Just for Now (Sea Breeze #4)(9)

Sadie grabbed my arm and tugged me close to her. “Preston is looking this way. He doesn’t appear to be happy. We need to move,” she whispered.

I agreed. “Come on, let’s go down to the beach and see what Trisha decided to do under the tent she has out there. I know they are playing music and that’s where the dance floor is.”

“Oh, wait. Marcus and Low are here,” Sadie said, pointing back toward the door we’d come out of. They were inside talking to guests. We needed to go speak to them before we escaped to the beach.

“Let’s go say hello first,” I replied, looking up at Jason to see if he was okay with this.

“Yeah, let’s get the big brother thing over with. That way I can be less nervous.” The amused tone in his voice didn’t take away the serious expression in his eyes. He was nervous. Marcus was pretty good about letting me date as long as he approved. He didn’t breathe down guys’ necks or embarrass me.

“He will be nice. Come on.”

“I don’t know that I’d believe her. Your last name is Stone,” Jax drawled.

“Oh, stop it. You know he has moved on from that. Look at him. He’s infatuated with Willow,” Sadie replied.

Once upon a time Marcus had been crazy about Sadie. That was how I knew her. But Jax Stone had been the only guy ever to win Sadie’s heart. Marcus never even stood a chance. When Willow had come into his life, I’d been so happy for him. She was just as gorgeous on the inside as she was on the outside. They’d had a major hurdle to get over thanks to our father and Willow’s sister, but they’d loved each other enough. More than enough. I wanted that one day too.

“I’ll just be happy when he’s married. Maybe with a kid or two,” Jax replied. The crooked smile on his face assured everyone he was kidding. Well, maybe a little bit of that was true. Jax was incredibly possessive of Sadie. He didn’t like any guy getting too close. Marcus had gotten too close once.

Sadie laughed and kissed his cheek. Thanks to the stiletto heels she was wearing, she didn’t have to stand on her tippy toes. “I’m moving away with you tomorrow. What more do you want?”

Jax raised an eyebrow at her question. “You really want me to answer that with an audience?”

Sadie blushed and ducked her head, causing Jax to chuckle.

“Let’s go see Marcus. These two are only going to get more disgustingly sweet the longer we stand here,” Jason said, leading me past Sadie and his brother.

Marcus and Low were standing under the white lights that Trisha and I had strung together earlier and wrapped around several of the paper lanterns in the center of the main room. The smile on Marcus’s face made me tear up. I loved seeing him this happy. I loved that he’d found Low. If anyone deserved a happily ever after, it was my bighearted older brother.

“You’re sure he isn’t going to take a swing at me?” Jason asked with his mouth very close to my ear.

I nodded. “Yes, I’m sure. Come on.”

As if he could hear the whispering, Marcus lifted his eyes to meet mine. The smile on his face froze as he shifted his gaze from me to Jason, but only for a moment. The sincerely happy expression returned as he made eye contact with Jason. Apparently, he approved.

“Wasn’t expecting you to show up with a date,” Marcus said as we stopped in front of him and Low.

“It was a last-minute thing. Jason saved me from coming here alone,” I explained.

“Or your sister agreed to go out with me, and I took the opportunity and ran with it,” Jason replied.

Marcus smirked and nodded. “I just might like you.”

Low held her hand out to Jason. “I’m Willow, and it is very nice to meet you. If you are lucky enough to get Amanda on a date, then you must be a great guy.”

Jason shook Low’s hand, then glanced over at me with a smile. “I’ve been working on getting up the nerve to ask for a while now. Tonight was my lucky break.”

Really? He’d been interested in me for a while? Wow. I hadn’t expected that. He was Jason Stone. He was splashed all over the news, and gossip magazines loved him.

“Well, we are glad you’re here,” Willow assured him.

“What’s he doing?” Marcus asked, taking a step forward, his attention directed outside.

“Shit,” Rock growled, running by us and toward the doors leading out to the pool. Marcus took off after him. What in the world was going on?

Then I saw Dewayne standing between Preston, who was leaned up against the bar with an amused grin on his face, and some guy who was yelling at Preston and pointing at him over Dewayne’s shoulder.

I started to follow Marcus. Something was wrong. Was Preston starting a fight? Why was he doing this? And why the heck did I care so much?

“Wait, don’t go out there, Amanda,” Low called out as I started after my brother. I wanted to run outside and ignore her, but I was leaving Jason behind too. Sadie’s big eyes met mine, as she and Jax had stopped just behind Jason and me to give their congratulations to Marcus and Low. I needed to give all of them a reason why I needed to be outside. I needed to see if Preston was okay.

“I’ll be back. They may need me.” It was the best I could come up with before running after Marcus.





Chapter Four