And why did she come back? Who wouldn’t want to go to boarding school? Think of all the freedom. I mean…I’d miss my family, but I wouldn’t mind being sent away from home. Would I?

It bothered Hartley. It bothered her enough that she returned to Bayview against her parents’ wishes. How would I feel if I couldn’t see my brothers at all?

It would suck. I can barely tolerate being banished for a day without having to drown my sorrows.

I check myself. Why the hell am I being so pathetic? I can handle being by myself for a day. Or a week. Or a year, if necessary. Hartley’s a big baby if she can’t hack it at a boarding school. Running back home where she’s not even wanted? Why do that? Make a new life for yourself.

I take a long swig of beer. I don’t know why I care, anyway. I don’t need Hartley, not even as a friend. I can call up any chick and she’d race over here to chill with me. I can have anyone I want. Chicks can’t resist me—and that includes the dark-haired girl who suddenly appears on the patio holding hands with my brother.

The moment Savannah Montgomery and I lock eyes, a thread of tension stretches between us.

I shift awkwardly and take another sip of my beer. “Hey,” I mumble at the newcomers.

They’re both wearing swimsuits, and Gideon has a couple towels draped over one muscular arm. He’s been coming home nearly every weekend since he and Savannah got back together. Sav’s at college with him because she graduated a year early, but I guess there’s more privacy for them here in Bayview. They both have roommates at school.

“Hey. You mind if we swim?” Gid asks.

“No. Go nuts.” I gesture to the pool and stretch out on my lounger again. “I’m taking a nap. Hey, Sav—how’s life as a college woman?”

“Hi,” she says tightly. “Life’s good.”

I feel a sliver of irritation, the same chagrin I felt toward Ms. Mann when she acted as if it was all my fault that we hooked up.

Savannah and I slept together last year, way before she and Gid got back together. At that point she was still out to hurt him, and I was out to hurt…myself, I guess.

Reed had just run Ella out of town, and I’d been pissed. Any attraction I felt for Ella was gone by then, but our connection wasn’t. Truth is, although I have a lot of friends, I don’t actually have many friends. It’s all surface-level shit.

With Ella, it was more than a surface friendship. I trusted her. Still do, even though she acted like a total bitch this morning.

I lost it when Reed’s idiotic actions drove her away. I spiraled. Spiraled hard, like one of Atlantic Aviation’s test planes that doesn’t make the grade and crashes in the desert, sending Dad’s engineers back to the drawing board to figure out what design flaw led to the crash. I’m the design flaw in the Royal family, the one who isn’t quite like the others, the one who crashes and burns more often than not.

That said, nobody forced Savannah to be with me. And yeah, I felt guilty after it happened, but not guilty enough to shoulder all the blame. There’d been two people in that bed. Gideon knows this, and he doesn’t condemn us for that. Honestly, I think he’s so happy to be back with his girl that he’s willing to forgive all her sins. Considering his own list of sins, he’d be a hypocrite not to.

“Decided not to go to Reed’s game?” Gid asks as he drops the towels on the lounger next to mine. I guess nobody told him I’ve been banished from Louisiana.

“Wasn’t feeling up to it,” I lie. “I’ve got a hangover.”

“I heard,” he says dryly.

Savannah drifts toward the shallow end and dips a toe in. “Water’s nice,” she calls to Gideon. “Let’s swim, Gid.”

“Be there in a sec.” He looks to me again. “Sawyer said your new quarterback carried your drunken ass home last night and tucked you into bed.”

I make a mental note to beat Sawyer’s ass later. Or Sebastian’s. Either twin will do, since those fuckers are pretty much one person. Just ask their girlfriend.

“You need to slow down with the drinking,” Gideon advises me. “You’re getting too old for this shit, East. I thought you wanted to fly again.”

The words grate. Gid can be such a judgmental ass sometimes. “I will fly again. I’m just waiting until I’m out of the house and away from the parental unit. Besides, just because college turned you into an old man doesn’t mean I’m going to follow in your footsteps, dude. I wanna enjoy being a teenager for as long as I can.”

The disappointment on his face grates even more. “Sure, East. Go ahead and enjoy it, then.”

He walks over to Savannah, I sit back on the lounger, the two of them jump into the pool, and we all pretend that I haven’t seen my older brother’s girlfriend naked.

Chapter 22

The rest of the weekend goes by fast. I think about Hartley more than I should, but no matter how bad I want to track her down, I manage to find some restraint. I decide I’ll just wait and talk to her at school. Apologize for being an ass to her and hope she’s not too stubborn to forgive me.

On Sunday night, Ella decides she’s talking to me again. She joins me in the media room, turning her nose up at the TV screen. I’m watching a Tarantino movie, and it’s gory as hell.

“Someone’s in a bloody mood,” she remarks with a wince.

I shrug and keep looking at the screen. “Oh, we’re suddenly speaking to each other?”

“Yes.” Remorse colors her voice.

I hide a smile. Thing about Ella is, she’s not as tough as she makes herself out to be. She’s got the kindest heart of anyone I’ve ever met, and she cares fiercely about people. If she believes you’re worth her time and effort, she’ll move heaven and earth to make you feel loved and appreciated.

“I know I’ve been a jerk to you this weekend,” she admits. “I was doing it on purpose.”

I smirk. “No, really?”

She wanders over and flops down beside me. “I was trying to prove a point.”

“What, that you’re really awesome at giving the silent treatment?”

“No. That your actions drive people away.” She shakes her head in disappointment. “So many people care about you, East. Your dad, your brothers, me, Val, your teammates—we love you.”

My spine feels itchy, like a hundred porcupine quills are pricking it. I instinctively lean forward to grab my glass and then remember it’s soda water. Dammit, I need something stronger.

I start to get up, but Ella clamps her hand around my arm. “No,” she says gently, reading my mind. “You don’t need a drink.”

“Yeah, I kinda do.”

“Every time things get emotional, or a conversation gets a little too serious, you try to distance yourself from it. Numb yourself—”

“I don’t need another lecture.”

“It’s not a lecture.” Frustration shadows her eyes. “I just don’t like seeing you get so drunk that you talk to your own friends like they’re pieces of garbage—”

Sawyer’s voice on the intercom interrupts Ella. “Yo, East. Hartley’s here.”

Equal parts of surprise and joy shoot through me. She’s here? For real?

Without delay, I get up and hurry to the door.

Ella’s voice stops me before I can exit the room. “I love you, Easton, but I’m worried.”

The genuine concern in her voice makes me hesitate. I don’t like making Ella feel bad. She’s one of my favorite people on earth.

I slowly turn to face her. “I’m sorry I said that stuff to you at the party,” I mumble. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know.” She pauses. “It’s just that I want you around for a long time, so…take care of yourself.”

I give her a careless, one-finger salute. “On it.”

When I reach the front hall, I find Hartley peering into the sitting room, where Mom’s portrait hangs over the fireplace.

“That’s my mom,” I tell Hartley.

“She’s beautiful.”