The Vincent Boys Collection Read online

  Instead of torturing myself with different scenarios in my head, I decided to ask him about Ashton.

  “So how are things with the three of you?” I didn’t have to elaborate. I knew he would know exactly who I was talking about.

  He tensed up, then let out a breath and cocked his head to the side and cut his eyes toward me. “Would you believe me if I said we were doing great?” The sad smile on his face broke my heart.

  “No,” I replied.

  He let out a small chuckle and ran his hand through his dark hair. “You knew about them last time you were here, didn’t you? I remember that time at the field party. Something had been off about that whole scenario. For starters, you aren’t Beau’s type, and Ash wouldn’t have gotten all worked up if he had flirted with you, because they’d mended their fences.” He shook his head. “Guess you were the only reason I believed that story. I didn’t figure you for a liar.”

  I always knew that lie was going to come back to haunt me. When Sawyer had found Ashton and Beau having a lover’s spat, I couldn’t stand the thought of Sawyer finding out the truth that way. So I’d lied and told Sawyer that Beau had hit on me and Aston didn’t think he was good enough for me. I’d told Ashton later that she had to choose one Vincent boy or let them both go because what she was doing to Sawyer was wrong.

  “I’m sorry,” I replied—because I was.

  Sawyer nodded. “Yeah, me too.”

  The rest of the drive over to Ashton’s was fairly quiet. He didn’t ask me if I was comfortable, and he didn’t turn on the radio. Why had I opened my big mouth? Reminding him about my part in his cousin and girlfriend’s deception had been stupid.

  “Ash’s car is here, but I doubt she’s home. She was with Beau at the field earlier.”

  I nodded and reached for the door handle. I’d said enough tonight. I needed to get out of his truck before I said anything else stupid.

  “Wait, Lana.” Sawyer’s hand reached out, and his fingers wrapped around my upper arm. Goose bumps popped out all over my skin from the touch of his rough warm skin.

  “Uh, yeah,” I managed to choke out.

  “Look, I was a jerk. I’m sorry. It isn’t your fault. That crap with Ash and Beau, none of it was your fault. I just needed an outlet to vent, and you were the only person around. I was wrong. . . . ” He paused, and I glanced back at him. “Forgive me?”

  The sincere look in his eyes made me melt. He was like a sweet wounded puppy. Ashton had been crazy to hurt him. I mean, who does that? He was so perfect. How can you hurt someone so incredibly perfect?

  “Yes, of course.”

  A smile lit up his face. He squeezed my arm then let go. “Phew, thank you.”

  * * *

  We both got out of the truck, and I met him on the other side. I reached for the luggage he was lifting out of the back and setting on the driveway.

  “I’ll help you. Don’t get the heavy stuff,” Sawyer said as he grabbed the last bag. I didn’t normally pack so much, but now that I wore makeup and styled my hair and had an actual wardrobe, I had quite a few pieces of luggage.

  “Thanks.”

  “I didn’t peg you as a girl who packs a lot,” he observed.

  I shrugged. “Things change.” I reached down to pick up my cosmetic and toiletry bags. They were two of the smaller ones.

  “Yeah, they do, don’t they?” His gaze shifted back to the house, and I knew he was staring up at Ashton’s window. He was so not over her.

  “She’s an idiot . . . for what it’s worth.” I would have slapped my hand over my mouth if both of my hands weren’t already full. I couldn’t believe I’d just said that.

  Sawyer swung his attention back to me. His dark eyebrows arched in surprise at my statement, and I was sure my cheeks were bright red.

  “You think so?”

  Well, I can’t exactly deny it now. So I nodded.

  Sawyer took a step closer to me, and my heart was beating so hard against my chest I felt the need to gasp for air. His green eyes studied me carefully. It was as if he were looking at me for the first time. His eyes dropped to my mouth, and I fought the urge to lick my lips nervously.

  “You think I’m a better choice than Beau? He’s the bad one, you know. The dangerous one. Girls like bad boys.” His voice had dropped to a low rumble. I shivered as he took another step closer, his eyes never leaving their study of my lips. It had been a while since I’d reapplied lip gloss. I wondered if my lips were dry.

