Chapter 14
Brooklyn
D amn, but Ryan looked cute in a miniskirt. I’d already seen her in it on our way out of the house earlier, but I’d forgotten how nice her legs were during the drive, being pleasantly reminded all over again once she stepped out of the passenger side, and she leaned back against the side of the car, folding her arms, ponytail flicking in the wind that rustled through the thick palm leaves around the parking lot.
“Brooklyn, are you staring at my legs?”
“I guess journalists really are perceptive,” I said, not taking my pointed gaze off her thighs. She laughed.
“My eyes are up here, ma’am.”
“I’m working my way up there.”
“I’m going to need you to go faster, or we are going to be late for the reservation.”
I laughed. “We have a minute.” I paused, raising my eyebrows and looking up to meet her eyes darkened with that way she looked at me. “Oh,” I said. “Oh, I get it. Okay, good point. I’ll be thinking about it, though.”
She snorted, shaking her head, sidling closer to my side, looking up at the cute cabana-style restaurant building in front of us, the back terrace packed full of people right now but the interior quiet, with the beautiful weather right now. “You should not,” she said just under her breath, “be making me think too much about this morning before I’m going to go have lunch with Allison and my sister.”
I nudged her side. “I like the thought of you thinking it,” I said quietly. “I’m hoping I get the chance to get back to it once we’re back in private… and I’d like you to be ready.”
She closed her eyes with a low, hungry sigh, and I could not describe the effect it had on me—the way Ryan lived every tease, every touch, every promise, every bit of pleasure. “You don’t play fair,” she mumbled.
“Neither do you, in that cute little skirt. But I’ll pretend to be good for a minute. Shall we get inside?”
She sighed, her expression changing as she looked over the restaurant. “Yeah… let’s.”
I paused. “Feeling all right? It’s awkward being around your family after earlier, I imagine.”
She shrugged. “Honestly, I just kind of wish Oscar were there, too. Stella’s… a lot, but I’m grateful for her being on my side. Even apologized for picking fights with everybody in front of me. Plus, it was… she wasn’t weird about Allison being a lesbian,” she said, her voice falling off awkwardly at the end, not looking right at me. She was still getting over her hangups about the word lesbian —any queer terms, but especially that one—and especially in the context of her family, she looked like she wanted to peel her skin off. I raised my eyebrows at her.
“Did you think she would be weird?”
“No. Yes? I don’t know.” She shrugged, looking at where she scratched the toe tip of her sleek kitten-heel shoes against the concrete. “I’m the only one in my family who’s not just… cisgender, heterosexual, whatever. They’re not outright homophobic or anything like that, but it’s just… not the… the done thing. Not something we talk about. I guess I didn’t think Stella would have issues, just that she’d be awkward. You know, oh, well, I support you, there’s nothing wrong with that, I’m an ally, I have nothing against you, love is love. She’s very straight.”
I smiled drily at her. “And you’re thinking about how she might react if she found out about you.”
She shifted. “I don’t know. Just that Stella’s surprised me. And it’s weird… to feel like she’s the only one on my side right now. Oscar’s my literal damn twin and he just goes along with all of them.”
I looked softly her way, pressing my side into hers and slipping a hand to her back. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I hope he does come around. It sounds like he’s just the type to go into things… slowly. But again, that’s a reason and not an excuse. Your side isn’t a hard one to take.”
“It is, though, isn’t it?” she said distantly. “It’s not about who’s right or wrong, it’s about the… politics. Align with me, or with literally everybody else?”
“Is that how family is supposed to work?”
She snorted. “It’s how it does work. Or is yours not like that?”
I shrugged. “Don’t really have one.”
“Oh.” Her face fell, clearly throwing off all her other thoughts, turning to me. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s fine, honestly. They sucked. I’m better without them. I’ve gotten over it. It’s been a while. I’d rather not have family around than have family around making me feel small and trading me in for the man who cheated on me.”
She chewed her cheek. “I guess… but still, I’m sorry.”
