I drop my head. “Is that what I’m doing?”

“Hey,” he says. “Look at me?”

I lift my head and look into his translucent eyes.

“You’re doing the best you can. You’re trying to love him and support him, and get him on the right track. It’s a beautiful thing but it’s not your job. He’s a grown man, making his own choices. What he needs right now is a sister, not a mother. Show him you support him no matter what; show him he can turn to you. Keep refusing him money and let him make his own mistakes.”

“I worry about him. Everyday I worry that he’ll get himself tangled in something bad.”

“And it won’t be your fault,” he says, giving me a strong, determined stare. “Because he’s a grown man and he can make his own choices.”

I feel tears in my eyes but I shove them away. “You’re right. I know you’re right.”

“It’s what I’m here for.” He grins. “Now, you’re going to stop eating that ice cream, right? I’m almost sure Lyn won’t appreciate it if you waddle into the studio.”

I laugh. “No, I’m sure she won’t.”

“Aside from Liam, how have things been?”

I feel my cheeks heat, because I know Kelly won’t be happy if he knows I’ve spent time with Nate. I don’t want to lie to him, but I’m not about to openly admit it.

“Pretty good,” I say, keeping my voice steady. “I’ve been dancing and keeping to myself.”

He rolls his eyes. “Boring.”

“Hey,” I say, shoving his shoulder. “I don’t see you doing any better.”

“Actually,” he says, crossing his arms. “I have had some . . . rather interesting things happening.”

“Oh?”

He grins. “Okay, so, each morning I’ve been waking up and doing my usual surf.”

I roll my eyes. “Well of course.”

“Let me finish,” he continues. “The past few mornings I’ve noticed my boards are messed up outside the house.”

I narrow my eyes. “You live on the beach. There’s this thing called wind.”

He shoves me playfully. “Ha ha. No, it’s more than that. They’re wet and sandy, like they’ve been used. I can’t quite figure it out, because if it were for the sake of stealing whoever it was wouldn’t put them back. It’s a damned mystery.”

“Maybe you have an admirer that steals your boards in the night and rolls around on them, imagining they are you.”

He stares at me with horror clouding his expression. “You’re seriously whacked.”

I chuckle. “Hey, don’t judge. You’re a famous surfer who happens to be extremely attractive. There are fans out there—some of them crazy. There’s no telling what a lust-filled female will do . . .”

He rolls his eyes and jumps off the counter. “Are you one of my fans, Avery?” he says, wiggling his brows.

“Dream on,” I snort. “I think I like my dog more.”

He gapes, hand shooting up to press against his heart. “You wound me. Even after that kiss?”

I make a gagging sound.

When I was about seventeen and Kelly was just over twenty, we went out to a party. I was in my rebellious stage, therefore, I drank a great deal. That particular night I drank so much I could hardly walk. Kelly took me home after a great deal of effort getting me into a cab. We got home, I decided he was hot and that I would like a taste, and so I went in for the kill.

It was the worst kiss of my life.

And Kelly is a great kisser.

There was a lot of messy tongue action and a whole lot of inappropriate groping—plus there was far too much drool. I passed out before Kelly even had his hand up my top. I won’t lie; Kelly had an attraction to me, too, at the point, so therefore was all in for the messy fondling.

“Hey,” I say, wagging a finger at him. “You went right in to second base with that horrible kiss.”

He shrugs. “You’re hot, I liked you, I was also drunk and I figured why not? The kiss was off-putting, don’t get me wrong, but shit . . . I was a young dude. I wasn’t going to say no to all that.”

He points to my breasts and I cover them. “Don’t pay out on the breasts, dude.” I laugh. I was blessed with a tall, lean figure but I also got whacked with breasts. Not huge, but certainly not small either.

“We corrected the kiss,” he points out.

I smile and blush. We did correct the kiss. We tried it again two nights later when we could face each once more. The kiss he gave me then, outside my front door, was breathtaking. There were tongues, and soft caresses, and a whole lot of sexual tension. Then Liam caught us, threw a fit and we decided at that point it was better we remained friends, and here we are. It was the better choice, of that I’m sure—but boy, was I disappointed for a long time.

I mean, it’s Kelly—that should say it all.

“It was a good correction,” I admit.

He wraps an arm around me.

“Hell yeah it was.”

I smile.

Kelly always makes me feel better.

CHAPTER 7

AVERY

“He wants us all there. It’s his birthday,” I say to Jacob a week later, as I’m pushing towels into a bag.

Kelly invited us to his beach cabin for a birthday gathering. I want to go; it’s been a while since I’ve been to the beach just to enjoy time with my friends. Jacob is fussing because he doesn’t want to attend. The beach isn’t his scene. Snort. The only scene he has is upper class fuddy-duddys with sticks shoved so far up their asses they’ve got splinters on their tongues.