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  I slide her off my lap and stand up. Probably not my best idea. My body can’t hide its reaction to Mac in these shorts. Mac notices instantly and her mouth forms the shape of an O. I can’t help but grin at her surprise. Sara can’t see me like this or else she will ask questions that I don’t want to answer. So, I do the only thing I can think of that will remedy the situation. I walk directly into the freezing cold ocean to get rid of the evidence of how turned on I was.

  I’m only about knee-deep when my body starts to recover from our kiss. By the time my waist is fully submerged, all the evidence is gone and I feel like a Popsicle, so I turn around and head back to the beach. I see Mac and Sara are sitting in the sand, side by side, talking. I smile, knowing my little sister will talk her ear off unless I stop her. Mac doesn’t look like she minds. It actually looks like she’s enjoying the conversation.

  I watch as they both laugh and my heart lightens a little. I hear grandma’s voice, telling me this is in fact the girl. My eyes never leave her face, watching as her expression changes often, as I walk out of the ocean and back towards where she is on the beach.

  “Sara. What are you doing down here? Do Mom and Dad know where you are?” I’ve got the overprotective brother thing going on right now. We are probably ten houses away from where we are staying and I can’t imagine that my parents would let her walk all the way down here by herself, not knowing if she would find me or not.

  “I told them that I was going to go and find you. They know that much.” Her smile tells me they probably think we are right outside the back door. She’s using her “I’m so innocent and cute” voice which I hate. She knows I hate it. That’s probably why she’s using it. She knows I won’t yell at her in front of Mac.

  I decide to drop the conversation before I blow up at her in front of Mac. My temper rises at the thought of her wandering alone at her age. What if she hadn’t stumbled upon us? What if she had stumbled upon someone else?

  “Have you met Mac?”

  “Yes. We were just talking about you.”

  I give Mac a sultry grin and watch as she inhales sharply. I love that I have that effect on her. “What exactly were you telling her?”

  “Not a whole lot. She wanted to know if you had a girlfriend.”

  I don’t look over at Mac but out of the corner of my eye I see she’s blushing. How freaking cute is that? I didn’t know girls actually blushed any more.

  “Well, I think story time is over. Why don’t we all walk back to the house now?” I say, reaching down to help my sister up. Once she’s standing I turn to Mac and extend my hand to hers. She takes it and I help her up as well but I don’t let go. I lace our fingers together and follow behind my little sister as she heads back towards the beach house.

  “So, your sister is cute.”

  “Is that code for a pain in the ass?”

  “No. She’s adorable. I enjoyed talking to her. She’s funny. I can tell that she loves you. She had lots of nice things to say about you,” she rambles. Why is she nervous all of the sudden?

  “Really,” I say, dragging the word out, hoping she will continue. When she doesn’t, I turn towards her and raise my eyebrow, grinning like a Cheshire cat. That works.

  “Yes. She sure does know a lot about you for only being nine, though.”

  I think about it for a second, knowing that I share more of my life with Sara than I should. I share everything with Sara. It’s probably my fault that she acts like an adult and not a kid. I should really reconsider telling her some things.

  “She may be nine but she acts like she’s twenty sometimes. She loves to give me advice on my love life.” I say that last part louder than I need to so Sara hears me. I expect her to flip me off over her shoulder, that would be normal for her, but she doesn’t. Instead, she smiles at me and continues walking down the beach. I think she can see it too, the magic happening right now between me and Mac. At least, I hope she can. I’m going to need someone to tell me I’m not going crazy like grandma.

  Sara says goodbye to Mac and leaves us standing on the beach, alone. There are so many things I want to ask her. So many things I want to tell her. I know that as soon as I walk away from her I am going to want to turn around and walk back to her. It’s this feeling that I have. I never want to let her go and I’ve known her for less than twenty-four hours.

  “So,” she starts, “your real name is Monroe?”

