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"All right, you first. I wonder who you'll choose," Emma scoffed sarcastically, glancing at Emilia. I think we all knew who he would pick first.

"I'll take Emilia," he said, gesturing towards her.

She let out a small breath that I heard since I stood right in front of her before telling him, "You got it."

"Then I will take..." Emma trailed off, scanning all of us. "Who am I kidding? Of course, I'm taking Adam."

I cracked a smile, saluting her with two fingers.

"Toby," Brett said next.

"Georgia," Emma shrugged.

Brett continued, "Aunt Janice."

"Uncle Graham," Emma said.

"Uncle Stephen."

"Aunt Bethany."

"Aunt Christy."

"Remy."

"Aspen," Brett said.

Emma turned to him. "Why would you separate the almost married couple?"

"It's one game, I'm sure they'll live. Plus, a friendly competition never hurt any almost married couple."

The choosing went on until everybody was on a team and ultimately, on our team, we had Emma, Georgia, Mr. Feye, aunt Bethany, uncle Andrew, aunt Kathy, Remy, aunt Kaelyn, uncle David, Sebastian, Mom, and me. Their team had all the others and one player extra.

"Okay, since you have an extra player, they can either choose not to play or someone can be a substitute," Emma said, facing Brett. Despite being so much shorter than him, she stood there with her arms folded across her chest and her chin held high.

"Is there anybody who doesn't want to play?" Brett asked, facing us all.

Ava's hand stood straight up. "I don't like playing any sports at all. I'd rather get a tan with Nana, honestly," she shrugged.

"But you're good at volleyball," Emilia said, leaning over and looking past me. "You just quit your high school team, didn't you?"

"So?"

"So we need you. Someone else can sit out."

"What?" Ava huffed, almost whining. "I don't want to play though."

"I can sit out," Aunt Christy shrugged. "My back is killing me anyway."

"Ava," Emilia stood up, striding over to Ava. "You're playing."

"Oh my God, fine."

"Do we really need twelve people on a team?" Remy mumbled.

"It'll be more fun," Brett shrugged.

"It'll also be more disastrous but who cares," Emma shrugged. "The problem is, there's no net."

I glanced a few feet further down the beach where a loud holler came from. "Right there," I nodded towards them. It was a group of teenage boys playing volleyball. "We could ask if we can borrow the net and space for a bit."

"Em, let's go ask," Ava said, very obviously, eager to see the boys.

"Ava," her mother scolded.

"Let a girl live," Ava huffed, "come on, Em." She grabbed Emilia's hand, pulling her along with her.

Emma looked right at me, lifting both eyebrows. I stared at her in confusion, offering her a small shrug. She rolled her eyes and then looked in the direction Emilia just went in with her sister. "Wait for me!" She ran over, catching up to them.

What the hell is she up to?

"Let's all head over there," Brett suggested. "We can all ask."

I took my phone out of my pocket and tucked it into Emilia's bag, taking it with me before following the others.

Georgia fell into step beside me, staring at the others ahead of us. "Adam, look at this beautiful beach," she said.

I hummed, glancing at her.

"And then all these naked dad-bods ahead of us."

I chuckled, ducking my head down while she spoke of all the uncles roaming around in either open button-ups or no shirts at all.

"This is the gorgeous city of Marbella. I didn't come here for dad-bods."

"Dad-bods are cool too, Georgia," I shrugged.

"Really? Why don't you get one then?"

"Hmm, because I'm only a twenty-two-year-old professional American Footballer, maybe?"

"Yeah, maybe," she shrugged. We reached the net area where Ava, Emma, and Emilia were talking to the guys with the rest of the family members watching from nearby. Georgia gasped softly, "I know that guy."

"Which guy?"

"The one with the red swim trunks."

"Baywatch style?"

"Yeah. He's from my high school and he goes to the same college as me too."

"What's his name?"

"Brandon Carlisle."

"Why don't you go ask if we can borrow the net for a while then? Your friend might listen to you."

"He's not my friend," she scoffed venomously. "I hate him."

I hesitated to ask, "What did he do to you?"

She sighed, "He's actually my best friend's twin brother. And a few months ago, I kind of, sort of, um... Don't tell my mom, okay? But I hooked up with, um, his best friend and he, um, he found out, I guess? Then he ratted me out to everybody and made my life a living hell at every college party. He just loves annoying me, something about him. Or me, I guess. He hates me."

I stared at her, deciding to leave her in oblivion. "I doubt he hates you, but okay. Still, go and ask with Emma, Ava, and Emilia."

"Ugh, no I don't want to see him."

"Too late, he probably already saw you."

She groaned as I pushed her towards the others. She caught up, standing beside Emilia. I watched, feeling amused as the guy pointed at her. Everybody else was looking around, nearing the water and whatnot. I walked a little closer, standing in front of Brett who was talking to Toby.

"I know you," Brandon said, smirking at Georgia. "Georgia Blackwell. I thought it was you."

"Who?" Georgia acted dumb. Brandon held onto the volleyball he used with his friends and tossed it to her. She caught it, throwing it right back at him with more aggression. "Cut it out, Brandon."

"See. It's you. You want to use our net?"

Emilia put an arm around Georgia's shoulders. "Yeah. You got a problem with that? Your friends clearly don't."

"I don't have a problem with you all. I have a problem with her," he said, pointing at Georgia again.

