Read Distracting the Billionaire's Son for Free Online

Melissa had visited Shannon for her twenty first
birthday. They’d gone shopping and had cocktails at some fancy restaurant I did
not have the money to go to.
    My reaction was nearly immediate. I could feel the color
drain from my cheeks and I couldn’t look her in the eye. I didn’t know how to
answer them without my voice cracking. Shannon rescued me like the saint she
was.
    “It was just us. I baked us cupcakes in the microwave and we
made icing with whip cream and strawberries.”
    “You made…what in the what?” Melissa took her sunglasses off
and gave her sister a concerned look.
    I relaxed and Shannon and I shared conspiratorial grins.
“They were terrible. We ended up just eating the whip cream out of the tub and
watching movies until two in the morning.”
    Shannon bumped my shoulder and I was fine with it if she was
fine with it. It had been a great birthday.
    When I looked up, Jonah was studying me like a specimen
under a microscope, but he didn’t have the concerned smiles of his mom and
sister, at least.
    “It’s too bad your parents couldn’t have come up to see you.
Oh, John! We should have invited Jessica’s parents up to the beach house! How
rude of us!” Mrs. Silver reached for her husband who seemed to consider her
reaction thoughtfully.
    “No!” I said quickly and they all turned their attention
back to me. “They have summer plans anyway, it’s really not rude. I appreciate
the thought though. Really .”
    I would pack my bags and walk back to my school if they showed
up. The Silvers couldn’t know that though. I didn’t want them to know that my
family was the exact opposite of theirs.
     

Five
     
    The Silver clan consisted of over fifteen other people,
aunts and uncles and cousins of all ages and varieties. The McCollisters were
the only ones left to arrive when the parade of beautiful people started toward
the beach that night. Shannon watched the road to the house, nervous and eager,
sometimes grabbing my hand, sometimes not. She still wore her summer dress, and
I’d changed into one of Shannon’s dresses to accommodate the upscale beach
party. It had tiny straps and a heart shaped neckline. It fitted to my torso,
plunged in the back, and flared out in soft, nearly see-through fabric at the
skirt. The hem was uneven, longer at the sides, and when the ocean breeze
caught the petal-like fabric I felt like some sort of fairy. The underwater
blue-green color made my strawberry blonde hair stand out. It felt like too
much, but Shannon said it was just enough.
    We abandoned our sandals early on. The sand was cool and a
little damp and reminded me of the night before when I wasn’t ready for it to.
My cheeks would flush in response and I’d glance around to see if anyone had
noticed. Jonah kept his distance, but sometimes I’d catch him watching me and I
wondered if he was reminded of last night, too.
    The Silver clan were interested in me briefly, the newest
attraction at the zoo, as Jonah had said, but they quickly grew bored and moved
on to catch up with each other. There was another boy Jonah’s age, around 26 or
27, all the way down to pre-teens running around after each other. Shannon had
a twelve year old cousin named Samantha I was sure was a burgeoning pyromaniac.
She sat increasingly close to the fire, feeding everything that wasn’t nailed
down into the flames.
    Shannon plied me with some cherry flavored, carbonated mixed
drink with cherries skewered by a sword. I’d had four of them and was feeling
pretty bubbly by the time the sun painted the sky a thousand different colors
of orange and pink as it doused itself into the ocean.
    “He’s here, oh Jess.” Shannon’s voice pulled me from my
reverie and I turned to see the car pull up and deposit the McCollisters at the
edge of the beach. There was Mr. and Mrs. McCollister, blond and pale versions
of Mr. and Mrs. Silver, two teenage girls in bikini tops and short shorts, an
older girl about Melissa’s age in a