“It was perfect.” Lucy held tight to the doorknob. Part of her wanted to run into the street and chase him down. She wanted to go with him and wait while he talked to Finn. “He told me I had to accept that fact that he’d lied to get my attention, and then a thunderstorm came rolling in, but otherwise, amazing.”
Nicole stepped out from behind Emma and into the hallway. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, and her lips were pursed. “This is what the end of your perfect dates look like?”
“Yes.” She stared at her friends as her cold, wet body started to tremble. Laughter bubbled up. “This is what the aftermath of a perfect date looks like.”
“Wait right here.” Nicole marched down the hall and disappeared into the powder room. She returned carrying one of the bath towels they reserved for guests. Nicole walked over and carefully wrapped the bath sheet around Lucy’s shoulders. “I’m assuming you decided to forgive him for lying to you?”
“He was very convincing.” Lucy drew the towel closer. “Very.”
Emma stepped in front of her, beaming like a fool. “That must have been some sex on the beach.”
“It was,” she said wistfully. “It was perfect.”
“Stop saying perfect,” Nicole said.
“Don’t be jealous,” Emma chided.
“Sex on the beach is never perfect.” Nicole crossed her arms in front of her chest. “There is too much sand. It always ends up in your underwear or suit, in the wrong places.”
“I left my underwear at the beach,” Lucy said.
Emma laughed. “That’s one way to solve that problem. You can give us all the details after you warm up. Go upstairs and take a hot shower.”
Nicole’s frown deepened. “If it was so ‘perfect,’ why are you back so soon? Why did your ‘amazing’ date send you home soaking wet?”
“Finn texted about an emergency,” Lucy explained.
“So Jared ditched you for work.” Nicole raised an eyebrow. “I know he’s a billionaire and all, but Luc—”
“Not work,” Lucy said quickly. “Finn needed him. And Jared couldn’t exactly show up with me. Then we’d have to tell Finn about us. It’s too soon for that. I don’t want Finn to explode because I had sex with his best friend.”
“Who says Finn will be mad?” Emma asked.
“If your brother has a problem with you and Jared dating,” Nicole jumped in. “I’ll talk to him.”
I’m not sure that will help, Lucy thought.
“I don’t think Finn will have a problem with us dating,” Lucy said slowly. “But sex on the beach isn’t exactly a relationship. I think we should wait and tell him after we’ve been on a few dates. And I should be the one to tell him.”
“An excellent plan,” Emma said.
“But until then,” Lucy looked at Nicole. “No one says a word to my brother about who I’m dating.”
“My lips are sealed,” Emma promised.
“Mine too,” Nicole said.
And mine, Lucy thought.
But what if she needed more than a few dates to make sure her unicorn was real? He could disappear back to New York at any time. Or fly away to North Dakota to talk about buffalo. He might forget to call tomorrow.
She clutched the towel. She refused to go back to sitting on the sidelines of her own relationship, waiting and hoping for a connection that wasn’t there. She wanted a partner who was fully present in her life. A loyal soul mate.
She pictured the last shot she’d seen of Jared with a model-of-the-week on his arm in New York. She pressed her lips together. Oh yes, she would need more than a few dates to make sure her unicorn could deliver her Happy Ever After.
Jared drove through the storm, heading south along the Intracoastal Waterway. He took the southern bridge back to the island and followed Ocean Boulevard’s winding road beside the violent sea. Mansions lined the driver’s side, separated by the narrow, two-lane road. He’d driven by these same homes as a teenager. He’d raced Finn, first on road bikes and later on motorcycles past these multimillion-dollar estates. He’d joked about the day when he’d own one. He’d never believed it would happen. Not in high school. Or even in college.
It was like expecting to find a unicorn on the fucking beach.