

“You can,” Brett says. “And the good thing is you can’t get too old for a job like that. I’m nearing the end of my career, and then…I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

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