Unforgiven by Elizabeth Finn Read Free Book Online

eyes as he spoke, and he forced himself to hold her eyes. “Cruel, inappropriate, indecent, so fucking sorry.” They stared at one another for a moment.
    “I win. Eight to six. Thanks for playing.” Her voice was quiet as she spoke, but he saw the first glimpse of a smile—small, but a smile.
    “Bullshit. Tie.”
    “How do you figure?” Now she was perking up. She was competitive if nothing else.
    “You only get credit once for embarrassed , humiliated , and mortified because they mean the same thing. Rules, dear Bailey, are not something I’m willing to set aside even for you.”
    “Did you know I was watching?” Her eyes were suddenly off studying the water again, and Darren suddenly couldn’t breathe. He sat up, letting his own gaze move to the water. He was hoping something, anything, would save him from having to answer this question, and as Jess hollered out to him from farther up the beach, he let out a deep, steadying breath he hoped Bailey wouldn’t notice.
    “Hey!” he hollered back to her, wasting no time calling her over rather than dealing with a question he wasn’t ready to answer. “What’s up, Jess? How’s the head?”
    “Good, now that I’ve gotten half a bottle of Motrin in me.” Jess was smiling again, and she finally looked glad to be alive rather than wishing she were dead. Jess crawled onto the lounger on Bailey’s other side but propped her feet up on the raised head of the bed. She instantly turned to Bailey’s feet. “You need a pedicure; your feet look disgusting.” That was Jess. Outspoken even to her best friend. Of course nothing Jess said could ever offend Bailey.
    “Yeah? Well, you need a face-a-cure.” Bailey smirked at Jess as she reached over and pinched her leg.
    “What the hell are you two doin’ down here? Thought you were making out for a minute.” Darren was suddenly holding his breath again, but given the sudden tension in Bailey’s shoulders, she was too. “Sooo. . .” She got tired of waiting for a response that wasn’t going to be coming. “What are we doing tonight?”
    “Seriously, Jess. ’Cause you didn’t have enough fun last night? Maybe you two should take it easy tonight.”
    “I was thinking we could go out.” Jess was begging with her eyes, but they weren’t aimed at Darren. She didn’t give a shit if her older brother wanted to go out or not. Instead her eyes were pleading with Bailey. Bailey had that unsure, questioning look on her face, and he was siding with her at the moment.
    “Come on. I didn’t even get to enjoy last night because you guys cheated at quarters and never let me win. It’s not my fault I got drunk and passed out.”
    “I’m too old for this shit,” he muttered.
    “And I was asking Bailey to go, not you. You can have a whole evening of nothing but you and your brain-dead girlfriend. Bailey and I are going out without you.”
    “There isn’t a chance in hell you two are going out alone. No.” Bailey was sitting silently watching them.
    “Then I guess you’ll just have to act younger than your age, go with us, and have a good time. Feel free to leave the brain-dead girlfriend here.” Jess stood and smirked at him, pulled the sarong from her waist, and started for the water. Bailey remained by his side for a moment, awkwardly fidgeting, before she finally stood and peeled her white shorts down her legs as he watched.
    “You could come with us tonight. Might be fun.” He had no doubt it would be fun with Bailey there. He enjoyed spending time with her just a bit too much. Always had, even when they were kids. They’d always talked easily, laughed a lot, and been close. He used to think of her as an extra sister who he actually got along with, and then she became the cute teen he avoided because she was too young to have a crush on. Now she was just the pretty young woman who was still just a bit too young but who he very much had a crush on. He didn’t even bother trying to keep his interactions