  I am going to kill Sara. That explains why she left us alone down here.

  “Yeah. It’s a long story.”

  “I like stories,” she retorts quickly.

  “Can I tell you another time? I should probably check in with my parents. How about we meet right here after dinner? We’ll walk to the pier and see if there’s anything going on down there tonight.”

  “Well, that depends.”

  “On…”

  “Do I get to hear the story?”

  She’s not going to let this go. It’s such a stupid story. I have no idea why I don’t want to tell her. It’s not like it matters that much. I just hate it.

  “Yes. I will tell you the story.” I see her raise her eyebrow, silently challenging me. “Promise.”

  I don’t give her time to respond. I crush my lips to hers in a soft, sensual kiss. I want to deepen the kiss but I force myself to pull away instead. There’s something about this girl that makes me go all animalistic. It’s like my body is craving hers and I’m never going to be able to get enough. That kiss is going to have to last me until after dinner. That thought alone makes me sad.

  MAC

  I can’t believe I spent the entire morning making out with Roe on the beach. Not that anyone noticed I was gone. When I walked back into the house I found my mom putting a tray of sandwiches and a bowl of pasta salad on the breakfast bar.

  “I was just going to call you down for lunch. Have you seen your brothers?”

  Did she not just see me walk through the back door? Did she even realize I was gone? Maybe she’s in denial that her daughter is growing up and doesn’t need constant supervision. I’m going to go with that. Any other option makes her look like a distant mother and she’s actually a good mother.

  “Not since they tried to take me out with their water guns earlier. They ran off and I haven’t seen them since.”

  She gives me the look. You know the look… the one only mothers can give you where your skin starts to crawl because you know she is about to ask you questions that you would rather not answer. I can feel her staring me down, trying to see if she can figure it out without me having to tell her. She’s pretty good at this game.

  In three… two… one.

  “What’s his name, MacKenna Grace?”

  Shit!

  It’s never a good sign when she pulls out the full name. That usually means she doesn’t approve already and she hasn’t even met Roe. How is that possible? I think she would love him. He strikes me as the kind of guy parents would adore.

  “His name is Roe. How do you do that?”

  “What? Read you like an open book when you are trying to hide something from me? It’s easy. You flush and tense up the second I look at you and try to figure it out. I always know when you are hiding something. It’s an educated guess as to what, after that.”

  Really? This is a guessing game to her? I always thought she had some type of mom superpower and that I was going to get it once I had kids. Regardless, I have successfully changed the topic of conversation so I need to get out of here before she realizes I have avoided talking about Roe.

  “I’m going to go find Mark and Matty,” I say quickly as I turn to leave the kitchen.

  “We will finish this conversation, MacKenna.” It’s clearly a warning.

  After a quick lunch with my brothers I do everything in my power to hide from my mother. The house is huge so it’s not that hard. I spend an hour giving myself a tour of the house. I thought our house was too big for our family. This house is even bigger. I could get lost in here. I’ve se
en the “game room” as I would call it. It houses a pool table and dart board. The last two rooms I peeked into were guest rooms. That makes a total of six bedrooms in the house.

  My mouth goes dry as I open up the last door that I come across and find myself standing in the middle of a mini-library. I’m in heaven. There’s a large desk in the middle of the room which tells me this room probably doubles as an office space. This is probably going to be where my dad hides part of the summer. As much as he swears that he’s not going to work while we are on vacation, I know him better than that. He’s too much of a control freak to let anyone else run his company.

  Even after touring the house I can’t stop thinking about Roe. I take a quick shower, knowing I am going to see him again soon. I take my time getting ready and as I’m about to walk out the back door my phone rings. I look down to see Alexa is calling.

  I walk out onto my balcony to see if Roe is down by the water yet. He’s not, so I answer her call. I need to talk to her about everything.

  “Hey.”

  “Girl. You haven’t called me. What the hell? How’s the beach? Is the house nice? When are you coming home again?”

