Paradise Lost (Private 9)

Then he ducked his head and walked around the table, turning sideways to get past Upton.

"Hang on a sec, Sawyer," Upton said, placing his hand on Sawyer's shoulder. "I haven't had a chance to say happy Christmas."

Red blotches appeared on Sawyer's cheeks. "Sure, whatever."

"What's up with you?" Upton asked, a hint of a downturn in his cheery smile. "You've barely said a word all week."

"It's nothing," Sawyer said. "Would you mind letting go of me? I'd like to get back to my family."

Upton lifted both hands as if in surrender, and Sawyer quickly rushed off. As soon as he was gone, Upton whistled quietly.

"He's always been standoffish, but this year he's taking it to a whole new level," he said.

"Don't take it personally. I think he's just upset about his sister," I said.

Upton frowned for a moment, and then shook his head. "Of course. I should have guessed." He held open the door, a forced smile on his face. "Well, shall we? My mum wants to check out your handbag."

As Upton put his hand on the small of my back and steered me into the living room, I reached into my skirt pocket and ran my fingers along the shell's smooth edges. Now that I knew Sawyer was struggling with the memory of his sister, I was more determined than ever to see the guy smile.

197

CHAPTER 30 PITY PARTY

That night, after private Christmas dinners with their families, the crew gathered on the beach in front of the Simon Hotel to get hammered around a huge bonfire. Apparently an entire day spent with parents, stepparents, and siblings made these people feel the need to drink themselves silly. Luckily, my family was a million miles away, so I felt no such compulsion. Instead, I got to sit back in the sand and watch all my friends get progressively messier, while I obsessed about my blurry stalker and whether or not Poppy might still be on the island.

Good times.

"This is the year!" Gage shouted, standing in front of the bonfire and holding up a bottle of beer in each hand. His burgundy shirt was unbuttoned, but his tie was still knotted around his neck. "This is the year I get you girls to take off your shirts for the best boob contest!"

198

"Woo-hoo!" Kiran and Amberly cheered in response. Kiran even reached for the tie on the back of her halter top dress.

Like I said, messy.

"No, no, no!"

Noelle walked over, having a bit of trouble keeping her balance in the thick sand, and put her hand over Kiran's before she could expose herself.

"We are not having a best boob contest," she said, shaking her head as she gestured with a half-full bottle of champagne.

"Noelle. You are dead to me," Gage said, taking a swig of his beer and almost falling over from the change in balance the action caused.

"No. I'm not saying no," Noelle said. "But we can't do it. Not without Poppy. If Poppy gets here, then I am totally in."

"Okay, Noelle. That's it. I'm taking away the champagne," I said, shoving myself up from the ground and reaching for her bottle. I had never seen her so drunk in my life. Noelle usually liked to maintain at least the appearance of being in control.

"Do not touch the bubbly, Glass-Licker!" she said, pointing a finger at me and holding the champagne out of my reach. "Don't forget I control your living situation when we get home!"

"I would never try to take away your bubbly," Amberly insisted, her eyes at half-mast as she tried to hug Noelle. "That's how much I love you!

"All right! Now we're talking! Girl on girl!" Gage crowed, plopping into the sand as if he were getting ready for the show.

199

"This is ridiculous," I said under my breath.

I looked around for Upton, who had gone in search of the bathroom with Dash a good fifteen minutes ago. He had promised to come right back so that we could go for a walk alone on the beach together--to get away from the craziness and score some quality time, which would be nice, considering the fact that every girl here seemed to be flirting with him tonight. Blame the alcohol again. So far, I had managed to ignore the giggles and grins and batting eyelashes, but a girl only had so much tolerance for such things. When he got back, he was all mine.