by Jordan Ford
“So, we’re going to grab takeout on the way to the beach.” Griffin cruises along the main street. “What do you guys feel like eating?”
“Pepperoni pizza,” Lettie and I say in unison.
We both give each other a sharp frown while Savannah giggles in the front. “Pizza sounds good to me.”
Thrown by the fact that Lettie can read my freaking mind, I keep my eyes focused on the scenery out the window and resist the urge to keep checking her out.
She’s kind of skinny compared to her curvy sister. The black tank she’s wearing with those denim shorts is so plain, yet hot at the same time.
Should I be thinking ‘hot’ about this girl?
I don’t even know how old she is. She’s got one of those faces that could be twelve or sixteen.
Glancing at her from the corner of my eye, I watch her fidget with the ring on her finger and am tempted to ask what grade she’s in. But I don’t want to sound like a douche.
“Here we go.” Griffin parks outside Sorrento’s Pizzeria and swivels around to face us. “So a large pepperoni for you guys.” He then turns to Savannah with this gooey smile. “And what do you want to share with me, baby?”
Her lips pull into this dreamy kind of grin and she blushes. “Whatever you feel like.”
“Okay, then. Barbecue chicken it is.”
I wrinkle my nose but don’t say anything about why you would put chicken on a pizza.
Mom and I have always been pizza purists. This Sorrento’s is no doubt crap if they allow barbecue chicken pizzas on their menu.
I keep my thoughts to myself and instead soak in the suffocating silence of the car.
Lettie twitches beside me, curling her long fingers around her bag. Her fingers are skinny like the rest of her, but beautifully long and elegant. They kind of match her hair in this weird way. Long, straight, fine and delicate.
She glances at me, and I quickly avert my gaze.
“So, Jace.” Savannah turns to me. She’s obviously hating this silence. “How was your first week of school?”
Seriously? She’s asking me about school?
Lame.
Lettie rolls her eyes beside me, and I nearly want to smile. I bet she’s thinking the same thing, and for some reason it makes me feel better.
I bob my head and murmur, “Yeah, good.”
“Lettie’s just started a new school too. Well, kind of. It’s still Walton Academy, but she’s in the upper school now, so it kind of feels new. Right, Lettie?”
She gives her older sister a pained look but nods and then glances at me. “Freshman.”
“Figured.” I force a closed-mouth smile.
She swallows and starts spinning that ring on her finger again. I feel kind of bad for her. She so obviously doesn’t want to be here. I get it. Neither do I.
Shuffling in my seat, I angle my body toward her and put in a little more effort. “Nice ring.”
She stops moving and stares down at it, brushing her thumb over the twisty, gold design. “My mom gave it to me. Her last present, so it’s kinda special.”
“Her last present?” I frown, then suddenly remember Griffin telling me about how Savannah had lost her mom to cancer. I press my lips together and shake my head when she looks at me, obviously not sure how to proceed. “Griffin told me.”
“It was a long time ago now,” Savannah interjects, but her voice is quiet, making it obvious that time hasn’t done much to kill the hurt.
Lettie has gone really quiet, moving farther away from me and staring out the window.
Nice job, Jace! Way to make her feel better.
Griffin arrives with the pizzas and the torture is put on hold while we drive to the beach. The food smells so freaking good, and I can’t wait to chow down.
Thankfully I don’t have to wait long.
Harley and her boyfriend are already snuggled up together on a blanket, sharing a box of sushi. Next to them is Harley’s friend from school with this small, smokin’ hot chick who looks miniature next to him.
“Hey, guys.” He waves at us, making Savannah and Griffin both grin. I catch his eye, and his face flickers with a frown before he puts on a smile.
I clench my jaw and decide to ignore him.
“Hey, everyone.” Savannah plunks down on the blanket, placing the pizza boxes in front of her and doing quick intros.
