The Vincent Boys Collection Page 27

  “Actually, that’s not true. He has a much better one tucked away under the seats, but it’s Ash’s. He gave it to her for her birthday one year, along with the better wakeboard—at least for girls. But he won’t let anyone else use it, even though—”

  “Don’t, babe,” Toby interrupted as he gently pushed Kayla toward the back of the boat.

  I couldn’t bring myself to look back at Lana. I’d really rather she didn’t know about Ash’s stuff. I did still have vest tucked away under the bench seat. I wasn’t ready to let someone else use it. Seeing someone else put it on would be another door closed. This had been something Ash and I did together. And she’d been so excited when I got her the new board. We’d even lain out on the water and floated on it that night while she rained kisses over my face and told me how wonderful I was—back when she’d still been mine.

  “Here’s your vest,” Jake called out as he threw my nice dry life vest at me. Catching it as it slammed into my chest, I quickly put it on and threw my board out onto the water.

  “Sorry, I’m rusty. Do I just jump in?” Lana asked from the dive board, staring down at me with a worried frown.

  I swam over to her. “Sit down,” I said. She did so quickly, not taking her eyes off me. I reached for her waist and eased her into the water.

  “Eeeep, it’s cold!” she squealed, and her hands squeezed my arms tightly. Her full bottom lip quivered a little, and I couldn’t stop myself from kissing her. I’d made her wear a cold, wet life vest because I was too much of a baby to pull out Ashton’s. The least I could do was warm her lips up.

  She tensed, but only briefly, the moment my mouth touched hers. Both her hands slid slowly up my arms and into my hair as I held her waist and pulled her closer to me. Pressing small innocent kisses on the corner of her mouth only whetted my appetite. I took a small taste of her bottom lip, and when her mouth opened in a small gasp, I plunged ahead. I needed to feel the soft pressure of her lips against mine. I tangled my tongue with hers as she pressed against me, running her hands through my wet locks. Yeah, that was good. That was real good. Sliding my hand down her hip, I pulled a leg up to wrap around my waist. A soft little moan escaped her as the V between her legs opened and pressed against the proof that I was enjoying this just a little too much. Ah, hell, that was better than good.

  “Could you stop mauling her in public?” Jake’s annoyed tone reminded me that we had a boat full of people behind us getting an up-close view. I pulled back, and the small, frustrated groan from Lana had me thinking I didn’t really give a damn who saw us. But her eyes focused, and she glanced over my shoulder to see our curious audience.

  Her cheeks turned bright pink as she ducked her head. Curled tendrils of her hair had gotten loose from the sloppy bun she’d put her hair in once we’d gotten on the boat. She swallowed nervously, her throat muscles moving behind the smooth, pale skin of her neck.

  “I wanna kiss that spot . . . right there,” I murmured as I ran the pad of my thumb over the place where her pulse beat heavily. It was as sexy as it was delicate.

  “Oh,” she replied breathlessly.

  “Are you gonna board or not?” Toby called from behind us. I scowled at the nosy bunch of people I’d brought with us.

  His question didn’t warrant a reply. I reached for the board he’d thrown and moved it beside Lana. “You remember how this works?”

  Taking a deep breath, Lana nodded and unwrapped her legs from my waist, eliciting a growl from me. I’d been enjoying the forbidden warmth.

  The flicker of surprise in her eyes made it very hard for me not to pull her back.

  “Yeah, I think so,” she replied.

  I turned to grab my board and lifted my eyes to see Ethan glaring at me. I gave him an apologetic shrug and headed out to make sure Lana was strapped on to the board correctly before Ethan started up the boat.

  “He looks angry,” Lana said, studying Ethan as I swam over to check her position.

  “Yeah, he does.”

  “Do you think he’ll sling us?”

  I shook my head. Ethan was pissed, but he wasn’t stupid. Lana had trusted him. He wouldn’t screw that up. Also, I’d beat the shit out of him if he scared her. I was pretty sure he knew that, too.

  “Is the fit tight? You feel locked in?”

  She nodded and gave me a nervous smile.

