“Not at all. I’m not doing nude. I’m a background tease, so there’s nothing for me to hide.” She gives a self-satisfied grin.
“Well, now that we know what Daisy’s doing this summer, how about the rest of you?” I nod to my good friend, Scarlett. She’s the sporty cinnamon spice of the bunch, so summer’s right up her outdoorsy alley.
She sighs, glancing around as if she’s expecting someone. “My dad has some secret project he wants me to work on. Probably an internship with his freight company. It’s pretty hard to get psyched about shipping and receiving.” Her enthusiasm matches that of a dental visit.
“Hey”—Piper wags a finger at her—“isn’t your dad dating Rex’s mother?”
“That’s right.” She lifts her cup, and I can’t tell if that’s a smile or a frown she’s hiding. “We’re all one big happy family.”
“Oh my goodness.” My fingers walk over the table until I pinch her hand. “You’re going to be Scarlett Toberman one day! You heard it here first, girls. I called it.”
“Am not.” She swats me away as if I were a gnat. “I’m not changing my last name, and neither is my father.”
“You will when you marry Sexy Rexy.”
“Please—he’s like the annoying big brother I never wanted.” She rolls her eyes skyward. “You’re sick.”
“You’re sick if you can’t see the fact that boy makes you swoon each time he’s around.”
“Are you kidding?” Scarlett barks it out so loud the girls at the table next to us turn to gawk. “He’s rude, and obnoxious—and worst of all, he’s pretentious. I hate pretentious.”
“Me thinks your pretentious little behind protests too much.”
Scarlett wads up a napkin and tosses it at me. “And I think you should mind your boy-swooning business.”
“Ten bucks says come June you’ll know the answer to boxers or briefs!” A laugh tumbles right out of my throat as Scarlett threatens me with her latte.
“Okay, okay.” Piper holds a hand out at each of us in an effort to mediate. “It sounds like we all have a pretty busy summer. Owen and I are sticking around. His sister, Ava, is set to start WB in the fall, and we’re going to help her get acclimated to campus later this summer.”
“Wow”—I huff a quiet laugh straight into my coffee—“Owen is going to go batshit as soon as one of these frat boys gets a load of his hot little sister. You’re going to have a hell of a fall semester on your hands.” I hold a drink up to Piper, and the three of them follow suit. “Cade tells me half of Hollow Brook is getting hitched in the next few months. I predict it’s going to be one long, hot summer brimming with l-o-v-e.”
“To summer!” Piper shouts, and we all chant in unison, “To summer!”
“Now to get through finals,” I moan.
A strong pair of hands falls over my shoulders and starts in on a heavenly massage.
My eyes close involuntarily as I moan into the sheer shoulder-squeezing bliss. “I don’t know who you are, but don’t you dare ever stop.”
A light kiss lands on the top of my head, and I look up to find the sexiest, most ineligible boy on campus because he just so happens to be mine.
Cade winces. “Do you think I can steal you away for a quick hike?”
My stomach bottoms out just looking up at him like this. Cade’s eyes outshine the sky, his dark hair, those features demand the attention of every female in a ten-mile radius—for sure every girl at Hallowed Grounds has taken note of the god among us.
“As long as you keep touching me this way, you can steal me away for as long as you like.”
The view from the overlook is something I can never get enough of. Even in the late afternoon, as the sun bleeds poppy red over the landscape, it looks just as majestic as it does in the glittering night.
“That was some hike.” Cade steals a kiss behind my ear, our chests still pounding with exhaustion as we pant at the view.
“You are a beast. I needed to tucker you out a little, or I may never get a wink of shut-eye again.” I bite down over my lip, holding back a laugh. “I think we both know sleep is for quitters.”
A dark rumble comes from his chest as he takes me in with that I’ll-make-you-come-hither look in his eyes, and I try to memorize the curve of his neck, his Adam’s apple rising with anticipation, those unreasonably long lashes of his set against the clear blue sky. It’s a beautiful sight, and I never want to forget it.
“Sleep isn’t high on my priority list when you’re in my bed, sweetheart.” He comes at me with that sarcastic edge, and my thighs quiver for him.
“You know you melt the little lace panties right off this country girl when you talk to me that way.”
“I can’t help it. You bring out the dirty city boy in me.” He pushes out that guilty frat boy grin that I can never seem to get enough of.
Cade wraps his arms around my waist as the sun dips over the rooftops, taking its final tangerine bow for the day.