  Forcing myself to remain calm, I responded, “Not all girls.”

  “Hmmm . . . ”

  He raised his hand and gently ran the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip. I mentally imagined biting his thumb and pulling it into my mouth to suck it, but I didn’t. Instead I just stopped breathing.

  “They are as soft as they look . . . maybe softer,” he whispered, then he lowered his head and before I could take a calming breath, his mouth was on mine.

  Forcing oxygen into my lungs via my nose, I dropped both the bags in my hands and grabbed on to his arms to keep from passing out due to the overwhelming fact I was actually being kissed by Sawyer Vincent.

  His hands settled on my waist and gently squeezed the bare skin they touched. I think I may have moaned when he pulled my bottom lip into his mouth to suck on it. Before I could completely throw myself at him, he was gone. Dizzy and completely shaken, I lost my balance and reached out to grab the side of the truck.

  “Whoa.” Sawyer’s hand shot out to steady me.

  Now that was embarrassing. I took a steadying breath and lifted my eyes—once I was able to focus them again—to look at Sawyer. Instead of having an awestruck expression like I was sure I had plastered on my face, he was frowning. No—make that scowling.

  “I shouldn’t have done that, Lana. I’m sorry. I was upset and I just didn’t think.” He reached down and grabbed my two heavy suitcases and headed for the front door without waiting for me to respond.

  That hadn’t been the way I’d pictured our first kiss ending. And trust me, I’d been fantasizing about that kiss for years. Most of my life. Although the kiss itself was spot-on perfect, the ending was way off course.

  Anger suddenly took the place of disappointment, and I snatched up the remaining bags and followed him. How dare he kiss me like that, then apologize and walk off?

  “That’s—”

  The front door swung open, ending my sentence, which was probably a good thing since I was about to let him have it.

  “Lana, sweetheart, you’re here.” Aunt Sarah beamed at me as she pushed the screen door open.

  Shooting Sawyer an angry glare, I rushed past him and into the house.

  Chapter 4

  SAWYER

  That couldn’t be good. I mentally cursed myself for making such a jackass move. Jerking my truck door open, I started to climb inside when Beau’s truck pulled in behind me. Perfect. Not what I needed right then. I needed to wrap my head around that stupid kiss with Lana—not face Beau and Ash.

  Beau’s truck door swung open, and he got out with an angry snarl on his face. What was his deal?

  “Better be a damn good reason you’re parked in Ash’s drive.”

  Adjusting to Beau being a caveman over a girl had been almost as hard as seeing him with Ash. Beau hadn’t done jealous until Ashton had become his. Then he became a freaking lunatic.

  “I just dropped Lana off,” I replied, meeting his angry glare. I wasn’t scared of his stupid tough-guy shit. I’d been in more fights with him than I could count.

  My answer obviously confused him because he raised one eyebrow and turned to look at Ash as she scooted out behind him on the driver’s side.

  “She’s here?” Ash squealed, jumping down before Beau could catch her. “Remember I told you Lana was coming tonight?” She beamed up at Beau, then frowned and looked over at me. “Why . . . How did you get her?”

  Ash was adorable when she was confused. “She was eating dinner at Wings when we stopped in to eat,”
I said. “I offered to give her a ride to save her friend the trip.”

  Ashton’s frown turned up into a smile again. I liked making her smile—I always had. “Thank you! I’m so glad you met up with her.” Ash turned and wrapped her arms around Beau and laid a loud, quick kiss on his lips before releasing him and stepping back. “I gotta go see her. I haven’t seen her in months. Call me later.”

  Beau grabbed her hand and turned it palm up before kissing it and then licking it. Gross, I do not want to see this, I thought. “Yeah, I’ll call you when I crawl into bed.” His had voice dropped until it was much deeper than normal and I swore I heard Ashton sigh. I’d seen more than I had wanted. I started to climb up into my truck.

  “Sawyer, wait.” Beau’s command stopped me. I really just wanted to leave, but he was blocking me in so I couldn’t exactly escape.

  Ashton ran inside, and once she closed the door, Beau turned his gaze toward me.

