Page 11 of Sweet Redemption

I snickered, and Aurora leveled her glare at me. “And you⁠—”

Oh shit.

“You’re gorgeous and smart and athletic. If you want to go on a date with the man, why the fuck don’t you just ask him out already? What’s with the waiting for him to do the asking thing?”

Olivia cackled like it was the best thing she’d ever heard, and I sunk further into my chair.

Well, hell . . . “I just got out of a relationship.”

“Months ago,” Saylor added.

Aurora adjusted her bikini and sat up. “Time to move up and move on.”

“Because she doesn’t want to ruin the friendship,” Olivia mocked me like she’d heard it a million times, and I guess maybe she had. “Seriously, Serena. You’ve got solid C cups and arguably the best body of any of us. Take the long sleeves off and shake what your momma gave you.” Liv reached for the hem of the long-sleeved white tee covering my bikini top, and I smacked her hand away. “It’s called flirting.”

“I flirt,” I argued.

“Nuh-uh. You breathe in his general direction,” Olivia argued, and Saylor and Aurora snorted.

My cousins are traitors. All of them.

“What’s the point?” I grumbled and dug my toes into the soft sand, burying the pretty purple polish. “I leave for school next week.”

“It’s not like it’s that far,” Aurora pointed out, not for the first time, as she pulled sunscreen from her bag. “North Carolina is what—a six-hour drive from Kroydon Hills?”

“It’s going to be hard enough balancing UNC and the National team.” I grabbed it from her, smiling as I pictured the next four years. I’d worked damn hard for this, and I wasn’t going to let anything or anyone stand in my way. “Half my life is going to be practices, airports, tournaments, and classes . . . There’s no room to add anything else to that.” Not for a boyfriend. Not for a life. Not when everything I’d worked my whole life for was within my reach if I just worked a little bit harder. Even if some foolish part of me wished there were. “It doesn’t make sense.”

Aurora toed a soccer ball, then effortlessly juggled it between her feet.

The summer before, she couldn’t do that sitting down—few people could—and suddenly, I felt like a momma bird watching her baby fly. “I still can’t believe Uncle Max is letting you go away to school. I thought for sure he’d have your little ass locked up at Kroydon University, living at home and commuting.”

“With a bodyguard and private chauffer,” Saylor giggled.

“Yeah.” I stood and stole the ball. “You and me both.”

“Oh, game on.” Aurora jumped to her feet, and I bolted.

“I hate you both,” Olivia groaned, and our laughter carried down the shoreline as Aurora chased me through the sand until we were both breathless and smiling.

One last weekend.

One last chance to pretend everything wasn’t about to change.

Less than an hour later, the tide rolled in, and Olivia reached her limit.

“I’m done.” She stood, folding her chair with a theatrical level of misery only she could manage. “I’m going back to the house. Want me to order dinner?”

Our cousin Ryker cocked his head, and Olivia shook hers. “Sorry. Forgot your hearing aids aren’t in. Want me to order dinner, or are we going out?” she asked and signed.

“Staying in,” Hendrix’s cousin Jamie answered.

“Agreed.” Ryker grinned as he spun a football in his hand before Jamie smacked it out.

“Works for me,” Hendrix added.

“Sounds good to me,” I agreed and looked at Saylor, who was asleep on her chair. “Guessing her too.”

“Bonfire tonight?” Jamie asked, and Ryker shook his head.