  She’s going a mile a minute, as usual. Normal for Alexa is asking about five questions but only getting the answer to the last one. I have to smile. I love my best friend.

  “I’m not coming home for a month.”

  “That’s too damn long. How is your dad? Is he going crazy yet? I bet he is.”

  “I haven’t seen him today since breakfast. I spent the day on the beach. He was gone when I got home. Mom said he was golfing.”

  “Well, you should tell him you want to come home early. We need to spend some time together before school starts again. It’s our last year together.” I hear her pouting. Her voice turned whiney and a little high pitched. She sounds like a small child throwing a temper tantrum.

  “Um. I love you dearly, Alexa, but I’m not sure my dad would go for that. Plus, I kind of like it here.”

  It’s silent for a minute. I know she’s thinking. She’s has to realize there is a reason that I like it here. It will click. Give it a minute. I see Roe walk onto the beach at the same moment that everything falls into place for Alexa.

  “You met someone already!” She’s screaming at me. I can’t tell if she’s excited or angry.

  “Yes and I am going to be late to meet up with him if I don’t let you go. Can I call you tomorrow?”

  “Mac, it’s only a little after five. Why can’t you call me back tonight? I want to hear about this mystery guy.”

  “I don’t know what time we are going to be back tonight. I will call you if I get in early enough. Gotta go. Love you.”

  I hang up on her, knowing that if I don’t that she will keep me on the phone for another ten minutes debating the fact that I need to call her later. I am probably going to want to and I probably will. No need to debate it with her.

  My phone chimes as I grab my purse and head down the stairs.

  Alexa: Bitch! Call me later. Love you too.

  I slide my phone in my purse, scan the area and am almost out the back door when my mom’s voice stops me.

  “MacKenna. Is that the boy who you were with earlier?” I turn to see my mom staring out the living room window to where Roe is standing down on the beach. I’m sure he would be able to see her if he looked at the house. How embarrassing.

  “Yes. That’s Roe. He’s staying next door for the summer. We are going to walk down to the pier and see if there’s anything going on tonight. Is that okay?”

  “That’s fine. When are you going to be back?”

  “I don’t know. Do I have a curfew?” Please say no. Please say no. I’m almost eighteen. I don’t need a curfew. Please say no.

  “No, but I would like for you to be back at a reasonable hour since I don’t know this boy. Yet.”

  I wince, visibly I’m sure, when she says yet. I know at some point Roe will meet both my parents. It’s not a matter of if, rather a matter of when. I want it to be as far in the future as possible.

  “Okay. See ya later.”

  “MacKenna. I want you to invite that boy over for lunch tomorrow so your father and I can meet him. Especially if you plan on hanging out with him while we are here this summer.”

  “I will. I gotta go, Mom. Love you.”

  I open the door and close it behind me before she can continue our conversation. I love my mother but she knows how to beat a dead horse. Talking in circles after she’s obviously won is her specialty.

  I smooth down the skirt of my sundress. It’s my favorite. I love the deep blue color. I love how it comes up high in the front and then dips low in the back, low enough that I can’t wear a bra. That’s not really a big deal since I’m not that busty. It falls right above my knees. The shoes I’m wearing, probably not for much longer since I can already feel the sand between my toes, match the sweater I brought in case it got chilly. Both also happen to match Roe’s eyes perfectly.

  I round the corner and see him standing in anticipation of my arrival. I’m still about ten yards away when he slowly lifts his head in my direction, shooting me one of his heart-stopping, lopsided, sexy-as-all-hell grins. I’m so caught up in staring at him that I almost trip over my own feet.

  When I say almost, I mean the only reason I didn’t hit the sand is because Roe caught me in time.

  “Careful, pretty girl,” he says as he pulls me up into his waiting arms and holds me until he’s sure my balance returns. I’m not sure I ever will completely have my balance around him.

  “Thanks.” It’s all I can say. I know I’m blushing and I hate it.