  “About tonight. Don’t do that again. It’s been six months, and Ashton goes out of her way to be kind to you. You talk to her that way again, and I’m gonna kick your ass.”

  Figures it wasn’t an apology but a threat. But he was right; I had been a jerk to Ashton. I didn’t want to push either of them away. They both knew me better than anyone did; they’d been my best friends all my life. We shared a secret, and we shared memories. Both formed a bond so important that I’d given up Ash without much of a fight in order to preserve them.

  “You’re right. I was a jackass. I’ll apologize to her next time I see her.”

  Beau seemed appeased. His eyes shifted back to her now-lit bedroom window. She and Lana would be inside talking, and I wondered if I’d have something else to apologize for the next time I saw her. Because if Lana told her about that kiss, Ash would be pissed. Not because I had kissed Lana, but because I’d been a complete dick afterward.

  “Good.” Beau started to get into his truck, but stopped. “Hey, you wanna go play some pool?”

  “Aunt Honey working?”

  “Yep.”

  That meant free beer. I nodded. “Lead the way.”

  * * *

  LANA

  I’d barely made it inside the door when Ashton came racing inside, squealing. She’d made quick work of getting us past her parents and their questions concerning my parents, and up to her room. She closed the door and spun around, smiling brightly at me.

  “I am so glad you’re here.”

  Her long, blond hair was hanging loose down her back, and her golden tan was already perfect. How did she do that? It had been summer for what now? A week? We shared the same green eyes. That was it. When I was younger, I’d hated her. Not because she was mean, but because she looked like a Barbie doll. To retaliate, I’d been the one who was mean.

  “Me too,” I replied as she plunked down on the bed beside me. Getting away from my mother and her endless griping about my dad was a major relief. They’d been officially divorced now for three months, but she still ranted about him daily.

  “We’re going to have so much fun. Kayla Jenkins’s birthday is tomorrow night, and she’s having a huge party at her house. She throws one every year. You’ll love it, and you’ll get to meet everyone. Then Beau and I have been talking about a camping trip. Maybe for a week up at Cheaha State Park. We’re going to invite Sawyer, since hiking is his thing, plus some other people. You, of course, are coming too. And Leann is at the beach all summer at her grandmother’s beach house. So I told her we’d come visit her one week.”

  Forcing a smile was hard, but I somehow managed. And pushing Sawyer’s reaction to our kiss as far away from my mind as I could, I put all my focus into talking to Ashton.

  “That all sounds like fun. I’m game for whatever,” I assured her.

  Leaning forward she touched my hair and studied my face. Then her face broke into a huge grin. “You’re wearing makeup and your hair is darker and”—she studied my skirt and top—“you have stylish clothes.”

  “I decided it was time for a change,” I replied, unable to suppress my smile.

  “Well, you look hot.”

  Ashton stood up and started pulling off the cowboy boots she’d been wearing. She’d pair them with a black sundress that barely made it halfway to her knees. It was like God had decided to try his hand at making someone perfect and chose Ashton as his experiment.

  “Sawyer said he brought you home. How was he? I mean, was he in a good mood?”

  I wasn’t sure how I felt about Ashton still worrying about Sawyer. I hadn’t expected this when I’d planned to spend the summer there. It had been six months since the breakup. Normal people moved on after six months, didn’t they? I mean, she was with Beau. Shouldn’t everything be water under the bridge?

  “He, uh, was fine.” Okay, so that was a lie, but I wanted to protect him from her. He wouldn’t want Ashton to know he was still affected by her and Beau.

  She let out a sigh and plopped back down on the bed, folding her legs up underneath her and facing me. “Good. He and Beau kind of had some words at the field tonight. I had to jump in Beau’s arms to keep them from tearing it up. That’s why Sawyer left and ended up at Wings.”

  I hadn’t seen them fight since we were kids. Surely, they weren’t fighting over Ashton still. “What happened?” I asked, knowing I probably didn’t want to hear it.

  “Stupid stuff. Beau didn’t like the way Sawyer spoke to me. It wasn’t a big deal, but Beau got real upset and went on the defensive. They still haven’t found a way to handle me being in the middle.”

