Page 43 of Sharing Shadow Secrets
“I’m in need of a shirtless vampire to take photos with people for my Halloween event at High Five.”
I shake my head. “Definitely not.”
“It will be fun,” she nearly sings. “You get to pretend to bite people.”
“Hard pass,” I say as we step onto the dock. Biting Taylor sounds fun. Strangers though? No thanks. “Plus, I’ll be in Puerto Rico anyway. There is a crypto conference I have to attend.”
“Don’t all the douche Bitcoin bros live in Puerto Rico?”
“Pretty much. There’s no federal income tax there.” I sigh. “I’m not looking forward to it. Five days of having fake conversations,” I say as we walk down the yard toward the boat. “My job is investor relations. So I have to bring more high net worth people to Cryptoball’s platform.”
As we approach the pier, the summer breeze ripples across the lake, and I ask, “You can swim, right?”
“You plan on throwing me in?” Taylor asks teasingly.
That would be fun, but too flirty.
“We have extra swimsuits if you want to go swimming.”
“Do girls leave their swimsuits behind or something?”
I chuckle. “No. We keep extras of everything around. You never know who will pop in.” I wink at her.
29
As he starts the wakesurfing boat, I can’t stop eye fucking him. Why does Brandon have to look so good? Aviators, an oversized T-shirt, and swim trunks.
You’re a dumb ass for fumbling this guy.
This could be your life. Summers at the lake house with him.
I settle into the seat across from his, staring out at the lake and all of the beautiful homes, curious what all these people do to have such expensive summer homes. It’s sunny. Warm yet not too hot with a nice breeze.
“How’s business?” Brandon asks.
“Lots of meetings, but no new clients. Nicholas just gave me a lead, though, so I’m excited about that. How have you been?”
“Good.” His gaze lingers before he looks ahead. “See this place?” he asks, pointing to a home, and I nod. “That used to be my favorite house. It was a Spanish style home, but the people who bought it demolished it and built this shit.”
“What was wrong with the place?”
“Nothing. They paid twelve million dollars for the most gorgeous home and then flattened it.”
I couldn’t imagine doing that or even having that kind of money.
“That’s insane,” I say, shaking my head, staring at the new home.
“I know.”
“How long has your family had this place?” I ask, keeping the conversation going so I don’t idly stare at Brandon. I’ve missed him. Really missed just being with him.
“Forever … This place has been the only constant in my life.”
Taking that in and the surroundings, rocking in my seat after a boat’s wake catches us, I get why it’s so special to him. “My parents still live in my childhood home,” I share. “It’s smaller than some of these boat houses.”
“What made you want to move to Chicago?”
“I wanted more. More of everything. I feel like I saw everything I needed to see in my hometown.”