I try to match faces to names. It’s not that hard. I know Harley, and she’s with Aidan. Then I just have to remember Jed and Skylar. Skylar has blue eyes. Blue sky. I can remember that one.
Not sure what I’ll do to remember Jed’s name, but maybe I don’t need to. I get the sense he doesn’t like me all that much. Maybe he’s pissed at the way I spoke to Harley when we first met. I don’t know, and I shouldn’t care. I’ll be back with my friends in Sterling Beach soon, and this will all become a distant memory.
Lettie takes a seat beside me, and I get a sweet whiff of some kind of fruity shampoo. Damn, it smells so good.
Flicking her long locks over her shoulder, she reaches for a slice of pizza and sits back to quietly eat while everyone else gets busy talking and chowing at the same time.
I’m on my fourth slice when I realize (much to my horror) how much fun I’m having.
Lettie doesn’t say much, but her quiet presence beside me is this weird kind of comfort. Harley and her boyfriend banter like an old married couple while Jed pitches in with these acronyms I’ve never heard of. Everyone keeps laughing, and it’s obvious how close they all are.
And then the surf talk begins, and I can’t help being enthralled.
“I challenged this guy to a little surfing, but he was too chicken.” Harley points at me with a sly grin.
I narrow my eyes at her while her boyfriend laughs.
“Not sure you can best my girl, man. She’s pretty damn awesome.”
“Oh yeah?” I smirk. “Shorty’s good, huh?”
She prickles at my insult, but that just makes her determined little scowl fiercer. “The best.”
I chuckle and finish off my slice, brushing the crumbs off my fingers.
“I taught every one of these guys to surf. Except you, Griff. You’re already awesome.” She winks at him and he just laughs, then looks to me.
“I can get a board out of the shed if you want one.”
Everyone’s staring at me now, even Lettie. I can feel her gaze, and there’s no way in hell I can back out now.
“Okay, Short Stop.” I stand and rub my hands together. “It’s you and me. Let’s carve it up and see who’s the better man… chick… person.”
“Surfer,” Lettie mumbles at my feet, and I grin down at her.
She blushes and keeps nibbling on her pizza.
“Let’s do this.” I follow Griffin to the shed, whipping off my shirt and wishing I’d brought my rash guard with me.
Doesn’t matter. I can deal.
I’ll freaking do anything right now to prove myself to this squad.
I don’t know why I suddenly feel the need to. I shouldn’t give a shit what they think of me, but I’m doing this now. I’m going out there and carving it up for my friends back home. I have a point to make.
East Coast versus West.
And I’m gonna win.
Selecting the board closest to my own, I tuck it under my arm and head to the water.
Harley’s already running ahead of me, and I pick up my pace.
The second the salty spray hits my skin, I feel better about life. Slapping the board down, I paddle out to Harley’s side and we trash-talk like pros until the first set rolls in. I manage to catch some sweet rides, but so does she.
Damn, she’s actually really good.
That tail slide off the last wave was freaking awesome.
I snap my board back around, spray flying behind me as I surf down the wave, then head back up for an easy off the lip. My wave starts to peter out and I dive into the water, resurfacing just in time to see Harley’s spectacular wipeout.
&nb
sp; Laughter punches out of me, carefree and explosive.
I am so glad I didn’t miss that.
She surfaces, coughing and spluttering while Aidan paddles over to make sure she’s all right. She dismisses his concern with a wave of her hand and jumps back on her board, throwing me a sharp glare before paddling back out to redeem herself.
I head back in after one more ride, figuring I should end on a high. Walking up the beach, I feel the best I have since… My steps slow as I think about the last time I felt so happy. I was sitting on top of a Ferris wheel with my buddies, feeling like the king of the freaking world. The thought tries to choke me out, and I shove it out of my brain before it can show.
Dumping the board down in the sand, I grab a towel out of Griffin’s bag. He told me he was packing an extra, even though I said I didn’t want one. Scrubbing it across my face, I hide my expression while I try to ward off the nasty images of Hayes falling through the air.
