Without You (Love Wanted in Texas 1)

A few minutes later, we were pulling up to the beach house. The sea-blue color of the house always made me smile. Even as a kid, when we would come to the beach, I loved the color of the house. I stood there and stared at it until I felt someone slap me on the back.

“A lot of damn good memories in this house.” Luke looked at the house.

“Sure is.”

He turned and smiled. “Hell of a lot more will be made in the following week, no doubt.”

I glanced at him and smiled before looking at Lex. She was talking to Grace about what to do first.

“Beach or pool?” Grace asked.

“Beach!” Lex said.

They both darted toward the front door.

I glanced back at Luke. “Do you think she knows? I mean, everyone else does, and I’m surprised Grace has kept it a secret.”

Luke laughed.

Lauren walked up. “She’s clueless. Grace has actually done a very good job at making it seem like nothing special is going on. I don’t think Alex has any idea.”

“Good.” I kissed Lauren on the cheek. “Keep her distracted.”

Lauren smiled. “Oh, I will. Now, my ass is going to get some sun on the beach.”

Luke and I smiled as we watched Lauren skip away.

“Do you think she has any clue how damn adorable she is?” Luke asked.

“Nope,” Colt and I both said at once.

Colt was walking by, carrying four pieces of luggage.

“Why the hell do these girls pack so much shit?” Colt said.

“Dude, that is one of many questions about women I’d like to have answered.” Luke picked up three suitcases and followed Colt.

We walked into the beach house that my parents had bought when Libby and I were about four. Gunner and Ellie had built the house on our right, and Jeff and Ari had built the house on the other side.

I smiled as I looked around. My mother had the house decorated in what she called a beach-shabby chic style. It was mostly whites and blues. The walls were large pieces of plank wood that had been painted white. The floors were all stained, and the furniture was either mostly blues or leather. The two-story house had four bedrooms and four bathrooms along with a small poolside house that could sleep two people.

The girls had already decided who was bunking with whom. Lex and I would get one room. Grace and Libby were in another room. Lauren, Taylor, and Maegan were sharing a room. Luke and Colt had fought like hell on who was going to get the poolside house, and Luke had won out after three rounds of arm wrestling.

Maegan grabbed two suitcases and started toward the stairs. “I’m gonna unpack and head to the beach. My white skin needs some sun, and my eyes need to look at some di—”

“Stop!” Grace and Lex said at the same time.

Libby laughed as she went to grab her suitcase.

Luke took it for her and smiled. “I’ll get it for you, Lib.”

Libby smiled back and nodded her head. I was glad to see the two of them were slowly getting back to somewhat of a normal relationship. Now, if they would just talk to each other about their feelings, everything would be even better.

“Things are looking good,” Lex whispered as she watched Luke follow Libby upstairs.

“Yeah, I think so. Do you mind if I meet y’all down at the beach? I’ll just be a couple of minutes. I want to work on something your dad wanted me to do.”

Lex looked at me funny. “What did he want you to do?”