"Well, you have a problem with her, you have a problem with us. Same thing," Ava shrugged.

Emilia glanced between them, retreating her arm. "Unless you like her."

Georgia and Brandon both seemed appalled. "What? No, oh my God," Georgia laughed. "We hate each other," they said in sync.

"Brandon, let's just go, man. We should get some lunch anyway," one of his friends called out.

He tossed his ball to Georgia again. "In case you guys lose your own, you can use ours. But give it back before you leave. This one has a habit of stealing things," he said, glancing at Georgia.

Once he left, Emilia asked, "What did you steal from him?"

"Probably his stone-cold heart," Emma snickered, dodging Georgia's kick. "Okay, the net is all ours, come on!"

Everybody gathered around again, one team taking one side of the net. Brett took his spot beside Emilia before grabbing his plain white sleeveless tank and pulling it over his head, tossing it to the side. Emilia glanced at him and then faced ahead, tightening her ponytail.

"Adam," Emma whispered, standing beside me.

"What? Why are you whispering?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of Emilia or Brett.

"Take off your shirt," Emma hissed.

I rolled my eyes. "Why?"

"Um, you're at a beach, first off. And because Brett did."

I turned to her. "So?"

"So how can you let him woo Em like that?"

I lifted a brow. "And what makes you think I'm trying to woo her?"

"You should be. I mean, it's kind of obvious you're into her."

"What?"

"I'll be the referee," Aunt Christy shrugged, sitting on a sun lounger.

"Me too!" Nana chimed in.

I chuckled before turning my attention back to Emma. "I'm not into your cousin."

"Mm-hmm, keep telling yourself that."

"All right, start playing in three... two... one... go!"

Brett's team was the one starting the game so we all had our eyes on the ball as someone served it from the back. Aspen did. Emma hit it back, aiming for Ava who didn't look like she could be bothered to play.

"Ava, hit it!" Toby huffed.

"Goddamn, fine!" She huffed as the ball neared her and then jumped up, smacking it down to our side, scoring them a point because Emma failed to hit it before it hit the ground. "There," Ava mumbled.

"Girls, let's not make it personal," Nana snickered and the game continued.

It was after maybe twenty minutes that everybody called for a small water break. Emilia walked to the sunlounger with her bag on it and sat down, fishing out a water bottle and cracking it open, drinking some of it down. I made my way over, sitting on the seat beside hers.

She put the bottle away and then looked at me. "What are you guys going to ask for if you win? Any idea?"

"Not really. It's not much about what I want, more about Emma," I shrugged, lying down, resting an arm under my head.

"Em." We both looked up where Brett stood. "Do you have any more water? I'm kind of thirsty."

She nodded, glancing at his torso before reaching into her bag.

"That's my bottle," I cut in before she could give it to him. "I put that in the bag for myself."

She huffed, "Okay well, he needs it more than you."

"That's my water, Emilia," I argued.

"Jesus, you can take mine." She tossed it to me. I shrugged, content with that and she gave the other bottle to Brett.

"Thanks. Mind if I sit?"

Oh for fuck's sake.

"Um, sure."

He sat by her legs chugging water down like he'd just run a marathon.

I watched him, my brows furrowing and my nose scrunching up. I could just pretend it's too bright. "Are you really that tired?" I asked.

He glanced at me, screwing the cap back on. "Kind of. I haven't played in years. Not everyone's an American Footballer, you know."

"Oh yeah, because I just play all day every day, don't I? I even play in my sleep, don't I?" I muttered under my breath, rolling my eyes while he turned to Emilia.

"Do you know what you want when you're the winner?"

She chuckled softly, "I'm not winning on my own. The whole team's winning, you know. It's not about what I want."

"Captain's call," he shrugged. "Tell me what you want, maybe you'll get it."

I'm going to vomit.

After five more minutes of this torture, we got back to playing with a score of five to seven, our team leading. While I stood up to head back over there, Emilia sat up, pulling her top off. "What are you doing?" I asked her as she stood up.

"It's hot here, Adam, we're at the beach," she scoffed, rolling her eyes at me and walking off.

I trailed behind her, noticing the way Brett's face brightened up when she walked over still wearing her denim shorts but only her black bikini on top now.

Emma jogged over, blocking my way. "Take it off, I'm telling you," she sang before running up to Emilia, stalling her.

Maybe I should.

I unrolled the sleeves and then unbuttoned the shirt, heading to my side but stopped when Emma called my name. I spun around, walking to her, shrugging the button-up off my shoulders as I reached her and Emmy. "Yeah?"

Emma grinned, shrugging, "Nothing." She skipped away, leaving me with Emilia who I caught staring at me.

When she saw that I caught her, she looked away from my abdomen immediately, heading to her team.

"Emilia."

She turned back around slowly on her heels. "Yeah?"

I walked over to her, stopping barely an inch away. I heard her breath hitch and she sucked in a lungful, tilting her chin up to look at me while I leaned in closer to her, tipping my head down. I grabbed the sleeves of my button-up, reaching around her and bringing my shirt around her waist from behind, tying a tight knot using the sleeves at the front, one tight enough that it made her jump a bit and come up on her toes. "Can you keep that on you for me?" I lifted a brow, keeping my voice low.

She stared at me, a little wide-eyed and shocked. "Uh... okay?"

I nodded, "Thanks," and then walked over to my team.

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