I didn’t get to say anything else, didn’t get to brush it off with another it’s fine, don’t worry, don’t think too much about my life, before a car door shut close by, and I looked at where Allison raised her hand in a wave, dressed in a very lesbian-looking houndstooth blazer I hadn’t seen her in before. “Hey,” she said. “You two going inside, or are you gonna just stand here making out all day?”
“Try not to get too jealous,” I said lightly, but I did take a half-step away from Ryan. Not to hide this from Allison—Ryan had told me, red-faced and awkward earlier, that she’d let it slip a little bit to Allison—but because Stella was probably around, and even if Stella surprised Ryan by being chill around lesbians, I doubted Ryan was keen on coming out by being seen making out with the girl her ex had tried to cheat with. “New jacket?”
Allison hunched her shoulders, shooting Ryan a look. “Your sister is persistent. ”
Ryan raised her eyebrows. “What, she bought you a jacket?”
“Literally yes—” She turned back to me. “I don’t know if she told you, but she sicced her sister on me, telling her to help me figure out how to score a date. And Stella told me I need to figure out how to dress better, which, like, fucking rude, but also true.”
Ryan clasped a hand over her mouth, covering a horrified laugh. “She took you clothes shopping?”
Allison hunched her shoulders. “What the hell does she do, anyway? I said I’m a broke college student and can’t go shopping at the fancy boutique she recommended and she just up and paid for it without even looking at the price.”
“Uh… she’s actually still in her senior year of college, so…”
“Oh, I see how it is.” Allison shook her head, looking at Brooklyn. “You didn’t tell me your girlfriend was rich.”
I laughed. “It’s working out for you. Jacket looks nice on you. And you’re wearing it, so you clearly like it.”
“Psh. She told me I had to show up making an effort if I wanted a shot with any girls. She’s a little scary.” Still, Allison was clearly feeling herself in it, had an extra little pep in her step. Hadn’t thought her confidence issues could be hacked through so easily just by some clothes, but I guess there was a psychological effect to dressing up.
“Well,” I said, “then let’s get inside so the girls can get started throwing themselves on you.”
Allison snorted, striking a pose like a model on a runway. “Oh, yeah. Better be ready to bat them away.”
We didn’t trip over any women throwing themselves at Allison’s feet on our way inside, for some reason. The host, a college-aged white guy probably doing a working vacation here just like Allison was, did absolutely sneak some glances at Ryan’s miniskirt, and I couldn’t blame him, but I did kind of want to hit him upside the head and tell him I was the only one who could stare like that. I managed to keep it on the inside, though, while we all got seated, and it was only a second later that Ryan’s sister Stella showed up too, a woman a little shorter than Ryan was, with long, romantic blonde waves and dark eyes just like Ryan’s that scoped me out from behind thin-rimmed glasses as she sat down next to Ryan.
“You’re Brooklyn, huh?” she said.
“Charmed. And you must be the one forcing Allison to dress decently.”
She tilted her head, looking at me. “You don’t look like I pictured.”
I raised my eyebrows high. “Sorry if I’m not to your taste.”
She laughed. “It’s kind of weird that you and Ryan are friends.”
Ryan elbowed her. “Stella, be decent.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Stella said, sitting up taller. “And I’m glad Allison did actually use the new clothes! See, you can look good.”
Allison put her hands up. “Hey? What’s that supposed to mean?”
Stella smiled wider. “That you look good.”
“That’s a backhanded compliment if I’ve ever heard one.”
I nudged Allison in the booth seat next to me. “She’s right, though, you know. I hadn’t realized you could look nice.”
“Okay, everyone’s mean today, I see how it is,” Allison said with a huff. Stella laughed, turning her gaze back to me.
“You two have been friends a long time?”
“We worked together here summer last year, and she’s here for this summer… I was nice to her last summer, but unfortunately for her, now she’s a tenured friend.”
Allison rolled her eyes with a dry smile. “It’s true. It goes both ways though. I was sweet last year. Now I get to tell her she’s annoying.”
