Without You

I placed my hands on his arms as I looked into his sea-blue eyes. “I love you, William Gregory Hayes, more.”

He chuckled, and then he leaned down and began kissing me. This kiss was the one thing I needed to help me see that our love was stronger than anything Blake had done to me.

Will loved me, and I loved him. Our love was and would always be…perfect.

Lex and I stood at the bow of the ferry as we made our way over to Port Aransas. I was surprised all our parents had been open to the idea of us coming down for our own celebration. Colt, Lauren, and Taylor had graduated, and this was how we all wanted to spend our last summer together. While the rest of us were heading to A&M, Maegan would be going back to Baylor, and Taylor would be attending UT.

“I can’t believe how fast this summer is going,” Lex said.

I watched her beautiful brown hair whip around from the wind. She finally got tired of it and reached for my baseball cap. She pulled her hair through the hole in the back and made a ponytail as she pulled the cap down over her eyes.

God, I can’t believe she’s mine.

“I know. It is going by fast.”

I looked back to the cars—or trucks really. Luke, Colt, and I had all brought our trucks, and the girls had ridden down with us. I had been shocked that Libby ended up riding with Luke. Luke had intended on leaving for the whole summer, but after Lex’s incident, he’d stayed. He’d avoided Libby pretty much the first month of summer, but that had changed after the barn dance a few weeks ago. At least now, they could be in the same room and apparently the same car together.

I looked back at Lex. “Have you talked to Libby about Luke?”

She turned and looked at Luke’s truck. Luke, Lauren, and Libby were all laughing about something.

“She said they’re talking, but it’s nothing like what Libby wants. Luke is keeping a safe distance from her. I’m hoping things will change for them this week.” She smiled and wiggled her eyebrows up and down. “If you know what I mean.”

I scrunched my nose up and made a face. “Oh shit, too much, Lex. Yuck. That’s my sister, ya know.”

Lex started laughing as we headed back to my truck since the ferry was about to dock.

After getting in the truck, I grabbed Lex’s hand. “You ready to have an amazing week?”

Lex smiled so sweetly that I almost had to catch my breath.

“Yes! I have a feeling this week is going to change a lot of things. It’s going to be beyond amazing.”

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.