“Don’t you?” She cackles. “I mean, from what you said about your engagement party…”
“Shut. Up. I never should’ve confided in you. He’s a menace, and so are you.”
She laughs harder. “I think you like him, like him.”
“What are we, twelve?”
Still chuckling to herself, she unpacks her bathing suit. “Should we hit the beach before we go dancing?”
“Leah.” I hoist myself onto the giant bed. “What’s it like loving two guys at once?”
Her gaze sharpens. “D. Dani. Danica. What haven’t you been telling me?”
“Let’s hit the beach.”
She throws my bathing suit at me. “Then you’ll tell me everything?”
“Yeah.”
Half an hour later, Leah and I are camped out in lounge chairs on the beach, soaking in the sun and drinking daiquiris. She points out every other young woman she sees, speculating if each one could be Princess Ruby in disguise.
Tearing her eyes away from a woman with light brown hair and Ruby’s trademark diamond studs, Leah says, “To answer your question, loving two guys at once is incredible. You know I couldn’t be happier. They bring out the best in me, and they bring out the best in each other.”
I nod. That’s what I hoped to hear. Happiness. It coats every single word she says.
“But.” She clears her throat. “It wasn’t easy. I was confused at first, and I think they were, too. Dmitri and I barely admitted to each other that we had feelings. Gage was manipulating things behind the scenes…it was a mess for quite a while.”
It’s hard to think of anything being messy while a warm breeze kisses our skin and the sweet taste of my daiquiri teases my tongue.
“It was worth it, though.” She grins. “Everything was worth it in the end. And now that I’ve answered your question, I have several of my own.”
I can’t ignore her pointed look. I groan. “Okay. Ask away.”
She gets the whole story from me, right up until this trip to Caperna. By the time I’m through, she has her sunglasses up on her forehead so she can look at me directly.
“That’s a lot.”
I laugh. “That’s all you have to say?”
Her lips curve up in a slight smile. In a mocking tone, she says, “I don’t think you want to hear what I have to say.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Leah, just tell me.”
“I think you like Edmund.”
I stare.
“I don’t think you like him as much as Troy, but give it time. Look what he’s doing to woo you.” She gestures at the beautiful beach, the palm trees, the brilliant water. The dots of turquoise daisies clumped around like God said, Hey, this isn’t enough beauty with the beach and trees, now you need exotic daisies, too.
“I don’t like him,” I insist.
She grins. “You only don’t like him because the engagement was orchestrated. I bet if it wasn’t, you’d be stuck to him like one of those barnacles on the ferry.”
“Gross.” But I laugh as I say it.
Troy
Dani comes back from Caperna, her skin sun-kissed and her hair brighter. Her gray eyes sparkle like platinum.
