Read Online Sweet Sunshine by Jessica Prince - Free Book Online Page A

him “abstinence is the best way to practice safe sex!” Poor Harlow, I didn’t have the heart to tell her I was pretty sure that ship had sailed. Ethan was a sophomore in high school, on the varsity football team, and a good-looking kid. Yeah, I didn’t hold out much hope that his virginity was still intact. And if it was, I didn’t see that lasting much longer. Harlow told me how the girls at school looked at him. I figured he was pretty high on the totem pole.
    “God! You’re ruining my life!” Ethan yelled back from inside the house.
    “Love you too!” she returned.
    “You’re horrible, you know that?” I giggled. “That poor kid’s going to need therapy for years to come.”
    “Eh, he’s fine,” she brushed my statement off with a wave. “Okay, now do what you were just doing with Ethan and act like the camera isn’t even here.”
    “Easier said than done when you point it out like that.” I took another sip of margarita, enjoying the way my body seemed to be loosening up under the tequila’s influence. I wasn’t drunk, or even the slightest bit tipsy, just… relaxed. And I had to admit, the way Ethan went all googly-eyed when he stared at me was extremely flattering.
    “I heard Derrick’s been driving to Jackson Hole every morning this week to take Eliza to school.”
    “Yeah,” I sighed, hating that Derrick was stuck in such a shitty position because of his ex. That woman really seemed to get off on making his life as hard as possible. “He comes in to the bakery each morning for his caffeine fix. I feel bad for him. And Eliza. From everything I hear, Layla sounds terrible.”
    “She is,” Harlow agreed. “But on the bright side, I know Derrick loves getting to spend as much time with Eliza as possible, even if he is driving out of his way every morning.”
    My gaze was focused on the dense line of trees that edged the back of their property in place of a fence. Harlow and Noah’s backyard led straight into the woods. As a kid, I’d have probably spent hours out in those woods. I had no doubt their kids would grow up exploring imaginative unknown places out there in the coming years. At that thought, combined with the thought of Eliza, I smiled again and let out a deep breath.
    “I’m sure. And I can’t blame him. That little girl is amazing despite her shrew of a mother.” It wasn’t until I turned back to Harlow that I realized she’d been taking picture after picture of me. Pulling the camera from her eye, she stared at the screen, pushing buttons, a knowing grin on her own face.
    “What? What are you grinning at?”
    “Told you they’d be awesome,” she giggled, handing the camera to me. “Once we post these, you’re going to have so many date requests you won’t know what to do.”
    I looked down at the photos, completely flabbergasted. “Wow, Low-Low,” I breathed. “You’re amazing.”
    “And you’re beautiful,” she replied seriously. “ That’s why they turned out so well.”
    “Thank you.” As I scrolled backward through each photo, I could pinpoint exactly when each and every one had been taken based on the expression on my face. It was amazing to see how my emotions reflected so clearly on my face. No wonder I was such a shit poker player.
    I was smiling serenely in the pictures where I thought about Eliza and Harlow and Noah’s future family. My brows were furrowed in the ones where we’d been discussing Derrick’s ex-wife. My face was a mixture of slightly embarrassed exuberance when we’d been talking to Ethan. Those were the ones I found the most stunning, where I looked the happiest, the prettiest, with my wide, brilliant smile and shining eyes.
    “Yep, those are my favorite, too,” Harlow announced, her baby belly bumping into my shoulder as she leaned forward to get a look at the small screen. “I think we should use that one,” she pointed her finger at the picture I’d just scrolled to. And I had to agree.
    “Okay, then we’ll use