Fuck, this girl was stubborn. But I supposed that checked out, considering she was friends with Bren.

"You're lying, but okay."

Collins bristled. "I'm not lying."

"Yeah?" I challenged. "And what would happen if I kissed you right now?"

I took a risky step forward, into her space again. Like clockwork, heat engulfed Collins' eyes as she stayed silent. Her lips parted, but I couldn't tell if it was because she wanted to deny what we both knew would happen or if she wanted me to kiss her.

We were close enough now that when she breathed, her chest skimmed mine. I felt her breaths. And I was sure that she felt mine.

When I whispered, cupping her face, she lilted toward me like a flower in an unyielding wind.

"What would happen, Collins?"

__

"Cato."

The alcohol seemed to leave my system just as his name left my lips. Sober. Stone-cold sober.

My brother's knowing smile continued to slip upward, and I curled my hands into my pockets.

"That's the best welcome you have for your brother?" he teased.

"I'm better with welcomes that are planned," I said flatly. "Not sprung on me repeatedly."

Cato shrugged and hopped off the hood of my car. "Saw you were having a party and thought I'd stop by."

That was the biggest load of bullshit I'd ever heard. Cato acting like he'd just driven by our Malibu house when he didn't live within hours of it was a fucking joke. Only I wasn't laughing.

"You didn't see that I was having a party. You knew I was having a party." I clucked my tongue. "How?"

"What's it matter?"

"It matters."

I wanted to know if he'd been trailing me. Because if so...well, I didn't know what the fuck I'd do, but I didn't like it either way.

Cato walked to the garage and leaned against it. He nodded his head toward the side of his house where I'd appeared from.

"You didn't tell me you had a new girl."

"Well, we only talk when you want something from me, Cato. How was I supposed to know you cared?"

"Come on, Beau." His head knocked back, hitting the garage door with a soft thud. "I care about shit like that, too."

"Collins is way more than shit like that," I said, a bit of an edge to my voice.

There was something about Cato being so close to Collins that I really didn't like. Just a few steps and they'd be face to face. And I couldn't even begin to imagine her reaction.

Oh, hey. Baby, didn't you know there's basically two of me? No? My fucking bad.

"Chill, man. I didn't mean it like that." He raised a brow, chuckling. "She's damn fine."

Red hot anger raced up my spine, making me stand straight as I stared at my brother. I realized that him bringing up Collins meant he'd been...watching. From where?

"What are you doing, Cato?" I demanded. "Just hanging around spying on us?"

"I wasn't spying." His eyes made a flicking motion, brushing off the serious shit. Like normal. Like me. Of course our similarities were connected to our flaws. "I was just waiting around for a moment when I could talk to you without interrupting."

"Well, next time you're just waiting around, maybe you could do it without checking out my girlfriend," I punched out through gritted teeth.

"Fine." Cato's upper lip curled like it always did whenever he knew he was getting beneath my skin. "Next time, I'll focus on the blonde."

I ground my teeth together again. "I wouldn't suggest that."

"Why, she taken too?"

"Very." My tight-lipped insistence didn't seem to deter Cato's intrigue, so I narrowed my gaze at him pointedly. "And as annoying as you're acting, I'd prefer a night without bloodshed."

I doubted that even the fact that Cato had my face would stop Bren from kicking his ass. It might throw him off his game, but it wouldn't deter him from breaking his nose.

Although, maybe then people could finally tell us apart. I wouldn't have a problem with Cato being the crooked-nose Martin brother. Had a ring to it, honestly.

"Ahh." An inkling of a smile persisted on Cato's face. He pushed off the garage door and stepped toward me. "So you do still care about me."

I sighed. He was teasing...but there was a bit of truth laced in there, too.

"Of course I care about you, Cato."

His expression suddenly fell. Stony. "Good, because I need your help."

Yeah, I was waiting for that. Way to draw it out, dramatic fucker.

"I thought maybe you were here because you had the money you owed me," I said, equally serious.

He grimaced. Naturally he didn't have my money. I never, not for one minute, thought that he had my money, but he didn't need to know that.

"I just can't get ahead," he said with a low, frustrated growl. "But I'm almost there, Beau."

I wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but I knew one way to solve it. "You should talk to mom."

