“So, did you guys pour the cider away?” I asked as I approached the group. I was thankful to see that Betsy was standing between Jules and Stella now. She had an obstinate look on her face, and I stifled a laugh. “I’m going to have to ask you all to vacate the beach now. Do you all have safe ways of getting home?”
“Yes, officer.” Jules saluted me. I kept my mouth shut as I knew she was deliberately trying to get another rise out of me. She’d been doing it my whole life. It suddenly struck me that Jules was like the sister I’d never had. I’d always considered Betsy to have that role, but that wasn’t really correct. I was close to Betsy as well, of course, but I had sexual thoughts about her. You didn’t have sexual thoughts about your sister. And I’d never looked at Jules as anything more than an annoying pest. Yes, I loved her as a friend if I ignored almost every word that came out of her mouth, but our relationship was definitely platonic.
“I’ll see you off of the beach, then.” I gave them a curt nod and headed toward the boardwalk. I looked back to see the girls following behind me while the two guys picked up their surfboards and headed out behind them.
I stared at my watch screen as I walked out of the precinct, 11:02 p.m.
“Wanna go for a beer, Evian?” Max Fernandes came up to me as I headed for my car. “First round’s on me, maybe we catch some chicks.”
“Nah, not tonight.” I shook my head. “Got to call it an early night, I’m on shift in the morning.”
“That sucks.” Max gave me a sympathetic glance. “Chief has me off for the next couple of days as he wants me to go to some conference in Denver next week with Potter and Eccles. Snoozefest.”
“I heard about that.” I laughed. “I pulled the ‘I’m doing the Bachelor Auction so you can’t rope me into it’ routine.” He told me that’s no way to get promoted, but whatever.” I shrugged. “You and Potter will have fun. Eccles will be on his phone to his wife the whole time.”
“Tell me about it.” Max grinned. “Man, did I tell you about Betsy Montgomery?”
Immediately, I felt my back going stiff. I sure hoped he wasn’t going to say anything about Betsy that was going to make me upset.
“That chick wants to bang me.” He grinned. “She dropped off this sexy pair of panties on my desk. Crotchless, baby. Easy access for the win.”
“Dude, I don’t think those were for you. Betsy isn’t like that.”
“I know she’s your best friend’s sister and most probably like your sister, as well, but that girl is banging. I’d have those panties off her so fast that—”
“Dude, enough.” I gave him a warning look. “You don’t talk about Betsy like that.”
“I wonder if the carpet matches the drapes” he went on. “I always wondered if she was a natural blond.” He paused. “Or maybe she has no carpet, and that’s why she’s going crotchless.” I glared at him and he stopped. “No need to be so sensitive, man. She’s not actually your sister. In fact, I’m surprised you haven’t hit that already.”
“Max.”
“Shit, I’d eat my cereal from her ass.”
That was crossing over the line for me. I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Don’t talk like that about Betsy.”
“What?” He looked at me in confusion and pushed my hand off of his shoulder. “What the hell, dude?” He looked into my eyes and at my face for a moment and then started laughing. “Oh, hell, no. I don’t believe it.”
“You don’t believe what?” I glared at him as he continued laughing. “What’s so funny? You won’t be laughing if you feel my fist in your face.”
“Dude, we’re cops. We can’t just go around hitting people.” He continued laughing as he shook his head. “I never thought that this day would come.”
“What day?”
“The day that Jefferson Evian was sweet on a girl.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re sweet on Betsy Montgomery, aren’t you?” He threw his head back. “I suppose I can’t convince you to go to a strip club tonight, either?”
“Max,” I growled at him as his words hit me hard. “I’m going home. I’ll see ya around.”
And with that, I headed to my car. Sweet on Betsy Montgomery? Yeah, right. She was beautiful. With a sweet smile, and an amazing body, and she knew how to make cupcakes that could have melted the devil’s heart. But I wasn’t sweet on her. I just wanted to bang her. Hard. And then soft. And then maybe in between. I wanted to hear her screaming out my name. I wanted to see her eyes rolling back in her head as I brought her to orgasm. That was all I wanted. And the only reason why I was feeling angsty and pent-up was because I knew I couldn’t have her. I couldn’t just fuck Nolan’s sister and walk away like I did with all the other girls. One, because I knew he would kill me and it would end our friendship, and two, because Betsy wasn’t like other girls. She was sweet and good-hearted, and she wasn’t the sort who could handle a casual relationship.
I jumped into my car and was driving home when my phone beeped. I looked down at the screen and saw that Betsy had sent me a text message. I immediately pulled over to see what she had written and my jaw dropped when I stared at the photo she had sent me. It was a selfie