  LANA

  What the heck had just happened? My body was still tingling, and I couldn’t even think about the strange sensations going on in my um . . . private area. Dear God, I’d been about to hump Sawyer right there in the water in front of everyone.

  “You ready?” Sawyer asked from beside me. I nodded and hoped that I was. It had been a while, but I knew how it felt when I was pulling back on the rope just the right amount.

  The motor on the boat roared to life, and Ethan gunned it, which I’d also been expecting. When Kayla and Toby had gone first, I had been sure to pay attention to everything they did. Kayla jumping the wake and flying up in the air wasn’t something I was going to give a go, but I had still watched carefully.

  Once I was safely up and not about to pitch forward into the water, I chanced a peek at Sawyer. He was grinning at me with approval, and my chest tightened. He was so beautiful. He closed the space between us, and I focused on not losing my balance, reminding myself he knew what he was doing. I just needed to focus on not moving to the left or right.

  “You got this.” Sawyer smiled at me, and then he was gone. I watched as he swung out, jumping the wake and flying even higher in the air than Kayla had done before coming back down, and he grinned like a little boy as the group on the boat whooped and hollered. I didn’t even swing out to the right; I had no doubt I’d wipe out if I gave it a go. I took quick peeks over at Sawyer as he continued to do tricks on his side of the boat.

  My arms were burning, and holding on was becoming increasingly harder. Biting down on my bottom lip, I tried to deal with the pain.

  “Your arms burning?” Sawyer called out as he pulled in beside me.

  I nodded, hating to end his fun.

  “Let go of the rope on three,” he replied, and began counting.

  We both let go of our ropes when he said three, then sank down slowly into the water.

  “Take your board off!” Sawyer called out as he stayed in position. He was going to go again without me. I didn’t feel as bad for needing to stop.

  The boat got back to us about the time I had unstrapped the board from my feet.

  “Give Toby the board, then come here,” Sawyer instructed, and I did as I was told. Maybe he needed help with something.

  “You going again?” Jake yelled from his spot on the boat.

  Sawyer nodded. “Yep, her arms were burning.”

  Toby took the board from my hands, and once he had it safely on the boat, I swam over to Sawyer.

  “Sit in my lap and straddle me. Wrap your legs around my waist and hold on real tight,” Sawyer said with a wicked grin in his eyes.

  “What? W-why?” I stuttered, confused.

  He let go of the rope with one hand and motioned me to come closer. “Come on, Lana. Wrap those long legs around my waist. I won’t let you get hurt. Trust me.”

  A squeal and clapping distracted me, and I turned to look back at the boat. Kayla was extremely pleased.

  “Do it, Lana! I’ve seen Sawyer do this with Ash many times!” Kayla called out.

  I turned back to Sawyer. “But Ash can do tricks. I can’t.”

  “All you have to do is hold on tight to me. Wrap your legs and arms around me, and I got the rest of this.”

  Excitement and fear battled each other as I gave in, slipping my legs around his waist and wrapping my arms around his neck.

  “Hmmm . . . that’s nice,” Sawyer whispered into the curve of my neck. My heart began racing for a completely different reason when the boat fired up. I tightened my hold on him and buried my face in his shoulder. A warm, sexy chuckle vibrated within his chest.

 
We were up and going before I could think about anything else. My legs clamped down on his waist so tightly the hard arousal I’d felt earlier was firmly pressed against me.

  “Ah, hell,” he whispered in my ear, and I shifted, wondering if I weighed too much or was holding on too tight.

  “Please, Lana, don’t move. I can’t concentrate when you do that.”

  I sucked in a breath and pulled back to peer up at him.

  The smoldering gleam in his eyes sent my body into a warm frenzy.

  “Am I hurting you?” I managed to croak out.

  Sawyer shook his head and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Not the way you think. Hang on. I’m going to give you a little bit of a ride.”

  I pressed back up against him and forced myself to keep my eyes open as he swung out to the left. The moment we went airborne, I gasped in delight. It was so freeing. Then we were back on the water with such ease that it wasn’t frightening at all.

  “You like that?” he asked, his mouth close to my ear so he didn’t have to yell.

  “That was fun,” I assured him.