“Okay, so I have to concede you’re a little bit good,” Harley mutters beside me.
“A little bit?” Griffin scoffs. “The guy’s got skills.”
“Yeah, yeah, shut up,” she grumbles.
I snicker and drop the towel so I can see her. “Nice wipeout, by the way. That was sweet. I’m so glad I didn’t miss it.”
Aidan starts to laugh, scoring himself a light backhand slap on the stomach. This just makes him laugh more as he wraps his arms around Harley and pulls her back against his chest, lightly kissing her shoulder and then her cheek.
This seems to soften her up, her scowl turning to mush as she spins around to face him and give him a proper kiss.
I turn away from the lovefest and notice Lettie’s eyes on me. I catch her gaze, and her eyes round like she’s been busted. She quickly dips her head, lifting her book high and literally trying to bury her face in it.
I don’t know why this makes me feel so damn good.
So the shy girl likes the way I look. I don’t know why I find that such a big compliment. A lot of girls like the way I look. I’m athletic, muscular. I’m used to being flirted with.
But that’s the thing.
I’m not being flirted with.
I’m used to brazen girls strutting up to me and not hiding how they feel at all.
But this shy bookworm sitting in the sand… I’m pretty sure she’d rather die than do anything that bold.
Why do I find that so attractive?
Wait, attractive? Dude, you’ve got Snap. You don’t need this Lettie chick!
My internal warning is loud and clear, reminding me that I didn’t come to Ryder Bay to fall for some shy bookworm. I’ve already got one of those, and I wouldn’t give her up for anything.
16
Never Venture Out Alone
LETTIE
So I don’t know why, but I can’t get the image of Jace drying himself off at the beach out of my head.
What the hell is my problem?
It’s been a week.
An entire week!
Thankfully I haven’t seen him again since that Sunday, but I have in my mind, and it’s super annoying. I haven’t mentioned him at all to Bass. Our emails have been a little less frequent this week, and when we do reply to each other, we seem to be keeping it light.
My last email was entirely about the book I’m currently reading, but that’s because he was talking about how boring he’s finding U.S. history and I was trying to encourage him to read some historical fiction. It’s the best way to learn about history. Way more fun than reading some website or textbook.
I hope he agrees with me. I’ve already started compiling a list of books he might enjoy. My nose wrinkles as I think about how truly nerdy I am. Mom always loved that about me. She told me to embrace my inner nerd. There was nothing wrong with liking lists.
“I couldn’t live without lists. They keep my brain in order.” She’d always giggle after she said it.
I miss her laughter. I can’t remember exactly what it sounds like anymore, and it kind of kills me.
I wonder what she’d think of Jace and Bass…and Reed.
Three guys. All of them fighting my brain space for attention.
It’s ridiculous.
Reed is sweet. I enjoyed hanging out with him in the library this week, but he doesn’t give me that same rush of desire that Jace does. And neither of them understands me the way Bass does. He’s the one I want to cling to, which is why when Savvy invited me to the beach again today, I declined.
I lied and told her I had plans, grabbing my camera and walking out of the house before she could ask for more deets.
I didn’t have plans.
Now that Johanna’s gone, I never have plans.
So I just wandered the neighborhood for a while and found myself down here at the beach. Lifting the camera, I frame the wooden steps I just descended. The light is creating wicked-cool shadows against the wood, and I snap a few shots before checking the digital display. These will look amazing in black-and-white. I’ll work a little Photoshop magic the way Mom taught me.
Thoughts of her are all over me today.
I can’t decide if I want to escape them or bask in them.
Spinning around, I walk away from the stairs and crouch down by the boulders, spotting a crab scuttling out from its hiding space. I lift my camera and snap a couple of pics, then suddenly wish I’d brought a stack of books with me. The light and shadow on the beach is fantastic today. I could have taken some amazing shots with some of my beachy reads. I’ll have to remember that for tomorrow. I could do a series of my favorite summer reads. I did a summer reading challenge this year and it was all beach and summer-based books. It was super fun. I recorded some of it on Instagram, but I’d love to do more.
