All That Jazz (Butler Cove #1)(37)

“We just ate, Joey.” Keri Ann scrunched up her nose.

“It’s for a good cause. Plus Colt will eat whatever you don’t.”

The boardwalk down to the beach and a large area of sand were both lined with flickering tiki torches. There was a small band set up all the way to the left with a guy playing a fiddle and another with a bass. A huge bonfire roared in a circle that had been marked off with wooden posts crisscrossed over each other like a large octagon. They had to have worked fast to set it up once the tide went out. There were kids roasting marshmallows at a smaller fire with parents, and about ten long rectangular tables were set up off to the right where people could peel and eat their shrimp.

Keri Ann and I separated from Joey and headed over to see some friends we knew from school. Cooper was sitting on a cooler he told us was filled with Pabst Blue Ribbon, and by his giddy face I figured he’d already had several. I snuck a beer too, figuring it would probably act as a bit of a painkiller for my sore muscles. Keri Ann stuck to bottled water.

My eyes wandered over to the tables several times once I’d caught sight of Courtney, Joey, and Colt standing together. Joey looked up and caught my eye, waving me over. I took a deep breath. Game time. I nudged Keri Ann. “Time to go play girlfriend to your brother. You coming?”

“Holy shit,” she said. “I didn’t think about it before, but this is a real problem now that you have a crush on him.”

“Will you stop saying it? When you say it, it sounds really real.”

“Isn’t it?”

“I don’t know.”

“How do you feel when you see him?”

“Sick,” I admitted.

“That doesn’t sound fun.”

“Well, look at his smug mug,” I nodded in his direction, “lapping the attention up from his stalker. Of course it makes me feel sick.”

“That’s not what you meant, and I know it.” She laughed.

“Why are you so cool with this?” I blew out a pent up breath. “It can only crash and burn into Awkwardville, and you’ll be the one who has to live with the two of us.”

“Why do you think it will crash and burn?”

My stomach lurched. “Um. Okay. Now you’re being weird.”

“He keeps looking at you. And frankly, naive though it may be, I think I’d like nothing more than my brother to end up with my best friend.”

“What in the actual fudge?” I whispered so forcefully, I squeaked. “Did you seriously just say that?”

Keri Ann shrugged. “Yep.”

“Excuse me, but I think I need to go vomit up this beer.”

“You’re starting to offend me. This is my brother we’re talking about.”

“I know. Shit. I know.”

“I’m kidding. Not about you ending up together but about being offended. Personally I’m strapping in for the ride. I should’ve made popcorn. C’mon.”

She stood and pulled me up. My legs did feel better after the beer. Cool. Not letting go of my hand, Keri Ann led me across the sand toward the tables. I tried not to look up, but I could feel Joey watching our approach. Okay, I could do this. What would his girlfriend do?

I took a breath and smiled, looking up to meet his eyes. He held my stare, silently asking me if I was going to blow his cover? Or just looking at me? His eyes were dark in the firelight. My heart beat wildly, and adrenaline flooded my body. “Hi guys,” I chirped. “Colton. Good to see you.” I immediately shifted my attention to Joey’s friend.

Colt gave Keri Ann and I brief hugs. “You too.”

“Courtney, nice to see you again,” I told her.

She smiled at me, the expression not quite reaching her eyes, and stepped marginally closer to Joseph. “Hi,” she said. Then she turned to Keri Ann. “Oh my God, it’s so nice to see you. You look so amazing! You’re so pretty! I can’t believe how much you’ve grown up. I’m so sorry I didn’t get to say hi the other day. Joey and I were having a really good talk, you know?” She flicked her hair.

“No problem,” Keri Ann returned, a little shell shocked by the girl’s enthusiasm.

I sucked my lips together to contain my reaction.

“Hey, babe,” Joey said to me, then his hand snaked around my waist and hauled me up against his side. He dropped his face to my cheek and kissed me. The rough texture of his jaw and warm breath detonated goose bumps across my skin. “Thank you,” he whispered in my ear.

I nodded dumbly.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I could feel Courtney watching us, so I tried not to blow Joey’s cover by looking too unfamiliar with his touch.

He caught sight of the skin on my arm. “Cold?” He smirked.

I glared at him. “I guess so,” I muttered.

He leaned in again. “Thinking of our kiss though, I bet,” he whispered in my ear again. “I am.”

He released me.

“Actually I was thinking about Chase,” I snapped under my breath so only he could hear.

We stared at each other.

Then he busied himself with peeling a shrimp. I watched him as he slipped his finger along the body of the shrimp, prying it open. Then he peeled the shell off, dipped it in the bowl of red cocktail sauce, and popped it in his mouth. He went to work on another. Instead of eating this one himself, he held it out to me. I hesitated a split second, then grabbed his hand and brought it close, closing my mouth over the shrimp. “Mmmm,” I murmured. “Thanks.”