The Secrets We Hold: A Silverbell Shore Novel (Ebook)

“Please, Stone. Let’s have one more. For Annabelle.”
Stone stands beside me, grinning. His hand weaves delicately through my hair, and I relish his touch. My head drops back as he brings his lips to mine.
“Early start tomorrow. You girls have fun.”
“Fine.” I smile, slapping one more kiss on him before he turns to leave.
“Bye, Stone,” my best friends, Annabelle and Jules, chime in unison.
“That man is hot,” Jules adds, fanning herself with her hand.
I laugh at her before I finish my drink. “While you pine after my boyfriend, I’ll get us another round of drinks.”
“No, let me.” Annabelle is quick to jump up and straighten her skirt.
“Na-ah. We’re celebrating you, Belle.” I place my palm on her arm. “That means we pick up the tab.”
She laughs. “Oh, I know. I didn’t say anything about paying.”
The three of us laugh as she bounces toward the bar. Annabelle received an offer from Silverbell High today to intern while she completes the last year of her teaching degree at the University of Virginia. While I’m proud of my friend, growing up in her shadow has been hard. Being next-door neighbors from before we could walk, it was natural we would grow up to be besties. In high school, she was the Queen Bee, cheerleading captain, and straight-A student, and people would stop and stare the moment she walked into a room. Especially the boys. Stone Nixon is the bad boy of Silverbell Shore, and Belle would be on his arm if she weren’t expected to uphold a certain stature. When Mason showed interest, it was as if their fate had been sealed. Naturally, Stone’s attention gravitated to me. Always next in line.
“Girl, what are you stewing over?” Jules levels me with a stare from across the table. “Huh? Oh, nothing.”
A vehement shake of my head only piques Jules’ interest.
“Don’t go there,” she reminds me, her eyes narrowed, and her lips turned down. By there, she means the space I leave open to continuously compare myself to Belle. She winks at me through her recently dyed blonde hair. “You got the guy.”
Internally, my heart squeezes at the thought of her unhinged perception of what I truly want.
Outwardly, I offer her my winning smile. “I promise my only thoughts are how I’m going to seduce Stone when I get home tonight.”
Jules makes a face at me right before Annabelle rejoins us.
“I don’t even want to know what you two wild bitches are talking about.” Annabelle laughs.
After a few more drinks, we agree it’s time to head home. Jules is on the morning shift at the Beach House Café tomorrow, owned by her parents, and I have errands to run. Annabelle and I kiss Jules goodnight outside her home, and we make our way further into town until we reach her corner.
“Thanks for tonight, Ruby.” She embraces me tightly. “You know I love you, right?”
“Always and forever,” I remind her, repeating three words we promised each other at the beginning of our first year at school.
“See you tomorrow.” She waves. “Night, Belle.”
I watch as she arrives at her house, the one she now shares with Mason. When she walks up onto the porch, I turn and wander back toward the shore to our secret meeting spot. “About time, Rubes.”