Free Unfiltered & Undressed (The Unfiltered Series) by Payge Galvin, Meg Chance Page B

want to stay.
    I brushed my teeth, pulled my hair into a ponytail, and slipped into my bikini—because even though Will hadn’t appreciated it, that didn’t mean I didn’t look good in it. When I came back out, Em was grinning at me. “There’s the girl I know and love.” She hooked her arm through mine. “Now let’s go get you laid.”
    “Or…” I offered instead, because maybe our goals didn’t exactly align, but I liked that she was still on my side. “We can start small and work on our tans.”
    “How is it possible that my best friend in the whole wide world is gonna die a virgin?” she complained while she led me outside. She kept on like that, telling me how I was going to end up a “crazy cat lady” and that if I didn’t “use it, I’d lose it.” When I challenged her to explain that last one, she launched into a hysterical—albeit scientifically unsound—theory on black holes.
    But when we reached the end of the road, and our toes were buried by the already hot sand, we stopped to stare at each other.
    “I love you,” I told her.
    “I know,” she said back. And then we took off racing toward the water like little girls, until my thighs burned from the effort and we both collapsed on our backs and made sand angels, and Emerson told me all about Lucas and everything they’d done—which was pretty much everything.
    Suddenly, it didn’t matter why I was here, because I was here with Emerson. And we had an entire summer until she had to leave me to go back to school.
    ‡
    I didn’t even realize I’d dozed off until I heard Emerson’s ear piercing squeals of delight. When I turned my head, I saw Lucas with his arms wrapped around her as he’d leapt on top of her in the sand. Em was giggling as she pretended to fend him off.
    “Holy crap!” I shot up when I reached for my cell phone and realized how long I’d been out. It had only been about forty-five minutes, but my head felt fuzzy.
    Lucas got to his feet and flung Emerson over his shoulder like she weighed less than nothing. She squealed louder and protested harder, but she wasn’t fooling anyone—she was exactly where she wanted to be.
    “We’re going for a dip!” she shouted to me as Lucas started jogging toward the waves.
    I waved her away while I reached for my sunscreen. The last thing I needed was a blistering sunburn.
    “Need some help with that?”
    I tossed my head around to see Zane on the other side of me, kneeling in the sand by two surfboards that I assumed were his and Lucas’s. I must’ve done a shitty job hiding my surprise, because Zane’s hands went up in surrender.
    “Don’t worry,” he explained. “I promise to behave.” His brow fell and his expression turned solemn. “I’m really sorry about the other night. I really don’t know what got into me.”
    It wasn’t the first time I’d heard one of these apologies, and it wouldn’t be the first time I’d accepted one. I shook my head. “Seemed pretty obvious to me,” I said, flipping open the cap of my sunscreen.
    “Look, I get it. I came on too strong. But I don’t want you to get the wrong idea; I’m not always like that.”
    I rubbed the lotion over my arm, purposely avoiding his eyes.
    “Seriously, Lauren, I’m sorry. I was hoping we could be friends.”
    I went still. Friends. I’d asked Will if we were friends and look where that had gotten me.
    But Zane wasn’t Will, I reminded myself. Zane was here, and he was looking at me so puppydog-ish that I allowed myself a cautious smile. “Friends, huh?”
    “No strings.” Leaning forward, he held out his hand, offering me a truce. “You have my word.” I sighed, my smile growing as I put my hand in his. He shook it, like we were striking a business deal. “You surf?” he asked, nodding toward the boards. “I got an extra wetsuit.”
    I drew my hand away. “I don’t even swim.” I’d spent the past two days thinking about this, and about why I’d really come to California. I