In Too Deep (A Texas Beach Town Romance 1)

Maybe I shouldn’t have called him a player like that.

I mean, even if he is, would it be such a bad thing? To have a meaningless fling with a hottie like that, who wears an almost sailor uniform and serves delicacies on the boardwalk? If he puts just half as much care into sex as he does his funnel cakes, there is no doubt in my mind a night with him would become one I would never forget.

“Whatever,” mutters Rico, not having the patience to wait for the rest of my sentence. Honestly, I’m not sure there was a rest of the sentence to finish. “I met some of the locals at a bar right off the beach, and they told me about a bonfire tonight …”

I lift an eyebrow. “Bonfire?”

“Yep. Sugarberry Beach, northwest side of the island, away from the tourist area and where all the locals live. It could be, like, the perfect opportunity to find out the dirty secrets of this place. Who’s who, what’s what, all of that. I don’t want to be just a tourist.”

“But that’s exactly what we are. We don’t live here.”

Just then, my eye is caught by a trio of guys on the other side of the pool, who’ve just hopped into one of the open cabanas. I realize after a few seconds that it’s the same trio of young guys from earlier when we were unloading our car, including the quiet teenager with the skateboard tucked under his arm. They make themselves at home in seconds, dropping their bags, cracking jokes, and laughing.

“So?” Rico retorts. “You still want to socialize, don’t you? Meet a local guy or two? Jonah, all I’m saying is … don’t just drink a Sex on the Beach. Do the sex on the beach.”

One of the guys falls off a lounge chair in the cabana and bursts into laughter. The others laugh, too.

“Don’t you wanna do real sex on the beach?” Rico is practically whimpering.

“You’re interrupting a good chapter, by the way.” To be honest, I can barely keep focus; I’ve reread the same sentence ten times, and now I’m idly invested in what’s happening across the pool.

“Come to this bonfire with me. The love of your life is gonna be there, I’m pretty sure. Or at the very least, the love of your weekend.”

I try to imagine what going to this bonfire will be like. I’ll be excited at first. Then Rico will get noticed, make some excuse to drag us over to a circle of hot guys who will pay no attention to me, I’ll turn invisible, the rest of the night will be lost to him chasing tail and me questioning my existence, and then I’ll walk back to the Elysian Seaside alone.

Even knowing that’s my fate, I’m still tempted to say yes just for the fuck of it. Rico has gone too far in the past. I should be there at the very least to make sure he doesn’t get too drunk and do something majorly dumb.

“Jonah …?”

I put down my book and eye him. “Would you like to try some of my belly cake?”

“Yes, but only because it isn’t on your actual belly.” He reaches, then stops. “Actually, no, I need to look good for tonight. So is that a yes? Are we going? And is there maybe a place nearby with salads we can go to for dinner before?”

“Of course there is. Everything’s nearby.” I take a sip of my drink as I watch a young hotel attendant approaching the cabanas. He stops in front of the troublesome trio, likely to put an end to their merriment.

I don’t know why, but as I watch the happiness melt away from the three young guys’ faces, I suddenly find myself to be quite sick of people telling other people how to enjoy themselves.

“Jonah? Hello? Are we going tonight or not?”

And now I’ve had enough. “Hold my piña,” I tell him as I thrust the drink into his hand, slide my plate off my belly and onto the chair, then get up.

After making my way around the pool and coming within earshot, I start to gather the gist of the problem. “I’m going to ask you guys one last time to leave,” the attendant is in the middle of saying, “before I get security involved. You can’t—”

“Security, Beck?” blurts the one in the colorful tank. “Dude, c’mon. We aren’t hurting anyone.”

“The poolside cabanas are for resort guests only, and we are fully booked this weekend. Unless you’re planning to rent one for the day, you can’t be here.”

“There’s barely anyone here! None of the cabanas on this side of the pool are even being used!” he shouts back. His buddy with abs for days gives a “Yeah!” of agreement while the sulky skateboard-tucking teenager glowers in silence.