8
Owen
The beaches of Provincetown, Massachusetts are no white sand luxury accommodation.
There’s a thin strip of rocky sand speckled with tourists, a border of rickety wooden fencing, and swaths of long, stringy grass blowing in the wind.
The water is freezing even though we’re a week into July.
After two hours out here, the patina of my childhood memories has fully chipped away.
But Andy seems to be having a great time, so really that’s all that matters.
Our beach towels sit in a jagged row on the sand: Amelia, Sophie, Andy, Nolan, me. Most of us still have clothes on over our bathing suits, except for the banshee on the far right, tanning her long, lean body in a miniscule brown bikini. As if I needed more reasons to fixate on Amelia today.
I can admit it. I was bested this morning.
I already knew she was combative and competitive to a fault, but I didn’t realize just how far she would go.
And the thing that kills me the most, as I think back on my morning’s humiliation… why the fuck did I cover my eyes?
Now every glimpse of her that I catch, I’m picturing her toned body in the hallway of the Airbnb. That purple sports bra and black thong. How she must look underneath it. What I almost saw only hours ago.
I mean, the woman is literally paid to be hot, with social media modelling gigs accounting for what sounds like a frighteningly volatile percent of her monthly rent payments.
That fact, paired with her wicked mouth and razor-sharp wit, and she could be my dream girl—if I were looking for a relationship. And if she didn’t hate the sight of me.
“What kind of lawyer are you again?”
Nolan’s voice cuts through my thoughts as he offers me a Sam Adams from the cooler. I take one, then reach for the bottle opener.
“Mergers and acquisitions.”
From the far right side of our line, a witch lets out a wry cackle.
“What, Amelia?” I snap—testier than usual after this morning’s checkmate.
“It’s just that I couldn’t have invented a more boring, pretentious job for you if I tried.”
“I’ll take being boring over being broke.”
She sits up, pushing her sunhat back from her eyes and glaring across the row of her friends. “I’m sorry, did you just call me broke?”
“I didn’t say anything about you, but if the debit card charges for Rubinoff fit...”
Amelia opens her mouth to respond, but Nolan doesn’t give her a chance.
“Lia, shut up.” He chucks his sunglasses at her, hitting her square in the forehead.
“Ow!”
“I’m trying to get to know him.”
“Whatever. You guys have your bro bonding moment,” Amelia says. “Sophie, wanna go in the water? Andy?”
“Yeah, I’ll come!” Sophie says, standing and pulling her coverup over her head.
Andy stands too, but waves them off. “I’m gonna find a bathroom. I’ll join you in a bit.”
I try not to watch the two women as they head down to the water—try not to lock onto the light copper tone of Amelia’s legs, the sway of her ass, the chestnut locks trailing down her back. Try not to think about how it would feel to tuck my fingers into those long curls and—
“So how do mergers work?” Nolan’s voice breaks into my filthy fantasies about his sister and wow, I really am an asshole. “Can you tell me about a case you’re working on?”
He seems to be genuinely curious about it. I think I like him.
“Well,” I clear my throat, “the matter I’m working on right now is still confidential, so I can’t tell you who the companies are, but I’m basically there to provide legal representation through the entire sale of a corporate enterprise.
So there’s some risk analysis, negotiations, regulation adherence...
” I lean towards him and whisper loudly, “Don’t tell your sister, but it’s actually very boring. And stressful.”
“Then why do you do it?” Nolan asks with almost childlike innocence, like he can’t imagine any reason someone would take a job they don’t like.
I shrug. “The money’s good. And I do like law in general. Plus, I’m on track to make partner at my firm, so it seems like I should probably see that through.”
“Woah. Congrats, man.” His bottle touches mine with a clink. “Is it hard to become a partner? How soon will you find out?”
“Hopefully in the next few months, actually. That’s why I transferred to Boston. Easier to get promoted in the central office.”
Nolan nods. “That’s awesome. Good luck with it.”
My gaze shifts back to the water and it shouldn’t have, because there’s nothing but temptation there.
Amelia half-submerged, Sophie dutifully taking photos of her from shore.
The banshee cycles through infuriatingly seductive poses, long hair blowing in the wind, sun sparkling on the water behind her.
I’m mesmerized by the serpentine motion of her arms, the confidence in each pose—a work of art in human form.
That’s when her gaze shifts in our direction.
From this distance, she probably can’t tell I’m staring at her, right? It seems probable enough that I don’t look away.
Then she raises her middle finger.
Shit. My eyes drop to the sand. I need a fucking distraction. Something to think about other than how badly I want Amelia, now that I’ve seen the smallest glimpse.
“How’d you guys all become friends, anyway?” I ask Nolan. My voice is tight, unnaturally high, but he doesn’t seem to notice.
“The four of us?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, you know Andy and I were assigned to be freshman roommates, plus our buddies Jaiden and Rick,” he says. “That was just random.”
I didn’t know that, and it’s a slice through the heart. A reminder of my absence, what a horrible brother I’ve been.
“And Lia and Sophie were assigned roommates too. And obviously Lia’s my sister, and we’ve always been pretty close.
And then Sophie and Andy ended up both being on campus one summer and neither of them really knew other people who were around, so they started hanging out and became friends.
And after that, if Lia was coming over to see me, then Sophie could come see Andy, or vice versa, and we just kind of ended up always being together. ”
“That makes sense, I guess. You’re just such different people. If I met you separately, I would never guess you’d be as close as you are.”
“We have more in common than you’d think,” he says. “You should see us at karaoke. We go ham. You have to come next time, man.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I reply, knowing I won’t. “And I can’t believe it took your group all this time before any of you started dating each other. I mean, you have willpower. I don’t think I could be friends with girls who look like that without making a move.”
“Come on, man, that’s my sister.”
I laugh, “Sorry, sorry. I’m not saying I’m gonna do anything. But you have to admit it’s a little weird, right? Especially since we know Andy and Sophie were into each other the whole time.”
Nolan looks wistfully towards the water, a smile wrinkling his eyes. “They just needed time to figure it out.”
He looks genuinely happy, not a trace of envy, and I decide he’s probably the best dude I know.
“Well,” I say, “I’m glad Andy had you back then. Especially since I wasn’t there.”
That comment instantly spoils the mood. Nolan’s brow furrows in pity, mouth creeping open like it’s working hard to choose words. He lands on, “Oh… hey…” and I deeply regret saying anything.
Thank Christ, that’s when I see Andy walking back in the distance and call out to him: “Hey! Found one?”
“Yeah,” he says as he reaches us. “Disgusting but yeah.”
“We should go in the water,” I say as I take my feet. “We’re at the beach, right?”
“Yeah absolutely!” Nolan exclaims with reliable enthusiasm—and the apparent attention span of a goldfish.
“Sure,” Andy agrees. “Let’s go.”