"I did talk to mom."

"You did?"

"How do you think that I found out you were here?" He rolled his eyes like it should have been obvious. "She let it slip."

I figured someone told Cato, that made the most sense in why he was here. But I never would have thought he'd get the courage to dial home.

"And what else did she say?" I asked.

"She called me." Ah, that checked out. He hadn't dialed home. Home had dialed him. "Wanted to know why I keep coming to you for money."

That was the only reason why my parents would cut through the tension between them and their son. To protect their other one. I bit the inside of my cheek, hating how messy this was getting.

"You said it yourself," Cato continued. "That they would notice the activity in your accounts."

I blanched as I thought about another difference they'd notice in my accounts soon enough and how I'd better prep them for it. But I could only focus on one financial crisis at a time and turned my attention back to Cato.

"Don't worry," he muttered. "I told her we had it under control."

He said it like a threat.

"And do we?" I pressed, not intimidated. "Have it under control?"

Cato shoved his hands in his pockets. "Like I said...almost."

Shaking my head, I ripped my gaze away from my brother's and took a short lap around the part of the driveway near the garage. My mind spun, spiraling in too many directions, and I knew that there was only so long that I could keep up with this.

If Cato wanted my help, if he wanted me involved, then he had to let me in. Just like Collins had. I couldn't just give handouts. It wasn't going to solve anything—not if he was using them to drag himself deeper into a hole.

After stopping in front of him again, I crossed my arms tightly over my chest and asked the hard question.

"Is it drugs?"

"Drugs?" Cato threw his head back with a bone-chilling laugh. "Am I acting like I'm on drugs?"

That definitely wasn't the reaction I'd been expecting. I thought maybe I'd get denial or evasion. Not a laugh in my face.

"Not exactly, but you are acting sketchy as fuck," I shot back. "And it's the one thing I can think of that would explain why you're going through so much money and acting so goddamn secretive about where it's going."

"It's not drugs," Cato said, leveling with me.

"Gambling?" I tried. "Please tell me it's not gambling. You'd be a shitty gambler."

"I don't know." He crossed his arms over his chest, mimicking me. "You think I'm dealing drugs, so I must have a pretty good poker face."

"Nah, that's shit." I shook my head. "Because you weren't trying to make me believe that, Cato."

He sighed. "It's not gambling, but it might as well be."

I stared at him, waiting for more.

"I took a risk," he said, coughing up very little.

"No shit."

"And mom warned me beforehand that she wouldn't be my security net. That if I wasn't going to make responsible decisions with my money—"

"Their money," I muttered.

"—then I was going to learn the hard way what it was like not to have any."

Cato said the last part with an attitude he honestly didn't have a right to. Was I cavalier with my money sometimes? Yeah, I couldn't deny that. But if Cato actually burned through his entire trust fund, he'd made major missteps. Major.

I squared up to him before speaking in a stream of irritation.

"When grandma and grandpa immigrated here, they carved out a good life, but do you think it was easy? Mom and dad both grew up in a one-bedroom apartment that they shared with their entire family, Cato. The last thing they wanted was for us to take our money for granted. And you did just that; you literally took all of mom's hard work and flushed it down the drain. I know you feel like she abandoned you, but you hurt her."

His own brand of hurt flashed through his eyes as he flung his arms wide open. "You don't think I know that?" he yelled, and I quickly rushed forward to slap a hand over his mouth to shut him up.

The last thing I needed was Collins and everyone else flooding up here.

"Investments, Beau," he whispered, his eyes leaking pain as I lifted my hand from his mouth. "I made shitty investments that I thought I would get returns on, so I overshot. And now I owe more than what I have. I was trying to prove myself. I was trying to become self-made so it would be my money. Just like they did. And now I need to get it all back, so I don't have to feel like some fucking kind of failure anymore."

I backed away slowly. "Fuck, man."

"I know, and these fucking people—"

"Who?"

"It doesn't matter." When I opened my mouth to protest, he cut me off. "Trust me, it doesn't matter. I just need your help."

I paused, breathing deeply, head hanging. My voice was quiet when I spoke again. "It's time to cut your losses, Cato. Explain everything you just said to me to mom, and she'll come around. Just...apologize. Then work together."