“You weren’t that sweet,” I said lightly. Stella laughed, shaking her head.
“She talked a lot about you while we were hanging out. Are you also on task trying to get her a date?”
Allison put a hand to her forehead. “Ugh, Stella, not you too. We’re not going to sit here and talk about my love life!”
Stella scowled. “Then what are we here for? I guess we could try convincing Ryan to try bouncing back with somebody.” She elbowed Ryan, who had pursed her lips staring to infinity, a light flush coloring her cheeks. “There were a bunch of cute guys playing volleyball together at the beach yesterday. Maybe you can ask to join them. Show off your volleyball chops.”
Ryan pinched the bridge of her nose. “Er… I think I’ll pass. I’m not feeling it.”
“C’mon. At least give it a try. It probably just feels bad right now, but it’ll feel different once you get into it. Just one guy, a little time on the beach, maybe a drink or two…”
Ryan cleared her throat. It took everything I had to suppress laughter. “I’ll… pass,” she repeated.
“It wouldn’t have to be anything serious!” Stella protested. “This is a vacation. You could take the opportunity to just… reset.”
A laugh slipped out of my throat—I turned it into a cough, covering my mouth, clearing my throat. Apparently Ryan and Stella operated on the same wavelength, just at exact opposite ends of the frequency. Allison, apparently, was feeling vindictive, because she leaned in with a big smile on her face.
“Stella’s right,” she said. “What kind of guys do you like, anyway?”
Ryan sighed. “None, right now,” she said, pointedly, a point that sailed right over Stella’s head.
“At least say you’ll keep an open mind to it.”
Ryan put on a polite smile as a neatly dressed waiter hurried over to our table. “You know?” she said. “Maybe. I’ll keep an open mind to the idea of a… vacation… fling. Why not?”
Stella beamed like she’d won. “There we go. I knew you weren’t all boring.”
Poor Stella had no idea. Once we’d hurriedly checked the menu and placed our orders, Ryan turned the tables, because she leaned across the table with a dangerous smile and said, “So what about you, Allison? What kind of girls do you like?”
“Uh.” Allison was always cool until the moment anything remotely turned on her. She turned a lovely crimson, shifting awkwardly. “I dunno… I thought we weren’t having this conversation.”
“Well,” I said, “looks like you thought wrong.”
Allison shot me a betrayed look. I tried to convey hey, I’m going to take Ryan’s side with a shrug, and she hunched her shoulders looking out the thick window at the lush garden behind the building. “Um. I dunno. I haven’t been with a lot of girls.”
“That means you’ve been with some,” Stella said. Allison prickled.
“I mean, I had a girlfriend when I was fifteen. Nothing really counts at fifteen. I had a girlfriend more recently, but, uh, in retrospect, not someone like her. I don’t know! Girls who are… uh… pretty?”
Stella shrugged as the waiter came back with our drinks, sinking back in her seat. “Well, we’ll play a game at the beach, point out girls and see which ones you like.”
Allison made a face like she was faced with cruel and unusual punishment. I decided to be a terrible friend. “You should,” I said. “The beach will be great. Allison loves an athletic girl.”
Allison shot me a horrified look. I smiled sweetly at her.
∞∞∞
Wasn’t sure what drew me out of the water, but I found myself at the oceanfront bar when I did, a cozy little spot with wood-slat walls up on the rocky overlook, where I could see Ryan still out swimming where low waves rolled in along the beach, Stella and Allison sitting on towels on the sand further up, Stella still tormenting the poor girl. I’d been out in the water with Ryan for ages, back and forth between there and the sand to talk to the others and going back to the water where we could flirt without anyone overhearing.
Genuinely, felt like a perfect kind of day. I wasn’t sure what had me feeling wistful, heading up the gentle sloping path to the bar here, where the gentle giant of a bartender who I’d seen a hundred times but still didn’t know his name got me a simple soda water with lime, and I sat there staring over the rocks watching Ryan swim.
