Sawyer said he hasn’t touched her, and I believe him. I don’t know why he hasn’t though. Macie is smart and funny and pretty, a year older than us, so she’s already in college. She goes to a small one, up in Maine, then spends the summers here with her grandparents. She could easily visit on the weekends. She comes from a normal, nondescript family.
“Wren!”
I jerk my attention back to Macie. “Sorry. What?”
“I said, I’m having a party tonight. You free?”
“Oh. I’m not sure. I have a family-dinner thing tonight. So, probably not.”
Macie pouts. “I’ll text you my address, in case you can make it.”
She skips away, probably to invite the guys. The kitchen bell dings, indicating an order is up. I walk over to the counter, picking up the fish and chips for table five.
My phone buzzes in my back pocket. I pull it out, assuming it’ll be Macie sending me her address.
It’s not.
Sawyer:You should come.
32
My phone lights up with a new text as I park in Macie’s driveway.
“Nice background.” I can hear the smile in Gus’s voice.
I roll my eyes, pull the key out of the ignition, then grab my phone off the seat. Look at the photo first before checking to see who messaged me. I’d had the same background forever—a slightly blurry shot from the marina dock I had taken the first summer I started working there—and felt like changing it. I didn’t intend to swap it for the photo Wren had taken of us sailing, and Ididintend to change it to something else after a few hours, but I never did.
“That’s more serious than asking a chick to prom,” Gus adds.
I roll my eyes, typing a quick response to my mom, letting her know I won’t be home until late. “Focus on your own love life.”
“Nothing to focus on, Cap.” He says it sarcastically, but there’s an undercurrent of something else, bitter enough that I glance up.
Gus notices my surprised expression. “C’mon, man. We both know girls talk to me to get to you. It’s always been like that. Maybe now that you’re taken, someone will settle for me.”
“Hey. That’s not true.”
“This isn’t a pity party, Cap. I’m just telling it how it is.”
“You’re the most loyal, trustworthy, supportive person I’ve ever met, Gus. Anyone who doesn’t see that—who doesn’t appreciate it—doesn’t deserve you. I sure as hell don’t, but I’m so fucking glad you’ve stuck around and are still my best friend.”
Gus grins. “You forgot to mention how sexy and charming and?—”
“Yeah, your ego is fine,” I say, popping my door open and climbing out of the cab.
Gus laughs, jumping out too.
The house is packed when we enter it. It’s nice, bigger than mine, but nothing too fancy. I recognize most of the people here, but not all of them. Macie has been coming here in the summers since high school and has worked at several local businesses, crossing paths with other summer residents in addition to locals.
I grab a beer and start talking to Axel Rogers, a former baseball teammate who’s a junior at Penn State now. I haven’t seen him since he graduated, and he’s telling me about his college team when he suddenly breaks off mid-sentence, gaze focusing behind me.
“Goddamn. Who’s that?”
I wish I didn’t know just from the look on his face that Wren has arrived. I wasn’t sure if she’d show up tonight since she never replied to my text. Maybe I should have slipped her a note instead, defaulting to our former means of communication.
“She’s taken,” I say.
I’m hoping Wren isn’t within earshot because she’d probably havea lot to say about me making decisions for her. We’re not together; she has every right to do whatever she wants. But I’m not going to stand off to the side and watch this time. I glance around, confirming every guy in the immediate vicinity is looking where Axel is. One fewer admirer is still a lot of guys, but less.
