Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
ANDRES
Santa Cruz on a day off feels like a secret someone forgot to keep. The air is all salt and sunscreen, mixed with the sweet smoke of someone grilling too close to the beach. The ocean is loud and steady, the kind of noise that makes your brain unclench without asking permission.
Isla picked the spot. It’s far enough from the main crowd to breathe and close enough to the bathrooms that she and Adriana don’t have to waddle a mile like it’s a pregnancy obstacle course.
We’ve got towels laid out, a cooler packed, and enough snacks to feed a small army, because between athletes and pregnant women, hunger is a full-time job.
Jackson is barefoot in the sand, laughing like he’s sixteen again, hair pushed back by the wind.
He’s kicking a soccer ball around with Kai, Gael, Brooks, and Sean, and it’s exactly what it looks like when a bunch of competitive men pretend they’re not competitive.
Which is to say, it gets aggressive immediately.
Kai is in a tank top that’s one size too small and acting like he’s auditioning for a sports drink commercial. He steals the ball from Jackson and yells, “Too slow, Baker!”
Jackson flips him off and sprints after him anyway.
Gael hangs back a little, calm and calculating, letting the others burn out while he watches angles like it’s a fielding drill. Brooks is doing too much, as always, yelling commentary like he’s on ESPN.
Sean is technically playing, but he keeps drifting out of the action like his body is here but his head is somewhere else.
He eventually bails completely and trudges back toward our setup like he’s just survived a war.
He drops down beside me with a huff, phone already in his hand, face set in a scowl that could curdle milk.
Isla, sitting on the other side of me with her big sunglasses and her hand on her belly, eyes him over the rim of her water bottle like a judge.
Adriana, curled up next to Gael’s bag with a sunhat and a smug little smile, watches Sean for all of two seconds and then looks away like she’s trying not to laugh.
Sean’s thumbs fly over the screen and the scowl on his face deepens.
He makes a sound under his breath that is definitely not family-friendly. I lean back on my hands, watching the soccer chaos out of the corner of my eye. Jackson’s laugh carries over the wind.
God, he’s radiant today.
Loose.
Happy.
Then I look back at Sean and decide I’ve had enough of whatever mood he’s bringing into my beach day.
“For fuck’s sake, Sean,” I say. “Just tell him how you feel.”
Sean’s head snaps up like I slapped him. “The fuck are you talking about?”
Isla’s mouth twitches and Adriana covers her smile with her water bottle like she’s trying to be polite. Sean glares at me, then glances down at his phone again like it’s going to help him not be obvious.
It doesn’t.
He’s sitting there like a storm cloud with thumbs.
“You’ve been making that face for five minutes,” I continue calmly. “Either you’re about to declare war or you’re texting Emiliano.”
Sean’s jaw tightens. “It’s none of your—”
“It’s Emiliano,” Isla says sweetly, without looking up from rubbing sunscreen into her wrist, like this isn’t the most casual assassination.
Sean’s ears go red instantly.
Adriana laughs softly. “Baby, you’re not subtle.”
Sean’s gaze flicks between them. “Are you all—like—in a group chat about my misery?”
“What, you didn’t get the invite?” I ask, smirking.
Sean mutters something that sounds suspiciously like, “I hate you,” and stares at his screen again.
I watch his face shift through irritation, panic, longing, and something that looks a lot like hope before he shoves it down. That’s when I sit up and make a decision; I reach over and snatch his phone right out of his hand.
Sean lunges. “What the fuck!”
“Relax,” I say, holding it out of reach. “You’re going to sprain something.”
“Give it back,” he snaps, rising up on his knees to try and take it from me.
Isla leans back against her towel like she’s settling in for entertainment. “Ooh, fight.”
Adriana’s eyes sparkle. “If you throw sand, I’m telling Gael, and trust me… you don’t want to deal with him.”
Sean glares at them like they’re traitors.
I glance at the screen, and there’s a long thread of back-and-forth between Sean and Emiliano. Short messages. Too many lols used as deflection. A lot of teasing that looks like flirting, and a lot of flirting that looks like fear.
Sean
You call that a pitch? My granny could hit that.
Emiliano
You’re obsessed.
Sean
Shut up.
Emiliano
Make me.
Sean
Don’t tempt me.
I raise my brows.
“DICK! Why the hell—”
I get up so I’m just out of reach, and I start typing. Sean freezes, eyes going wide.
“Don’t you—” he starts.
“I’m going to,” I say, still typing.
“ANDRES—”
I hit send before he can talk himself out of being honest.
Then I toss the phone back to Sean like it’s a grenade. He fumbles it, nearly drops it, catches it, and stares at the screen like it betrayed him.