  The last time I’d been sitting on her bed talking about the Vincent boys, I had told her that she needed to let both of them go. Even then I knew she wouldn’t be able to. They were so much a part of her life. Beau, especially.

  “Is Sawyer dating?” I asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

  Ashton let out a short laugh. “I wish.”

  That was odd. He was gorgeous, talented, athletic, polite, and funny—how did someone like him go six months without some girl managing to snag a date with him?

  “Not even one date?”

  Ashton shrugged and pulled her knees up to her chin, wrapping her arms around the front of her legs. “I think maybe one or two dates. Not sure. I don’t ask, really. Sawyer still acts weird around me, and Beau gets very territorial if I bring up Sawyer. He doesn’t like me talking about him much.”

  How sad for Sawyer. Ashton had been a big part of his life since they were twelve, but he couldn’t really talk to her anymore without Beau standing near them. As much as I wanted Sawyer to be over Ashton, I didn’t like the picture in my head. Sawyer, alone, bothered me. He didn’t deserve that. He’d been so good to both of them.

  “Welcome to the Jungle” started blaring, and Ashton reached for her cell phone.

  “You cannot already be in bed,” she purred into the phone. It had to be Beau. “Really? Oh, okay, well, that’s good. I’m glad the two of you are out together.” My ears perked up, and I studied my fingernails, trying to appear as if I weren’t completely curious about the conversation.

  “I love you, too. Be careful, and remember he doesn’t drink much, so get him home safe.” Was Sawyer drinking? With Beau?

  Ashton smiled. “No, I love you more.”

  Oh, please.

  “I’ll keep it beside my pillow. Call me as soon as you get home.” She lifted her eyes to smile brightly at me. “Yes, we’re catching up. Okay, love you. Bye.”

  She dropped her phone into her lap and let out a happy sigh.

  “I know you don’t like how things went down and that Sawyer was hurt, but I love Beau so much, Lana. I’d do it all over again if I had to. I hated hurting Sawyer, I really did. I’ve never been so happy. Beau is wonderful.” Her voice went all dreamy, and I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

  Chapter 5

  SAWYER

  I still couldn’t figure out why I was there. Sure, I’d been to Kayla’s birthday parties every year since seventh grade, but th
at had been because Ash had wanted to go. This year what Ash wanted no longer mattered, so why the hell was I there?

  Spill Canvas blared through the speakers outside. The pool had several different-colored strobe lights pointed at it from an upstairs balcony, making the water appear pink, purple, green, and yellow. Teak loungers surrounded the pool along with tiki torches. Last year Jake had bumped into one of those and an umbrella had caught on fire. Before it could get too out of hand, Beau had picked it up and chucked it into the pool. We’d laughed about that for weeks afterward.

  I made my way over to the self-serve, makeshift bar right outside the pool house, which basically consisted of large metal tubs filled with ice and drinks. If I was going to endure tonight, I needed alcohol. Lots of it.

  “Sawyer!” Ryan Mason slurred. “The man has arrived.” He was already drunk. That was no surprise. The Mason boys were the owners of the land where we had our field parties. Ryan’s older brother had started the parties years back.

  I nodded his way and reached for a bottle of Corona that was hidden under ice cubes.

  “That’s it, buddy. Drink up. Ain’t got to impress the preacher’s daughter anymore, do ya?” Ryan called out from the middle of the pool. He was lying on a float with some girl snuggled up beside him. I was pretty sure she had gone to our school.

  I didn’t respond to his asinine comment. Like Ash cared about that. Hell, she’d left me for Beau. Twisting off the top and throwing it into the recycle bin beside the drinks, I took a long swig of my beer. The cold liquid didn’t make me feel better, but at least it tasted good.

  Turning to walk back to the house and maybe find a television so I could turn on SportsCenter, I took only a few steps before the glass doors opened and out stepped Ashton, Beau, and Lana.

  Ah hell, I should’ve stayed home. Ashton waved at Kayla and pulled Lana over to where Kayla was lounging with some of the other girls we’d graduated with. Beau’s eyes met mine, and he sauntered over to stand beside me. Both his hands were tucked into the front pockets of his jeans.