Rogue Wave by Isabel Jolie (reading eggs books txt) 📕

a massive renovation.” He held both hands on his hips and looked down on me, the way he always did, as if I was the wayward piece of shit he had to constantly look after.

Mother fucker.

“What? You think Gabe wouldn’t make new friends? Is that what you expected? He’d be the same loyal friend following your lead after you diss him for ten years?”

Anger poured out of every single crevice. If I was a ship, I’d be submerged in anger, on the verge of capsizing and cascading down to the sandy bottom below. The brushes I’d been cleaning lay dripping off the front porch, and I snapped one up and held it at him like it was a weapon to be feared. The anger had simmered since receiving his text yesterday, and in his presence, it surged, threatening to breach flimsy barriers.

He cracked a smile. “You going to beat me with a brush? You want a brush fight? Do I get one, too?” He leaned against the short picket fence and cocked his head with that familiar half-smile. “Remember when we used to fight with sticks? I beat your ass every time.”

My right hand clenched the brush handle. And as quickly as the blades of grass over the dunes stilled in the absence of breeze, all that anger subsided.

“You always got the better stick.”

“Bullshit.”

“No. You had a knack for picking out the thicker stick.”

“Well, you know.” He wiggled his eyebrows, and even though he had trimmed hair and looked the part of an uptight businessman, I saw a bit of the brother who’d been my friend and the best fort builder I’d ever known.

I set the brush back down on the plank and wiped my brow and gestured inside the cottage with my head.

“Want a beer?”

“Sure.”

A large eggplant and squash rested on the counter. I handed him a beer as I considered serving size. “We were going to grill eggplant and squash for dinner tonight and mix it in with a salad. You want—”

“As tempting as that sounds, I was hoping I could convince you to go to Delphina’s tonight. I was pretty stoked to see it’s still open. Their chips and salsa are calling my name.”

“Sure. Works for me. What we have for dinner will keep.”

“We?”

I smiled. Busted. But, yeah, for now, a “we.” At least until she moved on. I closed the refrigerator door and pointed the green glass neck of my bottle toward the back deck. “Want to sit?”

Within five strides, he set foot on the deck. Those long legs of his had always made him faster. We were brothers, but he’d always been taller, smarter, more obedient, always looking to please our parents. Greggory, the firstborn good kid and Adrian, the family misfit.

I slid back into the chair, facing forward, watching the dunes.

“So, who is the we?”

“A girl I met on the island. She’s a scientist at the conservancy center.”

“Ah, should have known you’d find another bleeding heart.”

I tipped my beer back, swallowing the fuck you on the tip of my tongue.

As if on cue, the screen door cracked open.

“Tate, oh, hi.” She stepped out on the porch. “I didn’t know you had a guest.”

My brother, ever the gentleman, leaped to his feet and held out his hand. “Greggory. Adrian’s brother.”

“Adrian?” she asked, her lips spreading into a wide smile.

Gregg didn’t skip a beat. He smiled down at me, amused. “You still introduce yourself as Tate?”

“Yes, I do.” I reached for Luna’s hand and pulled her down onto my lap. Since we only had two chairs on the porch, it felt like the right thing to do. “This is Luna.”

Gregg sat back down in his chair. His ring finger clinked with his beer bottle when he picked it back up.

“So, your wife is Laura, right? How long have you been married?”

He grimaced. “Yes, Laura. Seven years now. You’re an uncle.” He tilted his beer back, and I knew there were accusations he wanted to shout my way. I deserved every one of them, too. What kind of brother misses his brother’s wedding?

I held Luna’s thigh tight, pulling her against me like a shield. “We’re thinking we might go to Delphina’s tonight for dinner. You up for that?”

She wove her fingers through my hair, sending rivulets down my back. Her freshly showered hair smelled of strawberries instead of the coconut scent I’d grown to love. She watched my brother as I slipped a few fingers beneath her shirt to touch her soft skin.

“You know, I think I’m going to let you two catch up. Poppy wants to go to Jules tonight, and I’ve been ignoring her. Maybe you two can stop by Jules after dinner?”

“Luna, don’t feel like you can’t come out with us. I don’t mean to derail your plans for the night.” Greggory addressed her in a cordial, professional manner.

“Please, it’s the beach. No plans can’t be changed.”

“Where are you from?” he asked her.

“Prepare yourself. This is the start of the inquisition,” I warned.

“Ignore him,” Gregg said. “Apparently, he’s been away from civilization for so long he’s forgotten this is how the rest of the world functions.”

I didn’t appreciate the dig. Luna pressed her lips to my cheek, and the tension eased.

With a casual smile, she answered Gregg. “I’m from Florida. How old are your children? Do you have pictures?”

Gregg set his beer on the table and half rose to pull a phone out of his back pocket. “See, Adrian? This is how it’s done.” He swiped on his phone then handed it over to Luna. A photo of a toddler holding a baby shone.

“Aw. How cute,” Luna gushed. I found it hard to swallow.

“The oldest one is Lucy. She’s three. The baby is Lena. She’s maybe two months in that photo, but she’s six months now. They grow so fast. It’s a whirlwind. Life-changing.”

“All with an L, huh?” Luna asked as she flipped through photos on his phone with a warm smile plastered on.

“It’s a tradition in Laura’s family. All the women’s names begin