Until May (Until Her/Him)

“Just so you know, English—” Lincoln elbows me. “—Willow is off-limits. She and I are getting married.”

“Sure we are, big guy.” She rolls her eyes at him as Carlo places his arm around Nalia’s shoulders, and she glances up at him, giving him a very cute smile.

“I think we’re going to head over and rent some jet skis. Do you guys want to go with us?” Willow asks, and Troy—in Troy fashion—grunts his agreement, while Carlo and Lincoln say sure. “Cool, we’re gonna run up to the house to tell the girls and change. We’ll be right back,” she tells us before grabbing her sister away from Carlo and dragging her with her through the sand.

“I hate watching you leave me, babe,” Lincoln calls out, and Willow turns in the sand and starts walking backward.

“I hate to tell you this, but you’re gonna see that a lot, big guy.”

“You wound me,” he yells back, covering his heart, and she laughs, then turns and runs with her sister toward a house that looks almost identical to ours. “I think she thinks I’m joking,” Lincoln mutters to us.

“The charms aren’t working?” I ask him, and he shrugs.

“It’s only been forty-eight hours, I’ll wear her down.” He grins, and we all chuckle. Really, I don’t doubt that he will. Women like the big lug and are normally falling all over themselves to get his attention.

I take a drag from my beer, then almost choke when I see the girls hit the deck of their house and a gorgeous brunette stands up to talk to them. The short, white, almost-sheer sundress she’s wearing blows in the wind around her, making her look angelic.

No fucking way.

I blink, sure that I am imagining things, but when she looks in our direction and our eyes lock, I know I’m not.

May.

Jesus, what are the odds she’d be here?

I stopped by her house twice since I saw her last, but she didn’t answer either time. I wasn’t sure if she was home and avoiding me, or if she was out, but I promised myself that when I got back, I would track her down. Looks like I don’t need to do that, I think as I watch pink infuse her cheeks before she drags her eyes off mine.

“You good?” Carlo asks, nudging my shoulder, and I pull my attention off the house as the three women disappear inside.

“I know the brunette,” I mutter while turning toward him.

“You know May?” Troy asks, and my hand tightens around my beer at the familiar way he says her name.

“A few days ago, I was pulling into one of the housing developments my dad just started building on, and she was there, dragging a kid out of a pond that had iced over.”

“Christ,” he mutters, looking toward the beach house.

“She saved the kid’s life.”

“She’s a nice girl.” His eyes lock with mine, and for the first time since meeting him, I want to punch him in the face. He’s interested in her; it’s obvious. Normally, I would shrug that shit off and let him take his shot.

But not with her.

No fucking way.

“Are you guys ready?” a woman calls out, ending the stare-down between Troy and me. We both turn, and I see Nalia and Willow walking with a woman with dark-blonde hair, and May walking a few feet behind them, the only one of the group not wearing a bikini but instead a red one-piece that shows off her curves.

“Aiden, this is our cousin Hanna,” Willow introduces. “And our cousin May.” She frowns, looking around, then rolls her eyes, and drags May from where she’s hiding behind Nalia, and loops her arm through hers.

“Nice to meet you.” I tip my beer toward Hanna.

“You too.” Hanna smiles back as she checks me out, and I see May’s brows dart together in a cute little frown as she looks at her cousin.

“May and I already know each other. Right, doll?” I prompt softly, and her eyes widen ever so slightly.

“How do you know May?” Willow looks between the two of us.

“We met once,” May tells her quickly with a wave of her hand. “I was in a little bit of a pickle, and he helped me out.”

A little bit of a pickle? She was two seconds away from falling into the ice with the kid she saved. I’d say that was more than a little pickle. Then again, she didn’t seem to want the attention she would have gotten after the whole incident, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised she’s kept what happened to herself.