  “Good, ’cause we’re going higher this time,” he replied, and we were flying out to the right and in the air so quickly that my stomach fluttered wildly.

  “Oh wow,” I said breathlessly as he landed the board.

  “It’s awesome, isn’t it?”

  Then we were slowing down and sinking into the water.

  “Thank you for trusting me,” he said as we settled down in the water to wait for the boat to come back and get us.

  “Thank you for the ride.”

  Chapter 9

  SAWYER

  As soon as Lana closed the door to Ashton’s house, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Beau.

  “Yeah,” he answered, on the third ring.

  “I need a ticket to that concert tonight. I’m coming with you.”

  Beau didn’t respond right away, but then he let out a sigh. “Little Miss Lana is gettin’ to ya, huh?”

  The memory of how she felt wrapped around my waist flooded me, and I swallowed hard. “Yeah, she is.”

  “Ash hooked her up with E. tonight. You know this, right?”

  My blood boiled. Yes, I knew it, but I was going to stop it. Ethan wanted Lana only for the summer. He was headed to UT in the fall, and Lana was headed . . . well, I didn’t know where Lana was headed, but she was going off to college too. Yes, I wanted to make Ash jealous, but the idea of spending time with Lana was growing more and more appealing for no other reason than she made me forget. When I was with her, I wasn’t thinking about Ashton.

  “She was with me today. You owe me, Beau. A helluva lot. I need to be there tonight.”

  “Ash is gonna be pissed. She doesn’t trust your motives, and I’m not real sure I do either.”

  “You’ve seen Lana. What’s there not to like? Why would I want her for any other reason than she’s hot as hell and available this summer? I need the distraction. I think it’ll be good for all of us.”

  Beau was silent for a moment. “The concert is sold out, but Ash got Leann two tickets, and she’s driving over from the beach to go with us. Her date just bailed on her, and she’s looking for someone to take with her. She might not want to give you the ticket as her date, but I’m pretty sure she’d sell it to you.”

  “I still got her number. I’ll call her. Thanks.” I didn’t wait for him to reply before I hung up and scrolled through my contacts for Leann’s name.

  * * *

  Ashton had initially asked us all to drive separate vehicles since Beau and I drove trucks and Ethan drove a Jeep. I didn’t like that plan because it put me alone with Leann, and Lana alone with Ethan. Not the combination I was going for. So I borrowed Mom’s Mercedes crossover. No one could argue that this wasn’t a better idea—except maybe Ethan, who hadn’t been in on the details. I’d handled it with Beau, who, in return, got Ashton to agree.

  I’d started to ask Beau to take the backseat so Lana and Ethan would be closer to me, but the idea of Beau tucked away from everyone with Ashton made my chest ache. I didn’t think I could handle it. So I remained quiet as Ethan quickly took the back row, holding Lana’s hand as she stepped into the car. The ache from thinking about Ash and Beau was instantly extinguished by red-hot jealousy. Ethan’s eyes were taking in Lana’s cute little bottom; she’d barely covered up in that sundress.

  “I think you just growled,” Leann whispered as she stepped past me and opened the passenger door. Jerking my gaze off Ethan as he moved in beside Lana, I went to get in. This was going to be one long-ass thirty-minute drive.

  “Still scowling,” Leann teased from beside me. I shot her a glare that only caused her to giggle. “I really thought you’d never get over Ash. I’m surprised,” she said under her breath, then pulled down the mirror in front of her to peek back at Lana and Ethan.

  “If it helps, I don’t think she’s that into him,” she said and then flipped the visor back up.

  “Find whatever you want to listen to” was my only response to her nosy comments.

  Leann clicked her tongue, grinning before leaning forward and scanning the channels.

  “You know, Ethan is a good guy. He doesn’t have any ulterior motives.”

  Grinding my teeth, I shook my head and shot her a warning glance.

  “You used to be such a polite, nice guy, Sawyer Vincent. You’ve changed—a lot.”

  I adjusted the rearview mirror so that Lana was directly in my sight. She was watching me. The angry frustration melted away when she gave me a shy smile. Winking, I glanced back at the road and decided the car would be the only place Ethan got her away from me. He sure as hell better enjoy himself.

