past my shoulder to the water, and his own blanket parts to expose his hard body. “I guess after a bad week and an unwanted dip in the ocean, the rest of your day can only go uphill, huh?” At the mention of things going up, and before I can stop myself, I let my gaze drop to his boxer shorts. He clears his throat, and I briefly pinch my eyes shut.
Honest to God, I really need to stop checking this guy out. Or at least stop getting caught doing it.
“Just so you know,” he begins, “I was having a crappy day, too.”
I give an exaggerated exhale and glance at my soaked shoes. “And to top it off, I drag you into the water with me.”
“Actually, that’s when my day started to improve.”
“What?” I croak out, my eyes lifting to his. “What are you talking about?”
“I got to see you in your lacy underwear.”
My jaw drops. “You weren’t supposed to look.”
He angles his head. “Yeah, sorry about that.” He grins and turns. “See you later,” he says and saunters away, his hard body taking my focus with him.
“Probably not,” I murmur. I will not be seeing him later, and I will not be thinking about him in his underwear, either.
Much.
Chapter Two
Jay
I stand at the tail end of my pickup truck and search the crowd for my kid brother. I finally spot him coming toward me, and when he sees the soggy state I’m in, his steps slow to a crawl.
“Ah, bro…” He checks out my damp hair and glances at the length of my woolen blanket. “It might be the first Saturday in July, but the water temperature is still too cold for a dip.”
I take in the crooked grin on his face. I love the kid, but sometimes he’s just a huge smart-ass who doesn’t know when to keep his trap shut.
“Give me that.” I take the crate of lobster he’s holding and slide it into the back.
“Seriously, bro.” He scratches his head and plucks at the gray wool blanket draped over my shoulders. “What the hell? Did you fall into the water or something?”
“Or something,” I mumble.
“I thought you were smarter than that.”
I slam the gate, and with my body temperature back up to normal, I shrug from the blanket. I don’t care who sees me in my boxers. The damn thing is scratchy. My brother stares as I toss the blanket into the back along with my wet clothes. I climb into the cab, and Tyler slides into the passenger seat. With more force than necessary, I shut my door and shove my key into the ignition.
“Seriously, dude? What the fuck happened?” He buckles himself in, and I glare at him for swearing. He ignores me. As usual.
“It was an accident.” I begin to inch from the parking spot, when a Tesla—with none other than Alyson in it—circles my truck and cuts in front of me. I slam on the brakes. “Jesus,” I say. “That woman is going to be the death of me.”
Tyler sits up straighter and rolls down his mud-streaked window, compliments of last week’s heavy rainstorm, to get a better view. “You know her?”
“No.”
“Then why is she going to be the death of you?”
Okay, I stand corrected. Tyler’s incessant chatter is what’s going to put me six feet under and provide a year’s worth of fertilizer for the orchard next door.
“Wait, was she in a blanket, too?” he asks.
Christ, nothing gets by the kid. I pull out behind her and carefully negotiate the busy, winding road. Tourists from all over flock to Peggy’s Cove fishing village this time of year. I usually avoid it during the busy season, but it’s our brother Beck’s birthday, so Tyler and I make the thirty-minute drive to bring home a feed of lobster.
“Hello, earth to Jay.” My brother leans into me and waves his hand in front of my face. I swat it away before we swerve off the road and end up in the ocean. One dip on this windy, Saturday afternoon is my limit, thank you very much. “Was she in a blanket, too?”
“Yes,” I say, hoping to shut him up but knowing it will only bring on more questions.
“Were you two…” He pauses to tap his clenched fists together.
“Fist pumping?” I laugh. “Yeah, that’s what we were doing, Ty. We were fist pumping.”
I rake my wet hair from my forehead, and he snorts.