Page 2 of The Billionaire Is Back

It’s all something to behold, even though that thing that he wants has never been me.

As soon as people in the group see Grady walking toward them, all eyes are on him. He taps Robbie on the shoulder, gestures toward the s’more, to my s’more stand, and says some things while smiling. That’s it. That’s all it takes. Robbie hands over the Nutella s’more without resistance and gets a pat on the shoulder. Robbie then salutes him, as if it was his great honor to surrender to him.

Grady takes a bite of my perfect s’more as he walks over to where my brother, Jake, is chatting up multiple girls. He stops in his tracks for a moment as he savors the flavors and textures. The crunch of the graham cracker, the warm hazelnut-chocolate spread blended with the gooey, fire-kissed vanilla marshmallow that tastes like the best childhood memories. He looks over at me and gives me the chef’s-kiss fingers. High praise from Grady Barber.

He joins my brother and his entourage, and I can see all the girls suddenly twirling their hair around their fingers and throwing their heads back, laughing loudly. Not that Jake doesn’t command his fair share of attention from the ladies, but Grady is on a whole other level. He just focuses on my s’more, though, which is…something.

In the spring I overheard him telling Jake that hewasn’t going to hook up with any local girls for the months leading up to graduation and his imminent departure because he didn’t want anyone to get clingy. He got a scholarship to business school at Wharton, and he’s doing an internship in New York for the summer. Grady has always had his eye on the prize, and the prize was never in Beacon Harbor, Maine. Everyone has always known this, and everyone has fallen for him anyway.

I realize I’m sighing and staring when I feel my best friend’s hand on my shoulder.

“Have a cider, Claire Bear.” Vera is one of two other sophomores who was actually invited to this bonfire, and not for brother reasons, like me. People just think Vera’s cool, which is why it makes no sense that she’s my best friend. The other sophomore here is Grady’s brother, Damien, who is equally as cool as Vera, even though they seem to hate each other. “Have two ciders and step away from the s’more station.” She hands me a bottle of New England cider and takes a big pull from hers.

“But the s’mores are my responsibility.”

She tilts her head as she grins at me. “Are they, though?”

“Of course they are.”

“Are they yourpriorityat a seniors’ bonfire?”

“Obviously. Why else would I be here?”

She glances over at Grady. Not with longing, like most girls glance at him. She glances at him and then back at me to make a silent, horrible point.

I frown at her. “I’m here because my brother paid for the s’mores ingredients and told me I was in charge ofthem.” I stare down at the bottle in my hand, as if it’s saying something very important.

“Right. And you wouldn’t rather be at home watchingGilmore Girlsand reading about the history of food coloring.”

Dammit, that is exactly what I would rather be doing right now.

Except Grady’s here…

I take a sip of cider. I do not handle alcohol well, and Vera knows it. But I still need to fit into the dress my mom bought for me to wear to Jake’s grad ceremony tomorrow, so I will drink one bottle of cider instead of eating twenty-seven s’mores, until I no longer dread the days that will follow Grady’s migration.

Ten or twenty or forty minutes later, I’m sitting by myself on the sand in front of the bonfire, laughing about a hilarious thought I had a few seconds ago that I no longer remember. Yeah. I’m straight chillin’ here by myself on a beach at night, and it’s not so bad. Three different guys that I have zero interest in have said “Hey” to me in the past ten or twenty or forty minutes. So, I’m pretty sure that means I’m hot and I could make out with them if I wanted to. If I wanted my brother to punch them in the face, that is. A life without Grady can be very entertaining and fulfilling. That OneRepublic song “Good Life” that the grads have been playing all day, every day is blaring from a boom box somewhere in the distance, and it’s so damn poignant I could cry.

“Your brother know you’re drinking?” Grady is standing behind me, and I close my eyes because I don’t even know if I can handle looking at him right now. Justthe sound of his voice is making me all tingly in secret parts of me that I only became aware of because of how they react tohim.

He’s standing next to me now, so I keep staring ahead, into the fire. “My brother know you always ask me questions you already know the answer to and give me advice I’ve never asked you for?” That’s what I think I’m saying anyway. The sounds that actually come out of my mouth are more likeMy brutha manumanumanumanah?

“Sounds like you’re on your second bottle.”

I raise my second bottle of cider in his general direction and say, “Surprise and demands!” and then I lose my grip on the bottle and somehow lose my balance even though I’m sitting on the ground. And then I roll onto my side, into Grady’s leg, and squeeze my eyes shut again, because maybe that will make me disappear?

Seconds later, I’m on my feet because Grady has picked me up. My arm is around his shoulder and his arm is around my waist and I’m pressed up against him. I look up at him and he’s looking down at me, and I’ve never seen him from this angle before. I can feel his sinewy muscles tensing through the Henley shirt and jacket. I can feel him holding his breath. I can see his jaw tighten, his nostrils flare. Even if the sun was shining I don’t think I’d be able to read his face right now.

But I swear, the crackling fire is not the source of the heat I feel between us.

This surreal moment stretches into eternity and back again as I realize I am silently begging him to kiss me.

He finally looks away from me,over my shoulder, and steps back, putting his hands on my shoulder to steady me. “Come on, party animal. Let’s walk it off.”

“’Kay.” I follow him down the beach, away from the crowd, in silence. The sky over the water has gone from purple and pink to cobalt blue. The tide is almost as loud as the music and voices now. Grady is always asking me questions that feel like tests, but I have so many questions for him that I’ve never asked. I take a deep breath of ocean air and ask him one. “Are you even going to miss this place?”

“Of course I’m going to miss it.” He doesn’t even have to think about it, and he almost sounds hurt. “I love this town. And the people in it. I just can’t do everything I want to do here.”

“Get rich, you mean?”

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