I’m nearly tempted to run back to the house to get them now, but I don’t want to bump into Savvy. She mentioned inviting her friends over after their surfing session. Explaining the whole bookstagram thing to people who don’t get it is super painful.
I’ll just stick with snapping nature today.
Kneeling down in the sand, I bend over and adjust the lens, zooming in on a pretty shell.
“OMG, you guys, check it out.” A surly voice pulls me from my oblivious bubble.
I glance over my shoulder and spot Hazel giving me this really weird look. “What are you doing?”
“Oh.” I rise to my feet, the sand clinging to my knees. “I’m just…” I lift my camera.
She scoffs. “You’re taking pictures of rocks. Wow, that’s so interesting.” Her heavy sarcasm is highly offensive, and I have absolutely no idea how I’m supposed to respond.
Especially when the guy behind her starts snickering at me.
“No wonder Jo-Jo is over you. You’re so boring.”
I swallow, the words feeling like a sharp slap to the face. It only gets worse when Johanna steps around the corner and spots me. Her lips part with surprise, and then her eyes round. She quickly assesses me and obviously works out that I was kneeling in the sand, snapping photos of rocks.
Her pained expression is brutal. She’s embarrassed.
Of me.
“Geez, Lettie, can’t you just stay in your room?” She says the words under her breath, but I still hear them.
My eyes prickle with the onset of tears.
“Wait. Are you…crying?” The guy behind Hazel starts to snicker again, which makes Hazel laugh, and then Johanna gets in on the action too. She gives me a pitiful frown and headshake, her soft giggle like sharp talons scraping down my back.
With a little sniff, I spin on my heel and run for the stairs.
“She even runs like a nerd!” someone shouts behind me, and I stumble in the sand, landing chest first. My camera digs into my belly while everyone behind me howls with laughter.
The tears are real now, punching out of my heaving chest and making it impossible not to fumble to my feet and stagger away.
Sand is covering my camera, no doubt creeping its way into the lens and scratch
ing it up.
Dammit!
I hug it against me, ignoring the pain in my stomach and praying that Mom’s camera isn’t ruined. I trip on the first step, banging my knee, which hurts even worse than my stomach. Gripping the railing, I force myself to slow down. In spite of the humiliation, rushing will only make me trip again. I try to hold my head high, but it’s impossible. Thankfully my long hair hides my face as I walk up the stairs and away from the laughter.
Johanna’s right.
I should have just stayed in my room.
17
Out of Place
JACE
I didn’t mean to come over to Savvy’s place after our surf session, but when she invited everyone back for a cold drink, I just couldn’t resist. Besides, Griffin is my ride, and he wasn’t ready to stop hanging out with his girlfriend.
Aidan’s working this afternoon, so it’s just me, Harley (who is rapidly growing on me), Griff and Sav. It’s a good crew. I’m still not ready to admit how much I like them, but I’m here, aren’t I?
“It’s brutal. Honestly. Way harder than I thought it would be.” Savannah frowns while Harley lets out a low groan.
“Please tell me we’re not going to spend the afternoon talking about school and how hard senior year is turning out to be.”
“Oh good, so I’m not the only one, then.” Savvy grins at Short Stop.
“I’m finding it hard too, baby.” Griffin rubs his hand over her knee. “I’m glad you’ve got other students around to support you.”
Running her fingers into the crook of his elbow, she rests her chin on his shoulder and looks at him. “You know I’ll come over anytime to help you with the online stuff. We can study together.”
“And get totally distracted together.” Harley wiggles her eyebrows, then throws me a wicked grin.
I can’t help laughing with her. Savannah’s cheeks are so red right now, they’re practically glowing.