  “Is that Ash or Lana you’re checking up on?” Leann asked.

  I realized I’d forgot about Ashton. My stomach knotted up. What was happening? Ash was right behind me, sitting next to Beau. I reached up and adjusted the mirror just in time to see Ash laugh and lay her head on Beau’s shoulder. The familiar ache returned. Her eyes lifted and met mine. The laughter that had been sparkling in them vanished, and a concerned sadness came over her face. I missed those eyes laughing up at me. Gripping the steering wheel harder, I focused my attention on the road instead of the girl who I’d always love and the girl who sent me into a lustful fog every time she got close.

  “You might wanna adjust that mirror.” Beau’s low warning came from behind me. If only I could hate him. Because I wanted to. So badly.

  Reaching up, I fixed the mirror so I couldn’t see either girl, and I turned up the song Leann had chosen: “Break Your Little Heart” by All Time Low. It was fitting.

  LANA

  “I’m glad you came with me tonight,” Ethan said, leaning into me a little.

  I tore my eyes off the back of Sawyer’s head. “Thank you for asking me,” I replied, hoping the disappointment in my voice wasn’t obvious. When Ashton told me that Sawyer had bought Leann’s extra ticket and arranged for us all to ride together, I’d hoped it had been because of me, not her. Then he’d gotten in the car and fixed his rearview mirror so he could see me, and my heart had done a silly little flip. But within seconds he’d adjusted it so he could see Ashton instead. He hadn’t been looking at me when he winked. . . . He’d been looking at Ashton. Beau had noticed too.

  Ethan glanced back up at Sawyer and sighed. “Not sure why he’s doing this,” he whispered. “Sorry, but it looks like we’re going to have to witness more of the Vincent boys’ drama tonight. Sawyer isn’t ever going to be able to let Ashton go, even though she’s obviously let him go.”

  The nausea that followed his words wasn’t surprising. I’d been thinking the same thing, but hearing it from someone else was hard. I was so sure Sawyer had seen me today. I could feel his attraction to me. But then what did I know about guys and sex? I knew nothing. If any guy had his crotch pressed between a girl’s legs, he’d probably get hard. From what I’d heard about guys, they couldn’t help it.

  Sighi
ng, I slunk back in my seat and crossed my legs. My hope that tonight was about me was now gone. Ethan deserved more than me being hung up on getting Sawyer’s attention. After all, Ethan, not Sawyer, was the one paying for my meal and my ticket.

  “I’ve never been to a concert before,” I told him, wanting to change the subject.

  Ethan’s eyes lit up. “Really? So I’m your first,” he said, wagging his eyebrows teasingly. I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “I guess you are,” I replied in the flirty tone I’d practiced at home alone in my room but had never used on an actual guy.

  His eyes widened for a second, then he closed the small distance between us and slid his hand over my thigh to take my hand in his. And I let him. Because really, why shouldn’t I?

  * * *

  Once we arrived at the beachside restaurant, I’d had time to get over my disappointment enough to enjoy myself—somewhat. If I had to watch Sawyer moon over Ashton all night, I might end up in the bathroom with the need to hurl again. Right then, however, I was good.

  “You’ll love this place. They have the best fried oyster po’ boys,” Ethan informed me as we made our way toward the steps that led up to the restaurant.

  “Or you could eat them raw.” Sawyer’s voice was so close to my ear that it startled me. Jerking my attention off our destination, I turned to look at Sawyer, who had fallen into step beside me. He shot me a sexy little grin. “I’ll share my dozen with you.”

  “Dozen?” I asked, still dazzled by the tantalizing smell of his cologne and the brush of his fingers as he lightly grazed mine.

  “Raw oysters,” he replied in a lazy drawl.

  “Oh, I’ve never eaten one before. Not sure I want to.” My voice sounded breathless and affected by him. I was just weak where Sawyer was concerned.

  “I’ll teach you exactly how to do it so it goes down nice and smooth.” His voice had dropped and gone husky. I wanted to fan myself, because suddenly it was very, very hot out there. The sea breeze did nothing to cool me off.