The Reunion Read Free

Ella gratefully, “a walk sounds great.”
    “I’ll go too,” Nathan announced.
    Wonder-freaking-ful. It was all Zoey could do not to audibly grind her teeth.
     
    * * * *
     
    Nate should have taken Will’s lead and headed to the shower. Then he should have turned the cold on full blast. Because seeing Zoey Hansen for the first time in a year was like a punch in the gut. How was it even possible that she got sexier every year? She was amazing, with her thick black curls and wide gray-blue eyes that snapped with irritation whenever she happened to look anywhere near his direction.
    Why did her irritability turn him on so much?
    It wasn’t a difficult question to answer. It was because it meant she cared. Her indifference would have been a hell of a lot harder to take. But her irritation with him—if it was the only thing he could get from her, he’d take it. Happily.
    So when he saw the muscle ticking in her jaw after he said he’d join her and Ella on their walk, he smiled to himself.
    He really was an asshole, but he couldn’t help it, damn it.
    They left the house and turned toward the beach. Dark, nasty-looking clouds rolled in the distance, and rain crashed so hard into the ocean the horizon blurred.
    “We don’t have much time,” he commented.
    “You could always go back to the house if you’re afraid of getting wet,” Zoey said.
    “Not afraid, babe. Just wouldn’t want you to catch a chill.”
    Walking between them, probably deliberately in case Zoey decided she wanted to claw his eyes out, Ella let out a breath. “No one’s catching a chill. Let’s just walk the beach and get back to the house before it starts pouring.”
    Ah, Ella. Ever the peacemaker. Sometimes the referee.
    Zoey was the one to change the subject. “It’s so pretty here this time of day. I’ve missed the sunsets.”
    “Me too,” Ella said. “Too bad we won’t be getting much of one today.”
    Nate kept quiet. He’d missed Sugar Cay a lot this past year, but for a different reason than they did. He missed it because it was the only place he could see Zoey anymore. Weeks ago, this annual trip to Sugar Cay had begun to occupy his thoughts, take his attention off everything that he needed to do.
    It wasn’t because of the secluded location, the palm trees, the brilliant white sand, or even the fact that his closest friends would all be here. It was because of the short, sexy fireball of a woman on the other side of Ella.
    They walked onto the beach. Nate kept his shoes on, but both women took their sandals off to bury their toes into the sand.
    “There’s nothing in the world like the sand at Sugar Cay,” Ella said, her voice ripe with appreciation. “So soft and silky…”
    Zoey just sighed and closed her eyes. The look of pleasure that crossed her face was one Nate knew well. Too well. The two of them had been so hot together… It was always a wild ride between the sheets for them. He was surprised they hadn’t ever set the bed on fire.
    He had to look away from her. But his body tightened at the memory anyway.
    Shit. It wasn’t like he could throw himself at her, as much as he wanted to. Not after all this time. She hated him. She’d probably laugh in his face.
    Hell, she might even have a boyfriend.
    “So, do you have a boyfriend?” he asked as they started strolling down the beach.
    Both women’s gazes snapped to him.
    “Uh,” Ella said, “who? Me or Zoey?”
    “Both of you, of course,” he said smoothly. Or what he hoped was smoothly. “It sucks being all the way across the country from my best friends—”
    He heard a subtle, sarcastic snort from Zoey’s direction.
    “—because I don’t get to keep up with you as much as I’d like.”
    Ella sighed. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend. I’ve dated around the past few months, but no one’s stuck.”
    “That’s too bad,” Nate said sympathetically. There was a long silence. When Zoey didn’t volunteer her answer, he said, mega casually,