Katie’s phone rings, and she hops up and walks down the beach with it.
“She’s … interesting,” I say.
“Katie’s nice,” Bria says. “And I love Brad, but it’s almost like the two of them are the piece that doesn’t quite fit in the RA puzzle.”
I watch Katie briefly before turning back to Bria.
Bria shields her eyes from the sun. “You fit, you know.”
I glance at Liam. “We’re not—”
“I know you’re not, but you still fit.”
Garrett strides by, following a group of bikini-clad women. It has me thinking. “You said Garrett’s a playboy. But Liam’s been staying in his room. How’s that working out for Garrett?”
Bria laughs. “Let’s just say Garrett is sexually frustrated. I’m not sure he’s brought anyone home since we’ve been here.”
“Why doesn’t Liam crash with Brad?”
Bria’s gaze goes to Katie. “Because those two spend hours on the phone every night.”
“I suppose I should feel guilty keeping Garrett from his … hobby?” I snicker.
“Don’t. It’s good for him to see how normal people live for a change. Some of the guys have strange vices.”
“Like Liam’s drinking?”
Before I get a chance to ask her more, two men drop on the sand next to us. “You girls don’t look like you’re from around here.”
“How do you figure?” I ask.
One of them gestures a hand up and down my body. “No tan. You’re from up north. Are you here on spring break?”
“You could say that,” I say.
“Where up north?”
“New York.”
Bria keeps glancing at Crew as we chat with the guys. One of them pulls suntan lotion from his shorts and squirts it on my back. You’ve got to be kidding me. I start to stand when suddenly the earth shifts next to me, and a shadow falls across my face.
“Can I help you gentleman with anything?” Thor asks.
The two strangers quickly back away. “We’re good. Just looking for our towels.”
Thor makes a big show of examining the ground around us. “I don’t see any stray towels, do you?”
They hurry off without saying goodbye.
“Ladies.” Thor returns to his beach chair.
I lie back down on my stomach. “I forgot he was here.”
“Yeah, he’s good like that.” She looks at the retreating men. “Unless you wanted them here. You can always tell Tom to back off, you know. He’s mostly here because of me.”
“Why? Did something bad happen?”
“Not to me.” She glances at Crew. “He lost someone a while ago. In a bad way. He tries to protect me. Tom’s a big part of that. But if you wanted to keep talking to them, just say so.”
“I didn’t mind talking to them, but when he squirted the lotion, he crossed a line.” Someone touches me and I turn, ready to call Thor.
“Didn’t mean to startle you,” Liam says. “Thought you could use a hand. You have lotion running down your back.”
I rest my head on my arms and close my eyes, enjoying the feel of his hands on me. The guy must have squirted a ton back there, because it takes Liam a while to rub it in. He’s giving me a massage, and it feels heavenly. I could lie here all day. His hand gets close to the side of my boob, and my eyes open.
“Sorry,” he says. “It was running down your side and I didn’t want it to get all over your top.”
I peek at Bria, who’s smiling from ear to ear. Then his hands are gone. I sit up to see him running full on into the water.
Garrett sits on the sand, laughing. “Who gave Pinocchio all the wood?”
I give him a puzzled look.
“You know, like how his nose grows, only it’s his dick. And instead of Pinocchio, it’s Liam.”
I turn bright red.
Bria touches my shoulder. “Ignore him. You’ll get used to his crassness.”
“You mean my awesomeness,” Garrett says.
Bria rolls her eyes.
Someone in the next group says something about a food truck. Garrett perks up. “Food?” he asks our neighbors. “What kind?”
“Tacos.”
“Hell, yeah!” He gets his wallet out of his bag. “You guys want some?”
“I’ll have to pay you back,” I say. “I left all my money in the room.”
“No need, I got it.”
Ten minutes later, Garrett returns with what I can only assume is half the food truck’s bounty. He’s got at least eight full bags. I get up and help him. Bria shakes the sand from her towel and lays it back down so we can put the food on it.
Liam comes back, staring at me as he approaches. Did he really get turned on by rubbing suntan