A low, growly noise rose from Cato's throat. "Working together means they're going to make all the decisions. They're going want to hold my fucking hand—"

"Sounds like you need your hand held."

"Fuck off, man."

"Come on, what did you think would happen?" I hissed, trying to be cognizant enough to keep my voice down. "They'd just keep letting you make the same mistake?"

"I'm not making the same mistake," he said, steadying himself and applying the pressure with his gaze on mine. "I just need your help."

The distant sound of waves washed over us as I shut my mouth. A peel of laughter rang through the air, making my chest ache for that happiness I'd felt only a few minutes ago. I needed it. I needed to hold onto it. And maybe that was selfish.

"Please."

Cato's eyebrows drew together as the word repeated over and over again in my mind.

Please. Please Please.

I shook my head. Cato didn't understand the fucking hard place he was putting me in right now. He didn't know that the money I did have... I'd reserved it for Collins. Slapped her name on it so I could save her. And now I needed to save both of them?

"More or less than last time?" I asked.

He paused, and I knew the answer.

He needed more money.

"More."

Shit fuck.

"Beau!"

Collins' voice speared straight through me. My girl. I fucking needed her. And I fucking needed Cato to leave.

"I can't do this right now," I muttered. "You have to go, Cato."

"What, I can't even stick around?" His voice was light, teasing. But his eyes were still dark from our conversation. He didn't want to let it go, and he wanted to stay so I couldn't either. "I can't meet your girl?"

"As much as you don't want to admit it, you don't want to meet my girl," I said with a harsh whisper, stepping forward to jab him in the chest with my pointer finger. "You don't want to chill on the beach and have a drink. You don't want anything to do with me unless there's something in it for you."

Before Cato could twist words and spit them back at me, I added, "Go."

Throwing his hands up along with his usual mask, he backed away. "I'll be at my friend's place in LA if you change your mind."

His expression told me that he needed me to change my mind. And he was going to pissed if I didn't.

My breaths were heavy as Cato took several more steps, retreating out of the floodlight in the driveway and into the darkness of the street.

"Beau?"

After watching Cato disappear into the night, I spun around. Collins was walking barefoot across the driveway.

I ran a hand through my hair, flustered. "Hey, baby."

"You okay?" Concern was etched in the pull of her facial features. "I started to get worried that you got lost on your way to the car." She chuckled, but it was a forced chuckle.

"I'm good. I—my brother...."

"Your brother?"

"Yeah, he called me," I found myself saying. "Sorry, I got distracted."

Collins shook her head. "I'm not upset, Beau. But...are you okay?" Her arms curved around my neck while she murmured against my skin. "You don't look okay."

"I'm...okay."

"Do you want to go upstairs? We can talk about it if you need," she whispered. "I think Madie and Bren wouldn't mind a little alone time on the beach anyway."

"Sure, let's go upstairs," I breathed, already feeling a million times lighter from being wrapped up in Collins. "But I don't want to talk about it."

She was silent for a beat. "If that's what you want."

I followed Collins mutely into the beach house and to our bedroom for the week. It was the only one on the first floor and had a patio walkout, but I pulled the curtains over the sliding glass doors so that we had privacy from Bren and Madie. And also so they had privacy from us.

The cushioned chair next to the king-sized bed called to me, and I sank into it with a sigh, closing my eyes for a moment.

Collins was studying me from across the room when I opened them again. She stood near the en suite bathroom, hovering by the door. When she spoke, it was tender. But also clear.

"You can let me in, you know." She hesitated. "Involve me."

Fuck.

It was a sweet way to say don't be a hypocrite, Beau.

And I didn't want to be. But I couldn't explain the entire situation without also telling her about the deal I was making with the Bailey's. Did I really want to ruin spring break before it even began?

"I know," I said. "And I will, baby."

Collins nodded, understanding the undertone that it wouldn't be tonight.

"I'm going to rinse off the sand in the shower," she said. "And then I'm all yours. Okay?"

She smiled warmly. Encouragingly. Maybe even a little wickedly.

I breathed out a sigh of relief.

"More than okay. So much more than okay."

✨

think that's the last we'll see of Cato?

thanks so much for the well-wishes.

I mapped out the ending this weekend,

and there's about six chapters left!

xoxo Amelie