The Vincent Boys 02 - The Vincent Brothers

wakeboard, and I did—especially with Lana, then I needed another driver.
    “Hmmm... maybe a little. It might take you a few tries if you’re rusty,” I finally replied.
    Lana let out a small groan and I bit back a laugh. She’d had the hardest time learning to get up on skis and then the wakeboard had almost done her in. I always admired her determination though. She hadn’t given up.
    “If we are skiing and wakeboarding, others will be there right?”
    I nodded, noticing the small disappointment in her voice. She wanted me alone. I liked that—a lot.
    “Will Ethan be there?”
    My small moment of pleasure evaporated.
    “Ethan? Uh, probably.” Well shit. I had forgotten about their little bonding episode at Wings. Ethan hadn’t been at the party last night. He didn’t know about our little public display of affection. No, wait... he probably did. That was gossip worthy. Someone was bound to have told him by now.
    “Oh, good. I’ll at least have one other friend there.”
    Hell, no . I’d have to pull Ethan aside without her noticing and make sure he understood Lana was hands off.
    Again, the guilt started tugging at me and I pushed it away. Sure, Ethan might be more sincere about his interest in Lana but she was only here for the summer. Then we were all headed off to college. If anyone was going to have a summer fling with her, it was going to be me. End of story. No reason for guilt. This was a means to an end. Besides, I took a quick peek over at Lana, it wasn’t like I didn’t enjoy her company. She was gorgeous, smart and funny. Plus, my being with her was going to drive Ashton mad. Maybe even send her running right back to my arms.... there was that damn guilt again. I needed a beer. That always helped wash away my conscience.

    Lana

    My cell phone rang and I quickly pulled it out of my pocket. It was Ashton. I’d texted her that I was going boating with Sawyer today. She must have thought that warranted a phone call instead of a text reply.
    “Hey,” I said, trying hard not to look at Sawyer. He was driving but I could feel his eyes on me.
    “Are you two going alone? Because if you are, that isn’t safe. Beau and I can come too.”
    No way did I want Ashton anywhere near Sawyer today. I needed to get his attention and when Ashton was around, he was single minded. “No, we’re going skiing. Others are coming too. It’ll be safe.”
    “If that’s Ash tell her that she and Beau are welcome to join us,” Sawyer piped up. Dangit.
    “Tell him thanks but if y’all have other people going it’ll probably be more fun without Beau and Sawyer and me all together...” she trailed off.
    “Okay, I’ll tell him.”
    “Tonight Beau and I are going to go to the beach to eat some crab claws then go hear Little Big Town play at the Wharf. Ethan also has two tickets and was wondering if you’d like to come, ya know... with him.”
    Ethan? I turned my head so I could peek at Sawyer. He was watching the road but I could tell his attention was completely focused on my conversation with Ashton. Annoyed with the reasons behind his interest, I decided two could play this game.
    “Sure, I’d love to go tonight. I’m about to see Ethan so I’ll tell him myself.”
    Sawyer’s head whipped around to stare at me and I flashed him an innocent smile and said my goodbyes to Ashton before hanging up.
    “Ashton and Beau have other plans for the day. She said to tell you thanks though.” If he wanted to know about Ethan he was going to have to ask .
    “What did she want you to tell Ethan?”
    I opened my mouth to respond almost automatically but snapped it shut quickly. That wasn’t his business. Just because he asked me didn’t mean I had to tell him. The old Lana would have blurted out whatever he wanted to know. This Lana didn’t do that. This Lana wasn’t a love struck puppy... okay, maybe I was but he didn’t have to know that.
    “If I’d have wanted you to know the details of my conversation, I’d have put Ashton on speaker phone,” I finally replied.
    “Ouch. I was just asking.”
    Maybe I’d gone a little overboard with my snarkiness. I did want Sawyer to like me and he had invited me to go out skiing with him.
    “Sorry. It was nothing of your concern. I didn’t mean to sound so snappy.”
    Sawyer didn’t respond and silence engulfed the truck.

    Once Sawyer pulled into the parking lot at the boat launch, I’d had enough time to decide how to handle his silence. Spending the