And of course, that was where I was when this asshole showed up again, sliding into the stool next to me—Shane fucking Austen, still on duty trying to clean up, judging by the fake apologetic look on his face.
“Hey,” he said.
“How did you even know I was here?” I took my drink, standing up, and he put a hand out to still me. I took a half-step back.
“I didn’t. I came here looking for Ryan. But… I don’t think she wants to talk to me.”
I raised my eyebrows high. “Oh, you figured that out, then, did you?”
He sighed, leaning against the bar all broody, self-pitying. “Look, I just want her to know that I’ll leave if she wants it. I know this whole argument has ruined the vacation for everyone involved, and I want her to have a good time with her family. If she doesn’t want to work through our issues right now, then I’ll go back.”
Ugh, he was so slick. He must have been so good at business—could take any odious thing, if you don’t get back together with me then I’ll make an even bigger scene with your fragile family, and made it sound like it was what the other person wanted. I liked to think I was smarter than that, enlightened enough to not be suckered in, but I’d been two inches from being under his thumb. If Allison hadn’t mentioned Ryan being with her boyfriend in suite 36, I’d have slept with him, spent god-knows-how-much time flirting with him and buying up everything he was selling, all while he skillfully kept it away from Ryan’s attention.
“You’re a sly one, aren’t you?” I said, measuring my voice carefully, holding my glass tight. “ If she doesn’t want to work through our issues. Sweet way to describe a relationship that’s rightfully dead.”
He folded his hands on the bar surface, giving me a thin smile. “It’s good that she has you to look after her.”
“Fuck off, you creep,” I said, words ripping themselves up out of me, and I was so focused on him that I didn’t even notice anyone coming and I jumped when Ryan sidled up to my side, water still beading on her skin around the lines of her swimsuit, a cool and measured look on her face as Shane stood up to face her.
“Well said,” Ryan said with a small smile my way, before she turned back to Shane. “But I can talk to him myself. What do you want, Shane?”
I put a hand on her arm—maybe I should have kept a safe, polite distance, but my chest ached for her dealing with Shane, and I couldn’t help myself. “He’s just being demanding,” I said, but Shane ignored me, speaking to her.
“Baby—”
“Ryan.” She corrected him instantly, not breaking the steely gaze she had on him for a millisecond. It was hardly the time or place for this, but—Christ, though, she was hot when she was like this.
“Ryan,” Shane said carefully. “We both know I fucked up, and that I’m sorry. But—”
“I don’t,” Ryan said, cutting him off, pausing to sit in the weight of the silence for a moment before she carried on. “I don’t think we do know that. I don’t believe you’re remotely sorry. I think you’re sorry you got caught. But—”
“Ryan, I love you and I’m not—”
“ But, ” Ryan repeated, speaking over him when he didn’t stop. “But I guess I can’t entirely blame you.”
He stopped, furrowing his brow. I shot her a look. “You definitely can,” I said, my chest tight.
“What… do you mean?” Shane said, and Ryan laughed, a smile spreading over her features.
“Brooklyn is not too bad,” she said, and my stomach dropped. “I can see why you’d be tempted.”
“Ryan,” I started, feeling so far out of my element it was almost funny. Shane looked quickly between the two of us, lips parted, half a smile playing on his lips like he thought he was supposed to laugh but didn’t want to.
“It’s not like I was tempted away,” he said carefully. “I’d just had too much to drink and wasn’t really myself—”
I cut in with, “You were stone-cold sober when you approached me, Shane.”
Ryan laughed, not without mirth but with her eyes still fixed razor-sharp on him. “Should have just dumped me,” she said lightly. “Could have gone ahead with Brooklyn. But I’m not too disappointed it’s played out like this.”
Okay, she wasn’t thinking straight. We weren’t supposed to be doing this. I tugged on her arm. “C’mon, Ryan, you don’t need to entertain him.”
Ryan laughed, giving me a big smile, a glint in her eyes that made my heart jump a beat or two. She was absolutely in her full thinking capacities right now. What was she doing? “I’m good,” she laughed. “I should probably face this.”
