Dirty Summer 8

Maggie held up the bottle of champagne she had chosen for this occasion.

“I’m all out of toasts tonight. Who has this one?” Justyn joked.

Reid pulled on the bowlines and started winding the ropes near the stern. “I’d like Maggie to do it.”

Maggie’s eyes brightened. “Really?”

He walked over to her. “Yes. You helped get us that yacht contract. This boat deserves you to christen her.” Reid brushed one of her flyaway curls behind her ear before kissing her. “Please.”

She nodded her head.

Justyn had to give it to that girl; she was persistent. Ever since she and Reid got back together, she had wooed every potential investor this side of the Mason-Dixon line. It meant Reid had started spending more time in Charleston, traveling back and forth with meetings, but he was a happier guy with Maggie in the picture.

Justyn stood behind Blair with his arms draped around her. They watched as Maggie stepped toward the bow. She exhaled.

“I wanted this to be the perfect bottle of champagne, because I know how much this means to Reid and Justyn and you can’t just crack any beverage over the bow. It had to be the right one. This one means something.”

She lined up in front of the bow.

“Just like in batting practice, G,” Justyn called.

She laughed as she pulled the bottle back, focused on the target she selected on the bow, and swung forward with the full force of her petite frame. Everyone cheered as the bottle shattered along the beach.

“How was that?” Maggie turned to face the group.

Reid’s arms reached around her waist and he picked her up. “The best boat christening I’ve ever seen.”

“Let’s take her out, and then I’m headed inside. It’s damn cold.” Justyn hopped on the boat.

“I hear ya, man.” Reid placed Maggie inside the boat before jogging to the other side to shove her off. Blair reached for Justyn’s hand as he helped her step over the side.

Blair looked at Maggie and then Justyn. “G, what do you think about sitting up front?”

“Let’s do it!”

Justyn stood at the captain’s chair with Reid by his side while the girls walked to the bow. Maybe it was a small island, and maybe she didn’t love it at first, but Justyn knew Blair was happy here. They had found something in each other that couldn’t be abandoned or ignored. If that wasn’t love, he didn’t know what love was.

Six months ago, the girls had arrived on this island with nothing but each other and plans. Plans that didn’t involve falling in love, or rewriting the future. Plans that almost kept them all from experiencing the deepest depths of their hearts. Plans they didn’t know were written in the sand.