“Be my guest” says Macie. While looking at the guy to the left of Jaxon.
The crew pulls the other table over and grabs the chairs. As they sit down they can't help but notice the silence. Jaxon decides to break the silence; while looking at Claire “Here we are, what now?”
Taylor laughed “Conceited much?”
Jaxon grins “No, I was joking. Beth said y’all were asking for us to come out here. I figured I would give you a hard time.” He explained. “So, what brings y’all to Tides Rising?”
“We wanted something good to eat, and heard this was the place to go.”
“You heard right, but you came all the way from Wilmington to eat here?”
“No, the beach house I was telling you about. It’s in Caswell.”
As the group sat there and continued to talk. The looks between Claire and Jaxon kept lingering. Each glance became longer and more intense. At one point, Claire got lost in Jaxon’s cobalt eyes and completely ignored the question Sara asked her. “Hello! Earth to Claire, is anyone home?” Sara said laughing.
“Sorry, what were you saying?” Asked Claire.
“The guys were telling us about the locals getting together at the Point, are you ready to get out of here?
“What the hell is The Point?” Claire asks confusingly.
“It’s the break of beaches, a waterway between Oak Island and Holden Beach. During the day, tourists scour the beach for seashells. On certain nights, it’s one of our favorite spots to gather,” Jaxon says while staring at Claire.
“A lot of us get together sometimes, sit around a fire and let loose from the week,” Trevor replies.
“Sounds like a good time to me. Do we need to bring anything?” asks Macie.
“We will take care of everything, I’ve got the cooler on my truck. You can follow me if you’d like.” Jaxon says.
“Let us pay the check and we will meet you in the parking lot,” says Sara.
“We just met these guys, are we really going with them?” Asks Taylor.
“Why wouldn’t we?” Macie says.
“Probably due to the fact that we don’t know them,” Taylor points out.
“Well, everyone seems to love Jaxon. So, he must be a good guy, and good guys normally keep good company,” Claire explains.
A few minutes later, the girls make their way out of the restaurant and spot the guys leaning against a truck.
“Whose truck is this? It’s nice!” Sara says in a flirty voice.
“Jax’s,” says Trevor. “He got this–”
Jaxon interrupts, “enough about my truck Trev, y’all ready to go?”
The girls get into the SUV and fall in behind the guys as Jaxon’s truck pulls out of the parking lot.
7
Barefoot Beginnings
Thegirlspulledoffthe main road and into a dim, gravel lot that looked more like the opening scene of a horror film than a casual hangout. There were no lights—just moonshine and shadows, the occasional flicker of firelight somewhere beyond the dunes.
From the backseat, Taylor leaned up like she was about to file a complaint. “Where the hell are we? This looks like how every true crime podcast starts.”
“Relax,” Sara said, sliding out of the SUV like she’d just won a backstage pass to something scandalous. “It’s fine. If we get murdered, at least we’ll go out looking hot.”
