Free Meant to Be by Jessica James

cleaning up a little.”
    His eyes swept her up and down
appreciatively. “You win. It was worth the wait. I see you’re
taking this meeting-my-friends-thing pretty seriously.”
    She glanced down at what she’d thrown
on. “It’s just blue jeans and a tee shirt for heaven’s
sake.”
    “ Um-hmm. But you make it
look good.”
    Lauren smiled at him
appreciatively while her eyes soaked in the sight of him. You don’t look so bad yourself. He wore a navy blue tee shirt that emphasized the
breadth of his shoulders, along with an unbuttoned denim shirt that
was so faded it was barely blue. It occurred to her she should have
brought something with long sleeves as well, but he soon
interrupted her thoughts.
    “ Let’s go.” He casually
draped his arm over her shoulders and strolled toward the party
that had now grown even larger. Apparently a few females who had
been strolling down the beach had been given an impromptu
invitation by some of the guys—and there were a number of new male
faces as well.
    “ Hey, Lauren.” Annie
beckoned her when they got near the canopy.
    Lauren noticed that during their
absence another canopy had sprung up, along with more coolers and
food. “This is Heather, Wynn’s fiancée.” She had to speak loudly
over the music now blaring. “Heather, this is Lauren.”
    “ Great to meet you.”
Lauren shook hands with the tan blonde who wore a camouflage ball
cap and a Duck Dynasty tee shirt with cut-off shorts. Petite and
slim, she gazed at Lauren with big, brown eyes that reflected
welcome and acceptance.
    “ We don’t know what she
sees in Wynn, but apparently she’s here to stay,” Rad said as he
opened the lid to the cooler.
    “ Geez Rad, that’s not very
nice.” Lauren shook her head.
    “ Oh, that’s tame for him.”
Heather’s brown eyes twinkled. “He must be on his big-boy behavior
with you around.”
    Rad spoke to Heather as he handed
Lauren a beer. “Some things are just between us, Heather. No need
to spread unfounded rumors.”
    Heather spilled over with contagious
laughter, which drew Wynn and a few of the other men to the tent.
“Wynn, I think Rad is worried we will tell stories about him. Why
don’t you share what he’s really like?”
    Wynn gazed at Heather a moment and
then his eyes shifted over to Rad, appearing to ponder whose side
to take—his fiancée’s or his friend’s. “You mean how he’s a perfect
gentleman at all times? Never late, organized, good manners, all
that?”
    That made the whole group
laugh. Heather just shook her head and looked over at Annie, who
shrugged as if to say, they’ve got each
other’s back—even here.
    “ Come on Lauren, there’s
someone I want to introduce you to over here.” Rad turned with
Lauren in tow, but Wynn touched her on the shoulder to stop her. “I
can tell you one thing about him. He’s got the biggest balls of
anyone here.”
    “ Good heavens, Wynn!”
Heather shook her head. “Sorry. He can be blunt—and
tactless.”
    Lauren smiled and trotted to catch up
to Rad. “But it’s true,” she heard someone from behind her say with
a mixture of respect and joviality in his voice. “That’s the
modern-day John F’ing Wayne right there.”
     
    Lauren usually hated parties, detested
trying to make small talk, and despised having to pretend she was
having a good time. The realization she was actually enjoying
herself hit her with an unexpected jolt. Rad had kept close tabs on
her at first, but now she was talking with Reese and Bipp about
different places they had visited in Ocean City while he conversed
with Pops.
    Reese must have noticed Rad raising
his drink and winking at her in the midst of a conversation.
“What’d you do to him anyway? Cast a spell or
something?”
    Lauren cocked her head. “What do you
mean?”
    “ He’s like the most
antisocial man I’ve ever met.”
    “ Really?”
    “ I mean, don’t get me
wrong. He’d do anything for his friends—it’s just hard to