I never thought a family barbecue would change everything. My name's Sophia, 28, single, and way too focused on my marketing job to notice guys much. But that afternoon at my mom's house, with the sun beating down on the backyard pool, I noticed him. Alex Thompson—my mom's best friend's son, home from grad school for the summer.
He'd always been the skinny kid tagging along to our family events, but now? At 25, he was all man: tall, broad-shouldered, with sun-kissed skin, messy dark hair, and a jawline that could cut glass. His swim trunks hung low on his hips, showing off that V-line that made my mouth dry.
The moms were chatting by the grill, laughing about old times, while Alex and I ended up alone by the pool. "Hey, Soph," he said, his voice deeper than I remembered, with a grin tha
