Her Best Friend's Brother by T. J. Dell Page A

planning her Hawaian graduation party. Judging from the size of the crowd, it was a big hit. A big white rented tent sheltered lots of tables and chairs, but extra lawn chairs had been arranged al over the yard to accommodate the guest list. Libby had played the good hostess to Parker most of the night so far, but she was grateful when Parker got caught up in a conversation about basebal and she could slip away. Libby wandered the edge of the yard feeling a little chily in her grass skirt and bikini top. But no way was she changing until Tony arrived. She knew she looked good, and she figured a little sex appeal could only help her cause. Tony’s flight had been delayed and he had had to miss the ceremony, but she thought he would have been here by now.
    “Do I get to hug the graduate?” As if she had summoned him with her thoughts Tony’s warm voice caled from the edge of the yard. Walking towards his voice and letting her eyes adjust to the dark she found him stretched out on an old lounge chair under a tree.
    “I didn’t know you had arrived.”
    “I’ve been here for about an hour. You were…. busy.” Tony stood up as she approached and scooped her up until she was on her tip toes hugging him.
    His skin was hot against hers, and she could feel his breath warm and wet on her neck. He puled her tighter for a long moment and then set her back down. “How does it feel?”
    “Good.” Libby breathed her answer before she realized Tony was probably talking about graduation. “It’s great. I feel great.” Tony puled Libby to sit down next to him on the lounge chair. He left his hand covering hers in between them.
    “So have you decided on a school? Time is running out.”
    Libby grinned. She had great news for Tony.
    “Actualy I heard back from Columbia, and I am in!” Libby had been accepted just about every where she had applied.
    But she had been wait listed at her first choice—Columbia.
    Florida State had realy impressed her the most and offered the best financial aid, but she wanted to be in New York. If she hadn’t made it past the extra interview at Columbia and gotten off their wait list then she had NYU as a backup school. But none of that mattered now. She was going to Columbia with Tony.
    “Wow, congrats. That wait list is hard to beat.
    But is that where you realy want to be? You sounded so excited about Florida.”
    “Wel I want to be in New York, so it was probably going to be NYU if not Columbia.” Libby’s smile dropped a little. In her mind this had gone differently. Tony should have swept her into his arms and proclaimed his joy that they could finaly be together by now.
    NYU. With Parker. Tony hoped that Libby wouldn’t be able to see him grimace in the dark. When Libby had first applied to Columbia Tony’s mind had gone into overdrive imagining being with her. But she had realy been excited after she met with the people from Florida, and he only had one year left in New York. He had even been toying with the idea of moving down there after graduation
    — assuming Libby amenable to the idea. One more year he told himself. Let Libby spend a little time in colege. A semester or two out of high school, and surely they could be together then. Of course that was before he walked into this god awful party. He had spent hours waiting at the airport, and he had stil missed the graduation. Walking into the party tonight he had no trouble finding Libby.
    She looked incredible in her luau costume.
    There were plenty of other girls here dressed in similar get ups. Hel, he had even seen someone walking around with a coconut bra! But only Libby could get his heart rate jumping like that—of course she was the first thing he saw.
    The second thing he saw was that jackass Parker trailing behind her always with his hand on her back or an arm around her waist. Of course he had known they were seeing each other, but he hadn’t realized Parker would be at the party. Foolishly Tony had been assuming he