“Ryan, what are you talking about?” Shane said. “I wouldn’t have wanted to trade you out for her—not at any point—”
“Suit yourself,” Ryan said. “I’d gladly trade you out for her.”
I laughed, once, breathlessly. Shane blinked slowly. “What?”
Ryan raised her eyebrows higher. “Do you need me to spell it out for you, Shane?”
He didn’t—he knew exactly what she was saying, judging by the look in his eyes, more like he didn’t know if he was losing his mind or if she was playing a prank. After a second, he laughed, but he didn’t look like he was having fun. “What, because you… decided to switch teams?”
“Switch teams?” She snorted. “Sure. I’ve always been multi-talented. Know how to pitch and bat. Definitely having more fun on this side of the pitch.”
Shane laughed again, once, breathless, eyes flicking between us, his posture getting rigid. “Is this a joke?”
“I’m not in a joking mood,” Ryan said. “If you want to leave the island, you can go ahead. I won’t stop you. I’m in some very good hands here,” she said, slipping a hand to my lower back, and I guess we were doing this. Not like I was remotely ashamed to claim Ryan. Nor tell off this asshole. I moved my hand to her lower back too, smiling patronizingly at him.
“So if you keep coming around to me looking for her,” I said, “it’s not going to go the way you want. Also, by the way—you massively missed the fuck out, but I guess thank you.”
He stared, blankly, between the two of us, for the longest time, before he laughed again, shaking his head. “Okay,” he said. “All right. You’re funny. Sure thing, Ryan. Well, come back to our room once you’re ready to be a fucking adult and talk about things.”
He tried to get it in as a parting shot, stepping back and turning, but Ryan wasn’t about to leave it at that—lowered her head, batting her eyelashes, and she spoke in a low voice. “I’m not going to your room, Shane,” she said, her voice dripping with innuendo, and it hit me right in the core. Damn, though, but I’d happily take her back to my room this instant if she’d asked.
Shane shot her a wild-eyed look before he shook his head, muttering something to himself and forcing a derisive laugh on his way out, storming away. Ryan watched him go before she glanced back at me, eyes shining.
“Well,” she said, “that’ll shut him up for a while.”
“That was… hot,” I said, halfway between wary laughter and wanting to kiss her on the spot, “but are you sure that was a good idea?”
She laughed, reaching back and adjusting her ponytail. “He’s not going to tell a soul. Admit that I left him for a girl? One that he tried to get but couldn’t? He’d die first.”
That was one way to reclaim her agency. I was proud of her. Also wanted to fuck her senseless, especially seeing her in that cute black two-piece swimsuit, the swell of her hip glistening with water droplets. “You know how to maneuver, huh?”
She laughed, turning to me with that look of adrenaline metamorphizing into, well… looking at me like she had this morning. “Besides,” she said, her voice low, “anything that you think is hot is a good idea.”
God, I wanted to kiss her. And do more than that. “So… done swimming?” I said, and she laughed, dropping her voice lower, looking at me through her lashes.
“What gives you that impression?”
“Oh, you know…”
A voice called, “Ryan?” and we both stepped back at the same time, turning to the last thing we needed right now—Stella coming around the corner, relaxing at the sight of us, confusion taking the place of worry. “Oh, there you are. What, are you done with the beach already?”
Ryan shrugged. “Sorry—I just forgot something I needed to do. Brooklyn and I will be back at the car for a minute, but we’ll be right back.”
Oh, so that was what we were doing. I didn’t mind. I smiled at Stella. “We’ll be quick,” I said. “Assuming it goes according to plan. It might extend longer.”
Stella’s shoulders slumped. “Ugh, do not tell me you’re going to squeeze in random work again? At the beach?”
“Mm. Well, when things get urgent, pressing…” Ryan shrugged, putting a hand on my arm. “Enjoy flirting with the lifeguards.”
Stella sighed, turning away. “Fine, whatever. Have fun.”
Oh, we definitely would.