Page 9 of Acadia Falls

I winced. “I heard.”

Alex snorted. “Course you did—everybody heard. It’s just, like, why, you know? Why say you love me? Why ask me to marry you? And then, why hook up with Daisy the night before our wedding?”

I swallowed the shot, instantly regretting it. “He’s an idiot,” I offered. “Sometimes people don’t know their limits and do stupid shit to protect themselves. You know what I’m saying?”

“Maybe.” She blinked at me. “You’re smarter than you look, Jack Brennan.”

“Gee, thanks.”

She groaned and leaned back against the wall. Staring at the small group of people, she said, “I can’t believe I’m staying up here. What do you guys even do all summer?”

“This.” I shrugged. “Drinking. Working. Mostly working.”

I gave Alex a sideways glance. “Wait—you’re staying? I thought you were a city girl now.” I couldn’t remember the last time she’d been up here to visit.

She shrugged. “Maran—my maid of honor—and I decided to leave New York for the summer. It’s so hot there. It’s gross.”

Oh boy. Blondie was staying, too?

I didn’t object when Alex poured me yet another shot. “Who’s Maran?” Like I didn’t know.

“My best friend. Tall, blonde—you probably saw her at the party. Like I said, she was supposed to be my maid of honor.” She knocked back another shot, and I wondered how she was so steady on her feet. Alex was petite and yet appeared to have a liver made of steel. “She’s studying for the bar exam, so I have to leave her alone. But at least she’ll be here with me. That’s something.”

“Nice.” But it wasn’t nice. Just thinking about Maran’s tight little body had my cock twitching.

I sighed. I’d thought it was a one-and-done. I was good at those—in fact, that’s how I preferred my “relationships.” But now Blondie was going to be here for the season. I would have to figure out whether I could have sex with her again without her falling in love with me.

Chicks did that. Happened all the time. And I wanted nothing to do with it.

Alex grabbed the tequila and shuffled to a chair. She sank down and stared out the window into the darkness.

“You going to be okay, Alex?”

She turned back to me and nodded. “I am going to be just fine, thank you. I am going to find an adult male, and I am going to make him fall in love with me. Maybe even someone from the island!”

“I have no doubt.” With a grin, I slipped away to the kitchen. It was like something out of a movie, all Viking appliances and smooth, white surfaces.

Tommy was in there, sampling the tapenade Tori Blaisdell had set out. I checked my watch—it was two a.m. Shit. We had to get up at five. “Tommy.” I nudged him. “We gotta go!”

He sighed. “D’you think we can start taking Sundays off?”

“Do you think we should let Trey and Cuddy have free rein out there?”

Tommy shoveled one last bite of cracker with tapenade, then sighed. “No,” he said, his mouth full.

“Let’s see if Ryan has Tori Blaisdell naked yet, okay?”

“Hah. Sure thing.” Tommy was really pretty easy to cheer up.

We headed outside through the crowd. Someone had turned up the music, and couples were starting to sway. I caught Alex’s eye and gave her the thumbs-up; she laughed and gave it back. I’d always thought she was a rich bitch, but maybe she wasn’t so bad. Daisy was going to need to watch her back, though. Girls didn’t like it when you ruined their weddings.

Ryan and Tori Blaisdell were outside, hanging out at the edge of the deck. Their laughter wafted over to us, and Tommy sighed. “I can’t believe he’s going to sleep with Tori Blaisdell. Tori Blaisdell! We all used to watch her show, remember?”

“What’s that, guys?” Ryan asked.

“Nothing, little brother,” I said. “We’re heading home. You want a ride?”

He glanced at Tori, who was staring out at the water. Even in the dark, you could tell she was waiting for his answer. “Nah, I’ll just walk home later. See ya.”