Page 63 of Starry Skies, Stolen Kisses, and My Best Friend's Brother

“You should totally marry her while you’re in Vegas,” Mark says.

“Keith will have an aneurism if Seth and Mae come back with rings.We can kiss the place goodbye if he does that.”Ethan stands next to Levi and crosses his arms.I thought he was on my side but apparently not.“We’re looking at the problem wrong.You should be worried about how to handle Keith, not Mae.I have a couple of buddies in the mafia, and I can help you bury the body.No one will know.Mae inherits the land.Problem solved.”

“Then he needs to marry her,” Mark interjects.

We work in silence for a few minutes until Levi puts down his hammer.“It’s sweltering in here.Maybe I should fix the A/C first.”

Mark stops him.“The part for the compressor isn’t here yet.We gotta go get it this afternoon.”

“Maybe one of you can go grab a fan or something.”He glances around.“And where the hell is my water bottle?”

“This shouldn’t take that long with all of us working.Let’s get it done, and then we’ll all go jump in the river,” I say.That water will feel great after this sauna.

He frowns but turns back to his counter.Mark catches my eye and winks.

“Killing Keith is not an option.Just want to put that out there so no one thinks it is,” I say.

“Does this mean you’re staying in Whisper Springs?”Mark’s voice is hopeful, but I’m not sure how to answer him.A few weeks ago, my answer would’ve been no, but now, I’m not so sure.

“Maybe.We need to get through the next few months before I make a decision.”That seems to placate him.At least he doesn’t ask any more questions.

“You gonna try to kiss her again?”Ethan asks.

“Hell yeah.But I can be sneaky about it.”I can’t get the memory of those lips on mine out of my head.We’ll definitely be doing more of that.

“How will that go when she’s putting the brakes on?”

“I’m going to attempt to woo her.This afternoon she’s getting flowers.I’m having the chocolates she loved in New York shipped in, and signed copies of her favorite books are on the way.The problem is, Mae isn’t like other women I’ve dated.I have no idea if this will work or not.”

“It’ll work.You’re good,” Ethan muses.“I know where to go if I need advice on how to land a wife.”

Levi throws his hammer down again.“If you really want to pursue Mae and not ruin everything, it’s time to get Dad involved.You need to tell him everything.”He wipes sweat off his face.“This is impossible.I’m getting some fans.”

“We’re not telling Dad yet,” I say.

He just shrugs.

But before he can escape, Abi barrels into the room.“Heard your A/C is out.I brought ice water.”She sets two capped jugs on the table and hauls out a stack of red Solo cups from a bag.

She wiggles her eyebrows at me and Ethan.I shake my head.No way am I risking getting filmed, but Ethan’s already grabbed the hem of his shirt.“Are you nuts?”I mutter.“She’ll film you.”

He shrugs.“I don’t mind.”

He whips off his shirt—he has way more tattoos than I realized—fills a cup with water, and pours it over his head.“That feels better,” he says.

Levi stares at him for a minute, and before I know it, his shirt is coming off.Abi’s got her camera already running.I’d bet money that she got Ethan as well.Instead of grabbing a cup though, Levi goes for the entire jug.Abi’s grin gets wider as he pours the whole thing over his head.

He shakes his hair out and grumbles.“We’ll finish this cabin tomorrow.The A/C gets done first.”He stalks through the room and out the front door.

“That was the money shot,” Abi mutters.“I bet it does better than the watermelon.”

Levi is gonna kill her when he finds all of this out.

And I won’t blame him a bit.

TWENTY-TWO

Mae

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