“How so?” I prompted.

“You’re my best fucking friend.” He slammed his palms down on the countertop. “It can’t be more than that. I told you I wouldn’t lose you, and I meant that.” He dumped out his coffee in the sink and muttered, “I’m going to shower,” before heading upstairs.

I sat dumbfounded, not knowing what to do or say.

So, I did nothing.

Several days passed, and Ezra kept his distance from me.

Boys could be so incredibly frustrating, and they thought girls were complicated creatures.

Hayes called and texted me some, but we’d yet to go on an actual date. Although, we’d made plans to go out for dinner next Friday, so it was still happening.

Now, it was the Fourth of July and everybody was headed to a party at the Wentworth’s. The Wentworth’s were a wealthy family in town, and Hayes happened to be related to them.

I rode with Ezra, but the entire car ride was filled with awkward silence.

I didn’t know how to fix this, mostly because I didn’t know what I’d done wrong in the first place.

He’d made it clear that he didn’t want a relationship with me beyond friendship, and frankly I didn’t feel that I was ready for more with anyone. I already regretted saying yes to a date with Hayes, but I hated to let him down now. Besides, one date wouldn’t hurt anything.

We arrived at the mansion and I took a deep breath. Things had changed a lot since the last time I was here. Then, I’d been engaged and blissfully ignorant.

Ezra got out of his car and I was forced to follow, more awkward silence descending upon us.

Normally, it was a comfortable silence between us, now it felt like he was building an invisible wall between us to block me out.

I followed him to the backyard. Although, calling it a yard seemed an injustice. The space was expansive with a beautiful pool and the greenest grass I’d ever seen. There were several cabanas set up so that you could escape the boiling hot July sun and servers walked around with trays of food and drinks.

A gust of wind blew by and my skirt billowed around my legs.

“Hey, you guys are here!” Hayes waved from a nearby cabana. He stood up and grabbed two beers from a cooler before jogging over to join us. He only wore a pair of navy board shorts slung low on his lean hips. His chest and arms were sculpted and on the start of one arm was a half-sleeve tattoo. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes, but nothing could hide his blinding smile. I felt bad that his smile did nothing to me, but it wasn’t…I refused to finish the thought.

Hayes held out a beer to Ezra and then me, the caps already popped.

“Thanks,” I said, taking it. It wasn’t my favorite beer, but it was the thought that counted, right? Although, the way Ezra glared at the drink in my hand I knew he believed differently.

“I’m okay,” Ezra replied, waving away the beer, “maybe later.”

Hayes shrugged, unfazed by Ezra’s dismissal.

“I’m going to see Maddox.” Ezra pointed and strode off, leaving me alone with his band’s guitar player.

I forced a smile for Hayes and tried to give him my attention, but my gaze kept drifting in the direction of Ezra.

“How have you been?” He asked, lifting his beer to his lips.

“Uh…good,” I replied, shielding my eyes from the sun. “Busy with the store.”

“’Course,” he nodded. “Fuck,” he rubbed his forehead, “it’s blazing hot out here. I’m getting back in the pool. You want to?” He tossed a thumb over his shoulder at the crystal blue water.

“Sure.” I shrugged, not knowing what else to say.

I’d worn my bikini underneath my skirt and tank top so I followed Hayes to the cabana he’d commandeered and stripped them off. My bikini top was bright orange, flowing down in a triangle cut. The bottoms were orange and blue zig zags that tied at the sides.

Hayes’ cousin, Trace, occupied one of the lounge chairs with his baby son sitting in his lap. The baby—who was probably old enough to walk now—was dressed in a pair of pale blue plaid swim trunks with oversized red sunglasses perched on his tiny nose. The baby blew bubbles, spit dripping down his lips and onto his chubby stomach. Trace chuckled and kissed the baby’s cheek before looking up at me.

“Sadie, right?” He asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded.

I hadn’t seen Trace Wentworth since the disaster last New Year’s. He had been absent from the ballroom when Ezra and Braden got into a fight, but he’d caught Braden and me in a hallway on his way back from putting his son to bed. Braden had been shouting at me, making everything out to be my fault, and I’d stood there, mute, as I took his verbal assault. Trace interrupted, cutting Braden down with quick, sharp words. Braden didn’t yell at me again that night—he still bitched though.

“How have you been?” He asked. “Where’s…?” He paused, waiting for me to fill in the blanks.

“Sleeping with someone else,” I replied, not batting an eye. I didn’t even care anymore.

Trace winced. “Sorry?”

“You said that like a question.” My lips quirked into a half smile as I folded my skirt and top to tuck into my bag.

“Well,” he paused, seeming to search for the right words, “he didn’t seem very nice, which wouldn’t be much of a loss in my book.” He shrugged.

The baby made a noise and Trace started playing peek-a-boo with him.

“Yeah, I’m glad it’s over.” It was the first time I’d said the words aloud and I felt a stirring in my gut at the truth in them. I was better off without Braden. Bigger and better things were headed my way, and when the time was right I would fall in love again, for real this time.

Trace rubbed his finger against his son’s lips so that the baby made a whirring noise. Turning to look at me, he said, “I’m happy to hear that.”

“Are you ready?” Hayes asked. He’d slipped off somewhere and I hadn’t even noticed he was gone.

“Yeah.”

I put the untouched beer back in the cooler and followed him to the pool. I’d put on sunscreen before I left the house, so I wasn’t worried about getting burnt.

It was a humid day and sweat already clung to my neck as I stepped into the cool water. It felt amazing against my heated skin.

Hayes chose to forgo the steps leading into the pool, and instead padded over to the diving board. Before he stepped up on it he rubbed his hands together and blew into them. He pointed in my direction and grinned. “Cheer for me!”

“I’ve got my Pom Poms at the ready.” I shook my fists in a mock cheer.

He chuckled and stepped up onto the board. It wobbled with his weight.

He bounced several times before soaring into the air, doing a somersault, and diving into the water.

When he surfaced he swished his wet hair away from his eyes while I cheered. That had been impressive. I’d been expecting a belly flop.

He swam over to me and a dimple pierced his cheek when he smiled. “Some party, huh?” He asked, looking around.

“They go all out,” I commented, taking in all of the decorations and guests. I didn’t know how they knew so many people. “Are your parent’s here?” I asked.

I knew Hayes was related to the Wentworth’s, Trace being his cousin, but I’d never actually met his parents.

“Nah,” he said, pushing his wet hair away from his blue eyes.

“You’re kind of a lone wolf, aren’t you?”

He chuckled. “I am, but they’re on vacation in Hawaii. I sent them there for their anniversary.”

“That was sweet of you,” I commented, swimming over to the side of the pool and resting my arms on the concrete side. I kicked my legs out behind me as Hayes joined me, mimicking my position.

“I figure I owe them.” He smiled. “They put up with all of my teenage angst and paid for my guitar lessons.”

“I guess those definitely paid off.”

“They did.” He smiled, squinting against the sunlight. He stretched his palms out on the concrete and I noted the callouses on his hands. Ezra had similar ones. They came from all of the hours of playing the string instruments.