Page 10 of Jaxon

"That's it. What did you get up to on your day off? LaLa said you two were out riding the WaveRunners, but it seemed like she was leaving out key details."

"Nope, she's right. We were out on the WaveRunners. Well, gotta go, Dad. See you in the morning."

"Guess I'm being dismissed. Later."

I pulled a beer out of the fridge. Theo's truck started up in the driveway. They were heading to the protest. They badly wanted this beach takeover to go their way, but that wasn't the way of the world. Evil always seemed to triumph. And that thought brought me back to Bridget. Her sweet scent still lingered on my skin, and the feel of her in my arms, underneath me, was not going to be easy to forget. Figured I'd fall for a woman who was literally the enemy.

I sat at the table and stretched out my legs. The paper plate holding her nibbled pizza crust was still on the table. How could someone like her be the daughter of Nathan Walsh? Walsh had developed at least half of Oceanview. He was one of those elusive, evil supervillain types who managed to wreak havoc and cause hardship wherever he went, but people rarely saw him in public. I still had no idea what he looked like, and the tinted windows on the limo had kept him conveniently concealed.

There was a knock on the screen and then it opened. "Where are you, butt face?"

"In here, LaLa," I called back.

LaLa's light green eyes stared out from a darkly tanned face. Men in town practically twisted themselves in knots whenever she walked down the street, and she absolutely hated the attention.

"Got another beer?" she asked.

I motioned toward the fridge. She opened it and made her usual tongue clicking sound to let me know that she was profoundly disappointed with the food choices. She took out a beer and joined me at the table. She popped open the can, took a sip, set it down and then propped her elbow on the table and her chin on her hand.

"Well, that was quite a day out there on the water. Pugsley spotted me on my way over here and asked if I'd seen you, so I assume that there are some legal ramifications to your brilliant decision making."

I shrugged. "Whatever happens—it was worth it."

The screen door opened and shut. Griffin stomped down the creaky hallway in his work boots. There was a white line at the top of his forehead where his hardhat blocked the sun and dirt from the workday.

Stella laughed. "I guess that's what they call the construction guy tan."

It took Griffin a second to figure out what she was talking about and then he rolled his eyes. "Yeah, ain't that great, and since I recently chopped off my hair, I can't cover it."

"I think Jules has some spray tan," Stella suggested.

"Think I'll just go with the construction guy tan." Griffin looked pointedly at the can in Stella's hand. "There'd better be more beers in that fridge."

"Don't look at me. I'm just a guest." She lifted the can and took a sip. My sister tended to drink only a third of a beer before getting tired of it or complaining that it was making her too full.

Griffin leaned into the refrigerator and groaned. "Whose turn was it to go to the grocery store?"

"Theo's," I said. "And—" I glanced pointedly around the kitchen. "You're on dish duty, and since we're down to paper plates, I'd say you did a shit job."

"Yeah, fuck off." Griffin popped open a cold beer and sat down at the table. "So, you know that guy we call Bear at the worksite?"

Stella laughed. "Let me guess—a lot of body hair?"

We both looked at my sister. "How the fuck would I know about his body hair?" Griffin asked.

Stella shrugged. "Just made sense to me. But please, do continue about your good friend Bear." She smiled smugly.

Griffin shook his head. "Never used the phrase good friend, Miss Smugly." The Stone cousins, all seven of us, had grown up so close we were more like siblings than a mix of cousins. Our parents had been basically inseparable since their twenties, and that same untouchable, unbreakable family tie had continued right through to our twenties. There was nothing we wouldn't do for each other, and the older ones, me, Griffin and Theo were all fiercely protective of Jules, Stella, Cormac and Crusoe.

Griffin downed the beer. "Now, where was I before LaLa's interruption?"

"Bear with the possible body hair," Stella reminded him.

Griffin laughed. "Now every time I look at the guy I'm going to wonder if he's got fur under his work shirt, so thanks for that, LaLa."

Stella wriggled on her chair with self-importance. "You're welcome."

"All right, someone had too much sun today. Get to the fucking point, Fin," I said.

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