“What did you do?” he hisses.
Isla leans in, practically purring. “What did he dooooo?”
Adriana’s grin turns evil. “He did something; share with the class.”
Sean’s face is fully red now. Sunburn speed.
I lean back again, hands behind my head. “I did your job.”
“You’re fucking dead.”
“You’ll live,” I say, swatting my hand at him. “Maybe you’ll even get laid so you’ll stop being so fucking grumpy.”
He looks like he might actually throw the phone at my face. Instead, he reads what I sent, and his expression changes so fast it’s almost funny. He holds the screen up like he’s presenting evidence to a jury. The text I sent is right there, sitting in the conversation like a truth bomb:
Sean
I like you, asshole.
Sean’s jaw drops and he looks at me like he can’t decide if he wants to kiss me or murder me.
“Dick,” he says, voice strangled. “Why—”
“Because you’re exhausting,” I answer.
Sean opens his mouth again, ready to unleash a full emotional tantrum. Then his phone buzzes, and he freezes, his eyes flicking down. His face goes blank for one second. Then his eyebrows shoot up like his forehead just found religion.
Isla’s eyes widen. “What did he say?”
“Read it.” Adriana sits up.
Sean doesn’t answer because he just stares at the screen like it’s glowing.
I lean closer. “Well?”
Sean swallows. “He… he said—”
“Sean,” Isla warns sweetly, “if you don’t read it out loud, I’m going to snatch your phone, and I’m pregnant, so it’s technically illegal for you to stop me.”
Sean glares at her, then looks back at the screen and finally reads, voice rough:
Emiliano
You think?
We can talk when you guys head this way for the SJ/NY series.
Sean’s mouth parts, and he looks like his entire body forgot how to breathe. Adriana claps once, absolutely delighted, and Isla makes a high little noise of victory.
I smile.
Sean slowly looks up at me, stunned.
“You’re welcome,” I say.
Sean points at me like I’m the devil. “You—you're insane.”
“Nah,” I correct. “I just know what I’m doing.”
Sean drags a hand down his face. “I’m going to kill you.”
“You won’t,” Isla says brightly. “Because then you’d have to explain to Emiliano why you’re in jail.”
Sean’s face goes red again, deeper this time.
Adriana laughs. “Text him back, pendejo.”
Sean looks down at the phone like it’s a live wire. His thumbs hover for a moment, and then he types.
Deletes.
Types again.
Deletes again.
I watch him wrestle with himself for a second, then I nudge his knee with mine.
“Breathe,” I say more quietly. “You don’t have to be perfect. Just be honest.”
Sean’s throat works. He nods once and finally types something.
He hits send.
Then he sits back like he just jumped off a cliff.
“What did you say?” I ask.
Sean stares straight ahead at the ocean, his voice low. “I said… okay. Somewhere private.”
I nod, satisfied. “Good.”
Sean exhales shakily. “If he ghosts me, I’m haunting you.”
“He won’t,” Isla says with the confidence of a woman who has never met Emiliano but already hates him a little on Sean’s behalf.
Brooks suddenly yells from the sand, “ANDRES! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE. YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN STOP KAI FROM CHEATING.”
Kai shouts back, offended, “IT’S CALLED STRATEGY!”
Jackson laughs, and it carries to me like a hand squeezing my heart.
I stand, brushing sand off my shorts. Sean grabs my wrist briefly, stopping me. His face is still flushed, but his eyes are softer now. Less storm cloud. More human.
“Thanks,” he mutters, like the word hurts.
“Anytime.”
Sean’s phone buzzes again. He looks down, and his mouth twitches despite himself.
Adriana leans in, shameless. “What now?”
Sean’s eyes flick up, a reluctant smile pulling at the edge of his mouth.
He turns the screen slightly, just enough for us to see.
Emiliano
Wear that stupid smug smile you pretend you don’t do. I want to see it when you tell me those words I know you’re so desperate to say.
Sean’s eyebrows lift again.
Isla squeals and Adriana makes a sound like she just won the lottery.
Sean looks at me, horrified. “He’s going to make me talk about feelings.”
I grin. “Feelings are a good thing, O’Malley.”
Sean groans and drops his head back onto the towel like he’s dying, and I start walking toward the soccer chaos.
When I reach the guys, Jackson jogs over, cheeks flushed, and grabs me around the waist like I’m his and he’s proud of it.
“You miss me?” he asks, grinning.
“More than you know,” I answer, kissing his temple.
Jackson’s smile softens and behind us, Kai is yelling at Brooks. Gael is laughing. Sean is staring at his phone like it’s either salvation or eternal damnation.
The only thing that matters to me is the man in my arms, smiling because he knows he’s my entire world.