  “My pleasure.” His voice drops a few octaves. Holy hell that sounded sexy.

  I smile up at him and he releases the hold he has on my waist. I’m sad but it only lasts a second as he grabs hold of my hand and pulls me away from my mother’s prying eyes and down the beach.

  We walk in silence. I want to ask him about his name. I want to ask him more about himself. I want to speak up, to say something, but my voice has disappeared. His touch has lit my body on fire and all I can think about, all I can focus on, is the way his thumb continues to lightly graze over my knuckles.

  When we reach the pier I notice there are a bunch of people milling about. It looks like there are vendors selling food. I can smell the smoke from grills and the scent causes my stomach to growl. Roe must have heard it because I hear him chuckle beside me. Even his chuckle is sexy.

  “How about we walk down the pier and then we come back and get some food?”

  “Sounds good to me. Have you been down here before?”

  “Not this year.”

  “I take it you come here a lot.”

  “My parents bring us here every summer. You would think because we live by the ocean the rest of the year they would take us somewhere inland, but it’s always here. I’ve never really understood why.”

  You can hear a little bit of irritation in his voice. I don’t think it has as much to do with the location as it does with the fact that he’s here with his parents. I feel the same way.

  I drop the subject and focus on the way he’s caressing my hand again. If feels incredible. He’s gentle but at the same time I feel like he’s holding back an entirely different side of him as well. A more passionate side. A side I hope to get the opportunity to see. Soon.

  By the time we walk to the end of the pier and back I can’t stand the silence any more so I say the first thing that comes to mind.

  “Why didn’t you tell me your name was Monroe?” Not really the way I was planning on asking him but it’s out there now.

  “How did you know?” I see him thinking back to when I could have possibly learned his full name. The moment it all connects he stops brushing his thumb across my knuckles and pulls his hand away.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you didn’t want me to know. Please don’t be mad at Sara. I don’t think she even realized that she was telling me something I
didn’t already know.”

  I turn my back to him and walk over to the railing of the pier. I watch the beachgoers as they begin to pack up their belongings and head back to their hotels and houses. The sun still has about an hour before it disappears beyond the horizon. The sky fills with beautiful shades of yellow, red and orange, signaling the end to the day is approaching.

  I don’t want this day to end. I want to spend more time with Roe. Right now I want him to say something, anything. The silence is thick. I’m not sure what the big deal is about knowing his full name, but it’s apparently a big deal to him.

  He approaches me from behind and slides his hands around my waist, grabbing hold of my hand. Before I realize what’s happening, Roe has spun me in place and is kissing me softly on the lips. All traces of anger and frustration have disappeared.

  “I’m sorry,” he says as he pulls back and tilts my chin up so he can look me in the eyes. “I don’t like my first name and I will tell you why, but not right now.”

  I nod. It’s all I can do. My head is spinning from the dramatic shift in his mood.

  “Why don’t we go get you something to eat and then we can take a walk towards downtown. They are supposed to be having a street fair this weekend.”

  “Alright. Lead the way.”

  We stop at a hot dog cart we passed earlier and eat as we walk towards town. The music gets louder and louder the closer we get.

  I keep the conversation light, not knowing what he wants to share with me. We talk about our friends back home. We talk about how both of us hate organized sports and refuse to play them. His reasons are more about never feeling good enough because of the ritzy school he attends. My reasons center around not conforming to stereotypes. For some reason he thinks that’s funny.

  I ask him more about his family. His mom is an artist. When I ask what kind he shrugs his shoulders. “She likes to switch it up a lot. Last month she was attempting to sculpt.” I’m assuming she’s probably not that good if she keeps changing her mind.

  His dad works as a scout for one of the professional baseball organizations in southern California. He didn’t tell me which one for some reason. Apparently his dad used to play professionally before he got hurt. Roe did not inherit his dad’s athleticism, according to him.